We weren't fast enough and we missed our opportunity. Every year we book a cabin at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park in Ontario, but not this year.  So, we had to resort to finding a different one for this year. Finding a cabin is not as easy as you would think though. Too many hurdles. Too expensive, too far away, too much competition for the dates, too far away from a body of water, or too small for 4 people. So, looking beyond the Ontario border was a next step. That is where we happened to find some available cabins in Quebec's Parc National d'Aiguebelle. 

It was the four of us; Anika and Julie in one car and Penny and I in another car. We traveled north and it took some traveling down some gravel back roads to get there. We stopped for supplies in the town of Kirkland Lake. 

As we got closer to the park I noticed that the park signs were easy to find because they were all a bright orange colour.  After a couple hours of driving we arrived at the parking lot of the south gate of the park.  

Much of the signage was in French but most was easy enough to figure out.

The gate house looked like a large log cabin. The lady at the desk only knew  little bit of English, but our friend Julie was with us and she knows French so she did the talking. 

The lady at the desk shoed us on a map all the different things we could see and go to in the park. Unfortunately, the suspension bridge on one of the trails was closed for repairs so we wouldn't be able to go there. 

She got us booked in and gave us a code for the lock on the cabin door. She let us know that it would be about another 20 km or more  to get there.  We realized at that point that it might have been better if we had gone to the northern gate to book in because it would have been closer to the cabin. But you don't know what you don't know, right?  She warned us that the roads were narrow and to be very vigilant and keep a look out for any wildlife such as moose, or grouse or foxes that may pop out onto the road in front us.  

Before we left the gatehouse, we took a quick look around the souvenir shop there. There were plenty of nice T-shirts and things. However, we decided to get going and maybe buy something on our way out when we were set to leave in a couple days. 

We drove along for a little bit when we had our first encounter with wildlife on this trip.. It was a grouse crossing the road. I laughed because it's colouring made it look like it was wearing a little dark brown jacket. 

We arrived at the cabin without seeing any other wildlife along the way.  The cabin was a cute log cabin with a porch out front. 

The name of our cabin was "Le Longicorne" which basically is what they call a long horn pine beetle in French.  I admired the wood carved beetle that they had decorating the outside wall. 

There were board walk like ramps that led up to the door and picnic tables to sit at out front. 

We unlocked the lock on the big wood door using the code that the lady at the gatehouse had given us. Behind it was a screen door so we could keep the big door open and let some air flow through. 

The very first thing e noticed when we got inside was how cold it was. It was like walking into a giant walk-in fridge.  We were happy to see a wood stove off to one side and I knew that in no time we would have the place all warmed up and cozy. 

We looked around the rest of the cabin. There were two sets of bunk beds; one in each corner of the room. 

There were also two storage boxes with flat tops where we could store stuff. These two boxes could easily become two more beds if there were a couple of foam mattresses to put on them. But we didn't need any more beds. The bunk beds were enough for us. Instead we put our coolers full of food and drink on the one closest to the door. 

In the middle of the room was a great big dining table. It was really long. This would be perfect for the board games that we intended to play later in the evening.  There were two great big long benches on either side of it too. Plenty of room and plenty of seating. 

The only problem we started to realize and hadn't anticipated was that there was no electricity. The other cabin we always rented did have electricity so we hadn't prepared for this. Once the sun went down it was going to get very dark in here. We quickly took stock of all the lights and batteries that we had. Between us we had one battery powered lantern and 6 flashlights with plenty of extra batteries. That should be more than plenty for the 2 nights we would be here.  There was no cell service and no way to charge our phones though. I put mine into Airplane mode so that it didn't drain the battery. We decided that tomorrow we would go check out the north gatehouse to see if there was cell service there to let our families know we had arrived safe. 

Under the window was a little counter with a propane stove that was provided by the park. You are supposed to bring your own propane though, which we didn't know so we couldn't use it. We would just have to cook our meals on top of the wood stove instead.  There was also a tiny little sink under the window.. 

​There was no running water (nor drinkable water) available anywhere though. That was ok though because we had brought some bottles of frozen water that we were using as ice for the coolers, and I had also brought my water filter with me. I am glad we did or we would have had to drive back the 20 km to get water and then 20 km back here again for the return trip.

Beside the door was a little wood box filled with wood!  You didn't have to buy wood here. You get all the wood that you need with the price of the cabin. 

They also provided matches, fire starter and a lighter.  How convenient! 
​I set about getting the fire started and it didn't take long before the cabin started to warm up. 

I went outside to take a look around and to see what the other girls were up to.  They were relaxing at the picnic tables out front. But I couldn't sit still. So I walked around the cabin to explore a little.  To one side was a little wood shed. 

And inside there was a whole bunch of wood.  We were definitely all set for firewood for the duration of our stay. 

On the opposite side of the cabin were the bathrooms. They were like a little log cabin too. It was cute. 

They were not flush toilets. Only regular vault toilets. That of course makes sense considering there was no running water way out here in the bush.  We had brought hand sanitizer and wet wipes so we were all set there. 

The door handle on the bathroom was hand made out of wood. 

Across from the cabin was a firepit with benches and a picnic table. We decided that we would have dinner in the cabin tonight but tomorrow night we would cook hotdogs, s'mores, and other over-the-fire foods for supper right here. 

The firepit has a grill that could be raised or lowered and would be perfect for cooking on. 

The other cabin that we had rented in the years past had a view of the lake right from the window and porch. This one did not. We were very disappointed by this. We knew there was a lake somewhere because the online pictures had shown one. Online it had seemed as though the lake was much closer than it actually was. But all we could see all around us were trees. Nothing but trees. 

So, we went for a walk on a search for the lake. We followed a wide trail leading into the bush in hopes that it would be just right there around the corner. 

It was not. There was a sign for the lake though, letting us know that we were at least headed in the right direction. The lake we were looking for was called Lac Lois.

Instead of opening up into a wide open space with a lake in it, quite the opposite happened.  The trail narrowed significantly and the trees got thicker and closer together.  We had to go through  the forest to get to the lake. 

