A Hike in Algonquin Park

August 25, 2007 by Erin Blaskie
Filed under Algonquin Park

Today, August 25, my husband and I (and our two dogs - Summer and Molly) headed out on a 200 km tour to Algonquin Park to go for a hike. Algonquin Park is one of Ontario’s largest provincial parks and it boasts beautiful scenery along a 50km stretch of highway. I’ve driven through Algonquin Park many times but never stopped to hike so this morning we set out on our way to do just that!

Here are some photos from our trip…

See how giant these trees are? Steve stood beside one so we could get the full visual appeal. Oh, and this begs an interesting story… See the way my husband is dressed? American Eagle t-shirt, American Eagle shorts, American Eagle sandals (yes, SANDALS on a hike!) and my Nike hat (his hair was gelled before he put my hat on)… So… THIS is how my lumberjack husband dressed for a hike. And people wonder why I call him my metro-sexual lumberjack husband… Oy vey.

Some of the gorgeous white pine in the park. We took a trail called the “Big Pines” trail and along it, we learned about lumberjacking in the park as well as what it was like to do that job back in the 1800s. It was neat for my hubby to see what it was like. The trees you see here are the average size of trees that my husband falls (technical term for cuts down and lets land in the forest)…

Me (and Summer and Molly! It’s kinda like a Where’s Waldo?) standing beside THE biggest white pine in Algonquin Park. I have my hood up because it was raining. It didn’t stop us though - in fact, Steve said it added to the atmosphere… I thought it made it downright SPOOKY!

Some crazy roots growing out of the tree. This is one of my favorite photos from the day! I love the harshness of the rocks against the roots.

Here’s one of the openings on the trail. It was nice to see the mountains in back with the mist floating off of them. We looked for moose but didn’t see any (it’s a regular occurrence in Algonquin Park to see moose…)

This is Stevie after our hike in the rain… What a cutie!!

Here’s Molly after the hike in the rain. She loves the outdoors. Normally she’d be sleeping at this point but since we introduced Summer to the family, Summer now takes up the whole backseat… It’s crazy since Summer is so much smaller!

Here’s me post-trip at the Tim Hortons drive thru… Do you notice how every non-glamorous shot of me is in black and white? Yes, I do believe that black and white lessens the shock factor of seeing me with no makeup on! haha…

Here’s Summer girl in all her beauty… Do you notice her ear? It’s missing the tip… At birth, Summer was the first puppy to come out and when her momma was doing her newborn thing, she bit a piece of Summer’s ear off. The breeder asked us if we still wanted her… Of course we did! We’re not perfect so why should our dogs be?

Heehee… I couldn’t resist posting this photo. We stopped in Wilno, Canada’s first Polish settlement, for a photo and the dogs watched on. Blaskie, for those that don’t know, is a Polish name and Steve’s ancestors are Polish. They actually (some of them) speak Polish and have taught me some indecent words