On Saturday August 22, 2015, my mom and I, en route to the cottage, stopped at the #TCTrail in Huntsville, Ontario, to check it out! It was 8am when we got there and the area was heavy with fog, but it was extremely beautiful!
We turned into the parking lot at Avery Beach Park at the end of Yonge Street, grabbed our backpacks and headed out to do some exploring, donned in our #WoodsExplorer shirts to promote the TCT as requested by #woodscanada. We came across the information sign and took a few pictures, checked out where we were, where we were headed, and started our adventure!
We headed left (west) from Avery Beach Park towards another trailhead at Orchard Park and were delighted around every corner with beautiful views, flowers, and natural works of art!
We came upon a plaque and stopped to take a look, learning a few things about prehistoric creatures!
Shortly after that the trail opened up to a huge dock!
The dock was beautiful in itself but with the fog still rolling out and all of the delicately spun spider webs on the railings, it was totally break taking!
After crossing the dock, we saw the trail broke off into 2 sections. One went towards highway 60 and the other up to Orchard Park another trailhead sign. We checked it out and then turned back to head from where we came.
When we returned to where we started at Avery Beach Park, we were still intrigued as to what else was on the trail heading in the other direction, (east) so we kept going! First we came across a boat launch. Then just a ways down a marina and the trail continued alongside the water.
The water was like glass and it was so pretty. I could’ve just stood there staring at it all day, but calm water like this, generally doesn’t last that long, so we continued on the trail to see what was next?
We found another plaque, this one about the Great Blue Heron, stated to be seen frequently here. This interested me quite a bit as we have quite a few on the waterways I paddle on in Niagara. We continued on admiring all the great views along the way!
I was delighted when we saw this area above. There were so many birch trees in one place and I loved birch trees. I did my best to get a good photo of it, but it is probably one of those pictures that is better taken with the human eye and captured in ones mind.
Another plaque provided us with information on loons. I absolutely love the loon and the sound it makes. I really do not feel like I am in the north, until I hear a loon calling and was hoping to hear lots of them this weekend! After the plaque, we decided to turn around and head back to the car. As much as we wanted to continue on the trail, we had another one to do and then a date with our cottage for the weekend. I didn’t want to burn mom out in the first hour of our trip. I stopped along the way to get some pictures of all the beautiful flowers here. I honestly felt like I was walking through a garden park instead of the Trans Canada Trail as it was so incredibly picturesque and there were so many different types of beautiful flowers!
Just before reaching the parking lot I saw a bit of trash so, I of course, picked it up and put it where it belongs. Sadly the trash can was only a few feet away. My better self is hoping it just blew out of the receptacle somehow and people did not litter on purpose! Another picture for #CleanUpOurParks!
Happy campers, enjoying the Trans Canada Trail!
Thanks for reading my post! If you have any questions, comments, issues, feedback, etc, etc, please do not hesitate to ask as I am always happy to hear from everyone! We are now off to Algonquin Park, so please stay tuned as there will be lots more posts to come!
If you are looking to do your own section of the Trans Canada Trail, or are looking for information on how you can help them reach their amazing goal of connecting Canada by Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, please visit the Trans Canada Trail Website!
Happy Hiking!
Camper Christina
(cottage christina this weekend) lol
Great post. I think the fog makes it even more beautiful and good for you #CleanUpOurParks!!! Mt Baker was so clean we didn’t see a single piece of garbage for 4 days. Respect for the mountain and some strict rules to follow with Rangers on course and visible everyday.
Thanks Karen! That is amazing! I would guess it would just kind of blow away up there as well, no?