Not far into the forest, the trail split into 2 different directions. We were not sure which one to take so we split up. Julie and Anika took the left trail and Penny and I took the right trail. 

We could still hear Anika and Julie as we went so we knew we weren't that far away from us.  The trail we were on led us down to the lake and to a dock. 

Off to the side was a green canoe.  The people who had been there before us had not put it away. It was on the ground and not on the storage rack  It looked to be in good condition and maybe we could go for a canoe ride at some point while we were here. 

There was not much wildlife around No major birds or animals. There was some Joe-Pye Weed growing off to the side though. 

The dock was oddly shaped but I liked it that way. We walked to the end of the dock and looked around. 

We could faintly hear other campers in the distance around the bend, singing and having a good time. Not loud enough to be annoying or anything. I suppose there is another cabin over in that direction somewhere.  The lake looked beautiful but there was no beach to swim from. 

It was mostly weeds and tall grass near the shore. The water was much too shallow here for a good swim.  Perhaps where Anika and Julie were, there might be a better swim spot.  We called out to them and they called back. They shouted out "we found a picnic table in the woods!"  And then they shouted "And there is another one!  And another one!" They told us to go down their trail to see what they were talking about. So, Penny and I headed over to meet them. 

Sure enough, as we went down the trail we kept seeing random picnic tables nestled into the woods along both the left and right sides of the trail. There were 5 in all.  It was kind of odd. But you can't say that there wasn't enough tables for everyone. 

The very last table was at the end of the trail where it opened up with a view of the lake. The last table was the best one and probably the only one that I would choose to sit at along the trail. 

It over looked the left side of the lake. You could see from here that there wasn't really any good place to swim on this side either. It was a beautiful view and I bet you could see moose from here if you were to get up really early i the morning and come sit quietly by the lake. But we never put that to the test while we were here. 

But the water was full of sludge and weeds and the only one that seemed to want to swim here was a little frog and perhaps the loon that we could hear calling in the distance. 

Looking across the lake, we spotted an old beaver lodge. We wondered if anything was currently living in it. We figured if we were ambitious enough to take out the canoe, we might paddle over there to see what we could see. But we had no energy for that right now. 

Instead we headed back to the cabin to start supper.  Along the way we heard the tapping of a woodpecker and looked up to see it searching for its own supper in thee tree above us. 

The fire was going nicely when we got back and the cabin was now cozy and warm. We cooked our supper in a pot on the top of the wood stove and sat down at the big table to eat. 

While we were sitting and eating we noticed a little plaque on the wall with a story of how the cabin came to be named Le Longicorne. It was all in French so we had Julie try to translate it for us. 

Also on the wall was a guest book that had entries from past cabin dwellers. Many were in French but some were in English and we read some out loud while we ate. 

After cleaning up our supper dishes we figured we would walk back down to the lake to see the sunset. We couldn't see the sunset from the cabin because of all the trees. Besides, it gets dark quickly in the cabin. So if we go outside to the lake we would be able to save a bit on our batteries if we didn't have to light the place up for quite as long. It was much brighter outside. 

The sunset was not vibrant or anything, but it was peaceful and it was still pretty. We stayed just long enough that we could still see the trail and wouldn't break a leg if we didn't use flashlights. 

We went back to the cabin and played board games by the light of the battery powered lamp and some hanging flashlights. 

As evening turned into night and it got later, it came time to put the games away. Julie and Anika went to bed but Penny and I wanted to walk down to the lake one more time. 

The moon was big and quite bright this night. We were able to turn off our flashlights and walk in the dark up until we got to the tree line. We turned them on to travel through the woods but once we got  tot he lake we turned them off again and just sat in the quiet stillness of the night. 

The stars were clear and beautiful in the inky sky. We didn't talk much in order to preserve the sanctity and the magic of the moment.  We would occasionally whisper something to each other once in awhile as we observed or heard things. "Did you see that shooting star?"  or " I hear a loon over there".  

After a time we headed back to the cabin. Mostly we travelled in the dark because our eyes had adjusted to the low light levels by then.  We had just passed the tree line when we heard a rustling in the bushes behind us from where we had just come,  It sounded fairly large. A raccoon maybe? Or perhaps a fox?   We turned on our flashlight to try to see what it was. 

It was a rabbit! A little brown bunny!  We scared it when we turned on our light and it quickly darted out of sight. As we turned back towards the cabin with our light still on, I caught a glimpse of more movement on our left. Looking down we saw one of the biggest toads I had ever seen. And his markings were dark and beautiful. We felt luck to have had the opportunity to see both of these animals tonight. 

We made a quick stop at the bathroom before heading into the cabin. We talked about the bunny and we said that at least now if we have to go outside to the bathroom at night and we hear an animal in the woods, we can just say to ourselves "oh that is just the rabbit" and we will feel more at ease. Whether it is true or not, we can tell ourselves it is. 

In the doorway of the cabin we turned around and looked up at the star filled sky one more time before closing the door and heading off to bed and to sleep. 

I was awakened by the sound of bot motors from the boat launch at about 8 a.m. One of the downsides of being too close to a boat launch. It was too cold to get up yet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag until about 9 a.m.

When I felt it was warm enough, I got out of the tent and took the dog for a walk before breakfast.  There was no wind for the first time in days and the lake was relatively calm and smooth. The sun shone through the trees and I was enjoying this beautiful morning.

Out on the lake there was a group of five loons. They seemed to be enjoying the beautiful morning too. 

Along the shore line I found the cutest little tracks of some sort of animal. I don't know what made them. 

Perhaps a muskrat?  

By the time I got back from walking the dog, Penny was awake and we had breakfast before packing up to go. Today was our last day at Ivanhoe Lake Park. 

Sometimes when we take down our tents, especially if it has been cold, we find little critters hiding out under the tent. We didn't find anything taking shelter there this time. However, we did find a little toad hopping around near by. 

We finished packing up by 12:15  but we wanted to get one last hike in before we left. So, we drove over to the Saw Lake trail head and parked the car near the lake. 

