Our friends Kalynn and Craig invited us to join them on a trip northwards to Algonquin provincial park, which is a vast area of forests, rivers, lakes and rocky ridges. It was by far the most beautiful part of Canada I've visited so far. The whole park was covered in thick snow and we had to be very careful to stick to the trails; one wrong foot and you could easily find yourself up to your waist in snow. I thought it was pretty fun to suddenly sink into a snow drift, until I realised that some of the trails went over ravines, rivers and swamps and that if I wasn't a bit more careful I could easily disappear from view permanently.
We completed two trails, the imaginatively-yet-not-very-accurately named whiskey rapids trail and the probably more apt Bat lake trail. I'm fairly used to going hiking, but trekking through snow is hard work. Megan likes to tell the story of how whenever she visits the north of England she has to join my parents and me on long-distance marches through the wilderness, but I think she was glad of the training when faced with having to climb up icy hills and trek around frozen lakes. She also found it much more bearable because Benny, Kalynn and Craig's beagle, was leading the way. All credit to Benny, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as he did if my legs were so short that I was constantly dragging my entire body through the snow drifts.
On the way home we stopped for burgers and poutine. All in all, a pretty perfect day.
(I'm trying to teach myself to use photoshop. At the minute I think I'm being a bit crude with how I'm adjusting the colours, contrast etc. Any suggestions, hints or tips would be greatly received.)
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| Megan and Benny. It turns out that Benny really likes the song Benny and the Jets. |
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| Extreme icicles |
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| What happens if you leave the trail |
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