Fall Foliage in Algonquin Provincial Park
In late September 2021, with my parents visiting and after being cooped up in pandemic lockdown for too many months, I was eager to stretch my legs and spend a weekend in Algonquin Provincial Park for a bit of hiking and, well, “leaf peeping”. A rather ridiculous and bizarrely suggestive term for the lovely activity of enjoying fall foliage. Despite living in Ontario for 5 years, I had never been up to Algonquin. This 7600 square-kilometre park is about 3 hours north of Toronto and is in fact the oldest provincial park in Canada.
We were lucky enough to time the visit at the historical foliage peak. While the day we arrived was overcast and somewhat drizzly, the sun came out to set the multi-coloured foliage ablaze the following day. And it was glorious. While my parents went on a wilderness kayaking tour (and had an impressive up-close encounter with a moose), I went on 7.5-km hike along Track and Tower trail and enjoyed stunning skies reflected in mirror-like lakes. It was a brief visit, but definitely enough to whet my appetite for a return trip someday (hopefully soon)..