There is a nice little boat launch here, with some canoes to rent if you wanted to go for a canoe ride. But we didn't have time for that. 

We headed over tot he Saw Lake Trail map to get some more information about the trail. 

When we got closer we realized that a blue Darner dragonfly was sitting right in the middle of the sign. 

It didn't stop us from reading that the trail was 2.8 km long and roughly an hour to hike.

We were going to hike the first loop, but then we came across some hikers who were on their way out who told us that part of the first loop was closed. So, instead we decided to just walk as far as we felt like it and then turn around and come back. 

We followed the shore line which, I suppose, is doing the trail backwards. But there really isn't a wrong way to do it.  

In some places the water looked had a beautiful green colour to it. 

​We could tell by the markings in the old logs and trees that there were plenty of woodpeckers in the area. 

There was almost no one else on the trail but us It was so quiet and peaceful.

We came to a section where light green hairy moss was growing above our heads in the tree branches. 

It was like the forest was covered in a summer version of Christmas tree tinsel. 

A little pine tree was sprouting out from an old trunk in the remains of a fallen tree. It was a tribute to how resilient nature can be. 

Up in the tree tops we spotted what was making all those holes in the trees. It was a yellow-bellied sapsucker. 

Also up in the tree tops was a little red squirrel watching our every move. It yelled as for awhile, warning everyone in the forest that we were there. Squirrels are one of the forests built in alarm systems. 

Of course the minute we got anywhere near him, he darted up to the tree tops and out of sight in no time flat. 

We spent only about an hour on the trail and all too soon it was time to leave the park. We bundled ourselves into the car and settled in for the long drive. We were talking about all the things we had enjoyed about our trip. 

We were just about out of the park when all of a sudden a huge bird swooped down in front of us as we were driving. It was flying down the road in front of us with our car following behind.  At first I thought it was a turkey vulture. But then, I realized it wasn't. It was a Bald Eagle! 

It flew in front of us for a fair distance before finally flying off to the left side of the road and into a tree. We slowed down and came to a stop beside where it landed in hopes of getting a better look than just it's tail feathers we had been seeing.  Sure enough, we got to get a pretty good look. It seemed to be a juvenile. Not quite fully grown, but almost. 

It had something in its talons and it began to eat whatever it had caught. It was exciting to see one so close and in its natural habitat. 

We sat and watched the eagle for a little bit before finally heading out . It was a wonderful last goodbye to the park. It may have been unseasonably cold for much of the trip, but we had some unforgettable experiences and adventures and that made it all worth it. I would definitely come back here again some time. 

We survived another cold night. Since we were prepared for it this time, it wasn't so bad.  We woke up to a nice sunny day and the birds were out.  Even the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker came to pay us a visit. 

The morning air was a bit chilly still, but basking in the sun helped with that. By mid-morning it was back to regular summer temperatures again. 

This meant that we could enjoy the hike that we had planned for the Teck Lake trail today. 

The Teck Lake trail starts off wide open with a pine needle covered path. 

This eventually turns into a more dense trail with lush vegetation. It is a beautiful trail. 

The orange Jewelweed flowers were eye catching and drew attention to themselves and their beauty. 

But other things on this trail were hidden gems that you had to really look closely to see.  A little brown White-Throated Sparrow was hidden quietly among the tree branches and watched us carefully as we walked by. 

We followed the blue arrows on the trees that marked the trail. 

But if we didn't look down once in awhile we would have missed the mushroom that was hiding and growing from inside a hole in an old tree stump. 

The sparrow may have hid well, but nothing beats the camouflage of a Grouse. If I didn't tell you there was a Grouse in this picture, I bet you never would have seen it.  Another hidden gem on this trail.  

We continued along the sun dappled trail and enjoyed the peace and tranquility here. 

The trail eventually brought us to the lake. On one side, you couldn't see the shoreline for the bushes and plants growing along the edge of the water. 

But to our left, there was a muddy shoreline. The mud was also hiding some hidden gems. 

Sitting in the mud, in the shadow of a log was an amber coloured dragonfly. 

The mud itself was host to many different footprints of animals that had walked through here in the not so distant past. 

I am no tracker and can only guess what animal left these prints behind. Perhaps a fox or an otter or a racoon. 

In another section of the mud there were tracks that looked like they could have been deer tracks. 

Close to the waters edge, almost out of sight, we noticed some Northern Purple Pitcher Plants growing. 

Another plant with bright red tipped leaves was the Bush Honeysuckle that ran along the edge of the trail in places. 

A little Green frog was trying to blend in but we spotted him anyway. Hopefully the predators didn't spot it. 

Near this tree we also noticed some mesh netting sticking out from under the moss and dirt in the ground. We are assuming that this was being used to help fight against soil erosion and to help keep the trail looking nice. 

We finished our hike all too soon and were headed  to the trail exit.  

But not before stopping to watch a Bumble Bee fly around from flower to flower among the purple Asters. 

We may have finished our hike, but we were not ready to go back to camp just yet. Instead we decided to walk down the narrow road to see what the Group campsite looked like. 

Site number 200 is the Group campsite. We were hoping that no one was on it so that we could explore a little. We were in luck. No one was there. 

The Group site was nice and large as a Group site should be.  There were plenty of picnic tables all around a fire pit. 

There was plenty of open space for setting up tents or for playing outdoor games and sports. 

It was a really nice site with a view and access to the lake. 

However, it was not the best for swimming because it was much too weedy. 

The site did have it's own private bathroom though. 

And it's own water tap too. However, you can't drink from this water tap unless you boil it first. 

After exploring the Group site, we still weren't ready to go back to camp yet.  We looked at the park map and saw a long winding back road with no campsites on it. It did show a picnic area though. It seemed odd to have a picnic area so far away from absolutely everything in the park. We were curious so we jumped in the car and drove to it.  

When we got there, we parked the car and got out to look around. Right away we could see the beauty in this spot and why it would be made into a picnic area.  There was a large welcoming sign letting people know that this section was maintained and cared for by the Friends Of Ivanhoe Lake group. 

