Souvenir Chronicles: CANADA: ONTARIO'S BRUCE PENINSULA NATIONAL PARK

September 29, 2018

On our second day in Ontario we drove along the Bruce Peninsula. Toronto, our starting point (marked with a red oval below), is on the shores of Lake Ontario. The Bruce Peninsula (the red pin on the map) pokes out into the Canadian portion of Lake Huron, almost dividing that lake into two parts.

At the far northern end of the peninsula lies Bruce Peninsula National Park, shown on the map from Wikipedia below. Covering 60 square miles, it forms the core of UNESCO's Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve. (That's a totally new UNESCO category for me.)

But first, we had a drive of about 290 miles to get there, and like just about every road trip we've ever taken, there was a lot to see along the way.

This was a definite first for us. We've never seen a turtle crossing sign before.

I think this horse and bugging caution sign must refer to the 5,000 Amish who live in the province of Ontario.

We have a weakness for farm stands, and there were several along our route. They did not disappoint.

Goat gouda and rabbit sausage? Yes, please!

We also have a weakness for checking for regional products at McDonald's. We rarely find them, but we thought it was worth checking. Voilà! A meatless Big Mac! Can it even BE a Big Mac without "two all beef patties"?

If my local McDonald's had poutine, I might go there once in a while.

Not the BEST poutine in the world, but worth a stop!

Back on the road, we started leaving the farms and entering the trees.

We were surprised and impressed by the number of animal caution signs we saw along the way, and we were especially intrigued by the turtle signs.

Eventually, we figured out what was going on.

Isn't this awesome? Unfortunately, we didn't see any turtles; fortunately, we didn't see any snakes.

We finally made it to the national park. Our first stop was Horse Lake Trail, a quiet mile walk through speckled sunlight, sometimes on spongy ground . . .

. . . and other times on well-maintained boardwalks.

This is a walk that lends itself to contemplation.

Aha, we must be getting close to the water.

This is Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron. Where are the cliffs?

LOTS of rocks, but no cliffs.

However, we continued on the path . . .

. . . and eventually came upon some very impressive cliffs. You definitely shouldn't jump from these! Later we saw a sign that noted that the remarkable clarity of the water makes depth difficult to judge, and every year people are seriously injured or killed while cliff jumping, which is why that activity is banned in the park.

The shifting colors in the water were hypnotic. I can see why someone might be tempted to jump in.

Classic Bob shot: yellow shirt, purple windbreaker, red down jacket, bright blue gloves, navy blue pants. Gotta love his sense of style.

Indian Head Cove:

Beautiful natural bridge.

That flat rock on the lower right looks like it might be used as a diving platform occasionally.

This iconic spot, known as "The Grotto," is a sea cave carved out by waves thousands of years ago.

On our way back to the car, I took note of a few well-balanced cairns.

With so many rocks to choose from, I guess finding the perfect ones isn't as hard as it is on a mountain trail. Walking along this beach is a little challenging . . .

. . . but the trail through the forest also had its challenging moments.

Splashes of color kept distracting me. I was lucky I didn't fall on my face.

We have a son who is fascinated by all types of fungi. He would love this trail.

We saw this map after we got back to the car. We walked out to the bay on Horse Lake Trail (blue), along the bay on the yellow and red trails to the Grotto, and then returned on the Georgian Bay Trail (green). That means we experienced every level of difficulty.

This was a nice amenity on the trail: drinkable well water

We appreciated this sign . . .

. . . but I wonder why there wasn't one that said, "Please slow down. Nanaimo bars and hot fudge sundaes ahead"? I guess it was good we had already slowed down for any potential turtles and snakes in the road. Believe me, Bob was looking. (For that matter, so was I, but not for animals.)