We left Sylvie in the car for a few minutes while we did a quick look around. We were thinking that perhaps we would have lunch here since we had all of our food with us in the truck of the car.  We just had to figure out if it was a suitable place to stop to eat or not. 

Ahead of us was a cute little wooden footbridge that seemed to lead to what looked like an island. 

We stopped in the middle of the bridge to admire the water. It was crystal clear and you could see the bottom . The lake bottom made it look like the water was a green-blue colour. Very pretty.

The view on both sides of the bridge was beautiful. There was no one else around and it was so quiet.  We stood there in the tranquil silence, just soaking in the peacefulness of the place for a moment or two. Nothing was said between us because we didn't want to break that silence. 

I began to walk closer to the island and looked down to see beautiful pink flowers of some Water Smartweed.

The island had some large open areas but still enough trees to give a good balance of shade and sun. The longer I stood here the more I wanted to stay. This was truly one of the park's hidden gems. 

We found a couple of picnic tables and knew straight away that this was where we were going to have lunch. 

I headed ack to the car to get Sylvie and our cooler full of food. We had a bag of Beef Jerky with us so we let Sylvie have a little snack while we ate lunch. 

As we were eating a gentleman on a bike stopped by and we chatted for a bit. Apparently he lives in a town about an hour and a half away from Ivanhoe Lake Park. And he had gone to see the Polar Bears yesterday too. We talked about the weather and how it had been so cold lately. He informed us that there was a frost warning out for tonight. 

When the guy on the bike left, it became very quiet again. After eating we explored the island a bit more. The opposite side of the island opened up onto the lake. It looked like it would be a great place to swim. 

Nestled among the trees was a bench. If I wasn't paying attention, I could almost have missed it. 

The bench had been placed there in memory of a lady named Kathy Robichaud Weir. 

Soon we had packed up and were headed back to the car. We stopped to take one last look at the stunningly green colour of the crystal clear water. 

We continued to drive down the back road and that eventually brought us to the gatehouse, which is also where the Park Store is located. 

We didn't stay too long in the store. Just long enough to take a quick look around and to buy some ice and some firewood in case we decided to have a fire tonight. 

Penny also bought a Park blanket that had the names of all the Ontario Provincial Parks on it. 

I went outside to wait while Penny finished purchasing her new blanket. It was too small of a space to have too many people in there at once and some new campers were on their way in. 

As I waited I saw a boy fishing down at the lake and asked him what that was floating out in the water. I couldn't quite make it out. He informed me it was a duck. Sure enough when I got close enough I could see that it was a female Mallard duck. The reason why I couldn't make it out from a distance was because she had her head tucked into her body and it had looked like it had no head from where I had been standing. 

I got talking to the boy while I was waiting for Penny. He was having a tough time with his fishing rod because the rod kept falling apart into two pieces every time he cast his line. He told me it was a rental from the park store. 

Since we were driving full circle around the park and we were driving past the Day Use beach, I made a quick stop there to check it out.  Penny didn't feel like joining me so she stayed in the car with Sylvie.
It was big beach area with lots of picnic tables. 

There was a play structure for the kids at this beach. 

​It was pretty empty right now though because it was too chilly and a bit too windy. There were no lifeguards here (which is pretty standard for most beaches in the parks now a days). But there were also no buoy lines either. And that was unusual. 

There was a set of bathrooms here that doubled as change rooms. 

There was plenty of room to swim but there wasn't really much of a sandy beach. What sand was there had weeds growing in it. Come to think of it, the pet beach had a better sandy shoreline than this beach did. 

I only looked around for about 5 minutes and then I headed back to the car. 

We were getting closer to camp now, but Penny wanted to stop off at a comfort station along the way.  This comfort station was not large but still had flush toilets. So, you can't really complain about that. 

It also had one of those cute little book lending libraries. 

Outside the comfort station was a park map that said "You Are Here". Looking at this map, I realized that there was another beach directly across the road from where we were parked right now.  I decided to go take a look and compare it to the one I had just come from. It gave me something to do while I waited for Penny, and I was curious.  

A little green cross walk sign saying "Slow" pointed me in the right direction. 

Now this beach was much more like what people expect from a typical beach. It was a large, beautiful, sandy beach.  There were sections of buoy lines and a rack of canoes for rent. 

No lifeguard here either, but there it did have a wheelchair accessible flotation device parked under the sign.

The sandy beach went on and on in both directions. The view was lovely since there were no people around. 

There were benches sprinkled here and there in case you wanted to come down tot he beach to watch the sunset or something. 

To top it all off they had a toy lending center for the kids!  It was filled with brand new beach toys that kids could use to play in the sand or the water with. I was very impressed by this little detail. Such care goes into this park. I have noticed that all the buildings are in great condition, clean, and with fresh coats ofpaint. Signs are made out of repurposed wood so as not to be wasteful. I just love this park! 

We hopped back in the car and started driving again. But we didn't get far before we decided to make yet another stop. Sylvie had been so good following us around from place to place that we thought she deserved to get out and have some fun of her own for a bit. So we took her back to the dog park that we had been to yesterday. Sylvie just loves it here. 

The pet beach was empty and we easily found a picnic table to ourselves. Well, maybe not quite to ourselves. We had to share it with a firefly. 

A Sawyer Beetle also wanted to share the table with us, but since they bite we decided to evict him. We took a stick and shooed him away. 

We found a dead Dragon Hunter dragonfly in the sand. 

I was sad that it was dead because it had been a beautiful dragonfly with gorgeous green eyes. 

We found various snail shells scattered along the shore line. 

We had fun playing with Sylvie for over an hour in the water. She loved running up and down the beach and chasing sticks. Then all of a sudden we had company. A family showed up with their big white dog. I was a little unsure about how this was going to go because Sylvie is afraid of bigger dogs. But the family asked if Sylvie could play with their dog and so I decided to give it a try.  

Since Sylvie is a rescue, she didn't really know how to play.  I had to show her how. I started running up and down the beach with the two dogs and throwing sticks and chasing them both around. It didn't take long before Sylvie caught on that this was how you play and that it was fun. I think that was the turning point that opened up the world of social dog play for her..  There were a few iffy moments where there was a growl or two,. But they were short lived and only warning growls, nothing serious.  By the time we were ready to go back to camp, Sylvie had made a new friend and she was all tired out. We had been at the pet beach for about 2 hours.  I knew she would sleep well tonight. 

I had been wading in the water in my bare feet this whole time. When I went to put my shoes on to go back to camp I discovered that I had 2 leeches on me. They weren't large nd they hadn't bitten yet. So I just threw some dry sand on them and flicked them off. I wasn't surprised by them. I had been wading around in the weeds and the muck.  

At about 5 pm we were back at camp and we we grabbed our chairs and just sat and relaxed in the sun for awhile. 

We started a fire at about 6:30 pm and cooked hot dogs for supper. 

It was not long after supper when we looked across the road and were surprised to see a Pileated Woodpecker.  I decided to try to get closer for a close up picture if I could possibly manage it.   So I crossed the road and ever so slowly started to follow it as I tried to stay behind trees so as not to scare it away.  I had to laugh at the first picture I took because it almost looks like the woodpecker has a trail of poop behind it instead of some pine cones that  coincidentally lined up in a row. 

The chase was on. It had its back to me so I was able to quickly get a bit closer. 

But then it stopped and turned to listen. I froze on the spoke and held my breath. 

I let it get a little further away as I still stayed frozen on the spot, not daring to move yet. 

I moved in a little closer. But then it turned around and seemed to be looking at me. I immediately froze again. Was I caught?  Did I lose my opportunity? 

Nope. It seems it didn't notice me yet. I still had some time to get closer. 

This game of Red Light Green Light went on for quite some time. Me getting a little closer each time and then freezing in place whenever it turned around. I was having fun with this game. 

I knew that I might actually be able to get some good pictures when I saw that the woodpecker seemed comfortable enough to put its head down to forage for food.  

I cautiously went up as close as I dared, still keeping some trees between me and him. 

From where I stood I was able to zoom in with my camera lens and take the shot that I had been hoping to get. 

And I was even able to take a few more. 

Of course I am no professional photographer and these are far from high quality pictures. But I was still thrilled with them and with just the whole experience of being able to get that close to a Pileated Woodpecker. 

The woodpecker never did fly away on me. I turned and left before it noticed me and I went back to camp to watch the sunset. 

Penny and I sat and listened to the waves and talked while we watched the sunset.

Soon enough the sun could no longer be seen. 

And a loon flew by, calling out as it went from one end of the lake to the other. 

Even though the big fireball of the sun was no longer visible, the colours it left behind were still very visible and very beautiful. 

The birds and the gulls all started to fly by on their way to their nests for the night. 

Penny and I talked until the fire went out. Then we went into the tent to play board games for a bit before settling in to sleep for the night. As predicted, Sylvie was fast asleep long before we were; tired out from a full day of fun and excitement. It had been a fantastic day and we loved every minute of it. 

I woke up at 5:20 in the morning to go to the bathroom and it was so cold!  It was dark and I was not ready to get up that early so I went back to sleep in my nice warm sleeping bag for a few more hours. 
However, it was not much warmer when I got up at 10. There was a light drizzle and the lake was covered in mist.

I took Sylvie for a walk and we headed over to the boat launch that was not far from the camp site.  I chuckled to myself as I spotted the boat launch sign. I recalled yesterdays adventure of almost getting stuck in the beach sand at a different boat launch. 

This boat launch had a proper road and a place to park. There was less danger of getting stuck in the sand here. However, I wouldn't call it impossible. 

There were plenty of boats all lined up along the shore. 

Despite the cold, a loon was comfortably at home in the water. 

After breakfast, Penny and I thought that a good way to warmup would be to take a hot shower. So we drove up to the nearest comfort station.  When we got there the staff was cleaning the bathrooms and shower so we waited in the car. We left it running with the heat on high. 

There seemed to be only one shower so Penny went first while Sylvie and I waited in the car. Then I had to use the facilities so I left Sylvie in the car and went into the bathroom. The bathroom was clean and in good repair. 

I noticed that there was a door at the end of the room just past the toilets. 

I was surprised to find that it was another shower. We had thought the one with the separate entrance outside was the only one. I assume there is probably another shower in the men's bathroom too. So that would make three in total. 

This meant that I didn't have to wait for Penny to finish and I was able to take a shower right away. The water was hot and the water pressure was good. And the hot showers did help to raise our body temperature up.

Now that we were warmed up we were ready to go for a hike. The drizzle of rain had stopped but it was still grey and chilly. Going for a hike would keep us warm.

​The trail we chose was the Quaking Bog trail. 

I had read up about the Quaking Bog trail before arriving to the park.  A Quaking Bog is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around the edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. 

We were excited to step onto the quaking bog and to see and feel it move beneath our feet.  The nice thing was that this trail was less than a kilometer long. So we didn't have far to go. 

We came to a blue arrow marker that showed us which direction to go in. 

While Sylvie was busy exploring the different smells, Penny and I were interested in the wide variety of mushrooms we were finding. 

We came across this really odd one that looked like it was oozing or crying. We had never seen anything like it before. 

And this one was shaped a bit different. Normally the under side doesn't show as much as this one does. It looked almost like a nose on the tree. 

As we were hunched down near the ground looking at mushrooms, Penny happened to turn her head to the left and came eye to eye with a Darner dragonfly. We were both amazed because we did not expect to see a dragonfly so low tot he ground. And it blended in with the tree bark very well. If we hadn't been down low looking at the mushrooms we would never have seen it. 

As we continued along the trail, the sun started to come out. It didn't get any warmer though.

The very beginnings of autumn were starting to show in the leaves. 

Eventually we could see the quaking bog through the trees. We wondered if this was as close as we were going to get to it. I would be disappointed if that were the case. 

We came to a wooden bridge. I thought maybe we could get a better look at the bog from there. But we couldn't. 

It wasn't long before we could see a little look out platform through the trees. 

This was it! The Quaking Bog!  From the platform it looked just like any other marsh or bog, You would never guess the secret it held. 

Penny and I wondered if we should dare to go and walk out into it. There was a small trail though the marsh grasses where we noted that some other people has done just that. I was conscious of the fact that if too many people went stomping through the bog, that it could ruin the habitat. But at the same time the urge to stand on the quaking bog was great.

I decided to venture out, making sure to only stay on the same spots where others had stood so as to limit any damage that might be done. 

Sure enough, the floating ground beneath my feet moved with every step I took. It was not quite what I expected though. The movement wasn't as extreme as I thought it would be. It was much more subtle. But it was unmistakable. I jumped up and down to get an even better effect. Penny came up behind me and together we were jumping and laughing as the ground moved under us. 

We didn't stay out in the quaking bog for too long. Just long enough to enjoy the experience. Soon enough we were following the blue arrow out to the exit. 

When we reached the end of the trail we had a good chuckle as we realized that if we had traveled the trail backwards, we would have immediately arrived at the quaking bog without hiking any of the other part of the trail. But we were glad that we took the long way. Otherwise we would have missed out on seeing the dragonfly and the mushrooms and all the other sights. 

We got into the car and started to drive back to our campsite. Looking at the map we saw that the pet beach was along the way.  Since we had a pet in the car with us, we figured we would go check it out. 

As we pulled into the parking lot we immediately saw a great big Puppy Lending Library.  We thought this was an amazing idea. We laughed as we noticed that most of the toys that were on display for lending were sticks. 

We let Sylvie out of the car and she headed right over to it and picked out a toy to play with. 

This park really goes the mile for its pet owners.  There was even a a photo board of the various pets who had visited the park. 

To get a photo of your pet on the board all you have to do is send your puppy visitation pictures to the email address posted on the board. 

The pet beach was empty except for us. Not too surprising on this cold day. We chose one of the picnic tables to sit at while we watched Sylvie enjoy her time on the beach. 

And Sylvie loved every minute of it. She basked in the sun for awhile. 

And she went for a short dip in the lake. 

As we headed back to the car we noticed the fish cleaning station off to the side. 

Inside were some sinks and a place to clean the fish. It was a nice clean little shack. 

It even had an informational card on the wall that teaches people how to fillet a Pike. 

After the pet beach we headed back to camp and had a quick lunch before heading inside the tent to play some board games. We would have sat outside to play games but there was a cold wind and inside the tent was more comfortable. Plus then we didn't have to worry about the wind blowing over the pieces of the games we were playing. 

Or so we thought. But we were wrong. All of a sudden the wind picked up and it was so strong that it blew down a corner of the tent. It came crashing in on top of Penny and we both jumped up in surprise. 

I had to go outside and tie one of the guy lines to the picnic so that the corner of the tent would stay up. 

We played board games until supper time. It was too cold to sit out at the picnic table for supper. It was cold enough that we could see our breath. So we decided to eat supper in the car with the car running and the heat on. 

With supper finished, we were looking for something to do with what little daylight we had left. We decided to drive up the road to where the amphitheater was located. 

There was a building on the spot where the amphitheater was. Turns out it was the Visitor Center. 

Before going inside we took a quick look around outside at the amphitheater. It wasn't really what I would call an amphitheater really. It was some seating and a picnic table around a fire pit. 

The inside of the Visitor Center was more interesting than the outside. The door was unlocked and the lights were on so we went in. There was no one there but us. 

Just inside the door was a giant map of the park. 

Everywhere there were informational displays about birds and animals. 

There was a large birch bark canoe in the middle of the room. 

In one corner there was the remains of a cast iron cross from a cemetery. It was a very intricate and detailed cross. 

Apparently the cross belonged to the grave of a young 4 year old girl named Jessie Moore, daughter of James Moore who was a voyageur guide. 

On one of the walls we came to a poster of a white moose. This caught my attention and I went to get a closer look. 

It was this informational poster that made me realize that these white moose actually reside right here in this park. That explained the white moose on the park's emblem and stickers.  I doubted we would see one of these white moose while we were here, but it was interesting to know that they were in the park somewhere. 

Back at the camp we were visited by a Lake Darner Dragonfly. 

We walked down to the beach in hopes of catching the sunset. The colours weren't very colourful this evening. But it was beautiful just the same. 

Not long after, the moon and stars came out. But it was too cold to want to make a fire and sit out to look at them. Instead we once again went into the tent to hang out for the rest of the evening.  We knew it would be another cold night so we prepared for it by bundling up. We wished we had brought mitts with us. penny got creative and used a pair of socks to wear as mitts to bed.

I made sure I had socks on and a hoodie with the hood done up. I wrapped an extra blanket around me before I got into my sleeping bag so that it wouldn't fall off of me during the night. I even wrapped Sylvie up in an extra blanket. We were as prepared as we could be for the cold night ahead. We fell asleep all snug and warm; listening to the songs of the loons out on the lake. 

How do you get to see Polar Bears when you are supposed to be camping at a campground for a few days one might ask? 

Well, it is (and was) possible just by making a wrong turn on the drive to Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park.  Or more accurately, not making a turn when we should have. On the map it looked like a relatively straight shot down the highway to Timmins and then continue on to Ivanhoe Lake Park.  But apparently there is a turn at Matheson that we were supposed to take and I missed it.  I got too confident in my memory of the map and didn't use the GPS. 

Instead we ended up about an hour off course and found ourselves in the town of Cochrane. I had heard of the Polar Bear Habitat being located here since I had done some research on Tidewater Park in the past. So we figured that since we were here, we may as well make the best of it and go and see the Polar bears. My sister-in-law, Penny, loved the idea. 

We took a quick peek at their website and discovered that there were "no dogs allowed". This made sense but unfortunately I had my dog, "Sylvie" with us. But we were happy to find out that they did have kennels. So, problem solved! 

We parked in front of a large red building. We left Sylvie in the car for a few minutes while we went in to pay the entrance fee and find out where the kennels were. 

The admission fee was not overly expensive. Only $17.60 per person. 

As we entered the glass doors we saw a sign posted.  What!?  You can camp here for only $25 per night?  That sounded amazing! Sleeping with the Polar Bears!  But we already had a site reserved at Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park, so we wouldn't be staying here tonight. 

We got inside and we were impressed by how cute it was and by how much wonderful art work of polar bears were hanging on the walls. 

​There were large stuffed bears that were almost as tall as Penny guarding some of the doors. 

The gentleman at the desk was fantastic. We paid for the admission of two adults and then he took us to see the kennel. Apparently my idea of a kennel and their idea of a kennel were two different things. I had pictured a kennel such as you would see in the humane society. Maybe a big room with a cement floor and an opening to a fenced in area outside. Their idea of a kennel was a room with 2 dog crates in it.  I was not sure this was going to work out. The crates did not look big enough. But we had already paid the entrance fee and the gentleman was so nice that we decided to give it a try. I went to the car and got Sylvie and we put her in the crate. Sylvie is a medium sized dog and she just fit. Bigger dogs would not have fit. 

Sylvie tends to have attachment issues and I was concerned that once I left she would whine and howl and drive this poor man crazy. However, he seemed unconcerned and told me that he would turn out the lights to help keep her calm and that he would check on her once in awhile. I figured that we wouldn't be gone for a crazy amount of time so I trusted everything would be ok. And it was.  

The gentleman told us the Polar Bear Habitat was not a zoo but a sanctuary. So, the bears had 24 acres to roam and that we were not guaranteed to see one. But he said there was an old heritage village past the bear enclosures that we could go and see. 

We went out the back door and right away we noticed that there was an entire lake that the Polar Bears had for swimming in. 

As we approached the fist viewing pavilion we noticed that there was a little fenced in playground area on the outside of it. 

Actually, it appeared to be a wading pool area. But it seems it was closed. 

Which was too bad because if the wading pool had been open, you would be able to sit in the pool while looking through the glass in the wall at the polar bears swimming right beside you (well potentially). How cool would that be? 

We entered the building and found a small crowd of people gathered near the windows where you could see into the Polar Bear's swimming pool. 

They were all gathered there because there was a Polar Bear at the edge of the pool. Penny and I were excited that we actually got to see one after being told that there was a possibility that we might not.  This made the accidental trip to Cochrane and the Polar Bear Habitat even more special. 

The reason why the Polar Bear happened to be in this particular place at this particular time was because it was busy eating a watermelon. 

We learned that each bear got to eat one full watermelon every single day. All the local grocery stores will donate to the Polar Bear Habitat all the watermelons (and corn) that are bruised and will not likely be sold so that the bears can have a watermelon each day. 

Inside the pavilion were information boards telling a bit about the Polar Bears.

There were also kiosks where you could test your knowledge by taking quizzes. 

We left the viewing pavilion and started to walk towards the heritage village. As we followed the fence, we spotted another Polar bear coming out of a different enclosure. 

We had now seen two Polar Bears where some people don't get to see them at all. We felt lucky! 

It wasn't a long walk to the heritage village.  We thought it was a good idea to have this village here because if you were unfortunate enough to not see a Polar bear then at least you wouldn't have paid over $17 for no reason. 

One of the first stops in the village is an actual restaurant with a heritage village front. You could buy snacks and drinks here and the bathrooms were right beside it. 

Across the road from the restaurant was the train station. 

Inside were some seats from actual old trains as well as old uniforms and old luggage. 

There was a display containing various vintage train tickets. Ona T.V. screen a documentary was playing. It happened to mention the name of our hometown in the documentary just as we were entering the building so, it caught our attention right away. 

Next door to the train station was the carriage house where there were some beautiful old cars and tractors being housed. 

Penny and I decided to have a little fun riding some horses while we were there. 

The local clothing store had some vintage dresses and dolls and a parasol in the window. (None of these were for sale. They were for display purposes only). 

And in another window, a couple of bears were sitting down to tea together. 

Outside one of the buildings there was a beautiful engraved bell. I don't know if you can ring it or not. We didn't think to try. 

Another store had some vintage rocking horses all lined up in a row. 

On the counter was a price list for some of the groceries you could buy back in the day. Oh, if only you could buy a dozen eggs for nine cents today. 

Just down the road were the stables. 

We didn't see any horses, but we did see the buggy and carriage that the horses would have pulled. 

Near to last in the village was an old farm house. You were actually able to go inside to see what was there. 

The kitchen was bright and inviting. There was a guest book on the table that we signed. 

Up the stairs there were three bedrooms. There as a little girls bedroom with dolls and toys, an adults bedroom and a little boys bedroom. . 

One of the last buildings on the route was the little one room school house. 

It was very small and looked like it could only hold up to about 12 children at a time. 

On the wall outside the school door was an information board. We chuckled at the picture of a dog cart carrying children to school. 

The last building on the route was what looked to be an old hunting or trapping cabin. 

As we came full circle we ended up passing by the Polar Bear enclosure once more. The same bear we had seen on the way to the heritage village was still outside, but now it was much closer and we were bale to get a better look at it. 

But it didn't necessarily want to get a better look at us. (Actually, it was just scratching it's nose.... but it looked pretty cute doing it). 

Back at the entrance and the gift shop we checked in with the gentleman who was looking after Sylvie. He told us that Sylvie hadn't howled at all. He had been in to check on her a couple of times and had given her some water. He was super good with her. He said that he enjoyed being able to visit with the dogs when people brought them. We left Sylvie with him for just a few minutes longer while we looked around the gift shop and the ski-doo museum which also happened to be in the same building. 

Between the gift shop and the ski-doo museum was a display showing the three common bears we have in Canada and what their sizes are when they are standing up. 

The Polar Bear was twice Penny's size. 

I am not a snowmobile enthusiast by any means, but this collection at the snowmobile museum was pretty impressive. 

And it was interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes of the various snow machines throughout the years. 

We bought a couple T-shirts and a hoodie from the gift shop and then went to get Sylvie.  We were happy that we had stopped here and had gotten the opportunity to see the Polar Bears. 

On the way out I noticed some yellow signs with numbers on them. I wondered what they were for. 

It dawned on me that these might potentially be the campsites that you stay at for $25 per night. But I didn't know for sure. 

There was plenty of open space and a picnic table but I didn't see any fire pits. So, it was hard to tell if these were campsites or just picnic areas. 

Before leaving Cochrane, we stopped for groceries and gas. It was a good thing that we filled up since there were signs indicating that there was no gas available for the next 104 km.

We noticed on the map that there was a provincial park along the way called 

We plugged the destination into the GPS and kept an eye out for the turn off to Dana Jowsey Lakes Provincial Park.  When the GPS indicated that it was time to exit off the highway, there was no park sign; only a boat launch sign. 

The road we were now on was a gravel road and was bumpy. But it was decent enough for driving. 

​First we passed by Jowsey Lake on our right. 

On our left it was a bit marshy, but it had its own beauty. 

We drove for about another 7 or 8 km and from time to time we would pass by some bodies of water but none of the were Dana Lake. 

We were almost ready to give up and turn around when we finally found it.  There was a truck with a boat rack attached to the back of it sitting down by the water but there were no people around. 

I pulled into the spot and could hear the car go over a curbside bump as we left the gravel road. ​The next thing we knew we found ourselves trying to drive in soft beach sand. The car started sinking in it and a feeling of dread started rising up in us. We were getting stuck in the beach sand! 

I tried not to panic as I tried to turn the car around by making a loop to the left. We were now facing away from the lake but the exit was on a bit of an incline so as I tried to drive forward up a hill, the wheels started to just spin and the loose sand was flying everywhere from beneath my tires. It was like getting stuck in a snow drift, only worse. 

​I could get the car to go backwards but I could not get it to go forwards. The problem with that is if we went too far backwards we would end up in the lake. 

Thoughts went through our minds as Penny and I talked about our situation in stressed out voices. We pictured ourselves stranded here 8 km from the highway, only a couple of hours from sunset in a place where absolutely no one knew where we were and we weren't sure if we would have cell signal out here. Who knows if the people who owned the truck would be coming back today, tomorrow, or next week. Even if they did come back would they be able to pull us out? We did have a tent with us and a cooler full of food so we would be ok but the situation was far from ideal. 

I wasn't ready to give up just yet. I managed to drive backwards enough to begin to turn the car more to the left and was able to go forward a bit in that direction. It was by no means an easy thing to do though. I noticed that there was n edge where the sand met the beginning of the forest and that the ground appeared to be more stable there so I headed for that. 

We reached the edge and while my right tires were still in the beach sand, my left ones seemed to be on relatively solid ground. From here, I out the pedal to the metal and gunned it.  We started moving forward. There as a point where the car started to slow down and I thought we weren't going to make it. I started to say a prayer to God. Then,  at the last second the car gave it her all and we made it out of the bech sand and back up onto the road! 

Our hearts were pounding and we chattered excitedly about how happy we were to make it out of there. A wave of relief washed over us. 

Now that our car was safely back on the gravel road, we parked it and got out. You didn't think after all that ordeal we weren't going to get out and go see the lake, now did you?  We had to claim our reward for our efforts after all.

​We got Sylvie out of the car and started walking back to inspect the deep tire marks we had left in the sand. 

We looked around for a bit. I noticed there were signs on a tree that indicated "no camping". However, if we had gotten stuck there, we would have ignored that sign and camped there anyways. We wouldn't have had much choice. 

We went down to the waters edge and took in the beauty of the lake. It really was a beautiful spot.  Was it worth all the effort to get here? I don't know, but it was an adventure that we wouldn't soon forget. 

And so here I am. Dana standing in front of Dana Lake. 

On our way out of Dana Jowsey Lakes Park, Penny and I talked about how we didn't want to see another  Boat Launch for  very long time. It would probably always remind us of this crazy adventure we just had where we almost got stuck on the beach. 

We drove for about another hour to get to our true destination of Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park.  Just before you enter the park you come to a bridge.  We crossed the bridge and then stopped for a quick break. 

On the other side of the bridge is  a cute little picnic area. 

Here there is an information sign telling you a little bit about the lake and its history. 

A little further up the road and we finally came to the signs for Ivanhoe Lake Park. It was about 7:15pm by this point. We were a few hours off schedule but we had made it! 

At the gatehouse we went inside to register and to buy our park sticker for our Park Passport souvenir books. 

Once we were registered we headed over to our site. We had site number 98 in the Bae campground section. 

It was a nice big site and it had two picnic tables. There was nobody on either side of us, which was nice.  The site on our right had some lattice fence between them and us at one end. You could tell that the site on the right was a seasonal site, but they weren't there at the moment. Nor were they there the whole time we were there. Which is one of the reasons why I disagree with seasonal sites in provincial parks. All that wasted time where someone else could be camping in that spot. 

The nice thing about our site and the sites in this section is that it is directly on the lake. We shared a tiny sandy entrance to the lake with the campsite on the right. It wasn't really big enough to make it into a beach going experience. 

​But it was nice enough to stand or maybe get one or two chairs in there to sit and watch the sunset if you wanted to. 

But we didn't have time to watch the sunset today. We had to get our tent up and get stuff set up before we no longer had any daylight to see in.

As we got around to setting up, Sylvie got around to digging herself a hole in the ground right in fron of one of our picnic tables. 

She had made herself a little nest and took no time to make herself at home in it. 

Right across the road from our site was the washrooms. 

Each bathroom had a couple of solar lights at the corners so that you could see where they were and where the door is. 

Instead, you could get potable water by taking a short walk down the road to a little place that looked like a pump house. 

It was set up with a hose where you could get safe water to drink. I took a bucket and filled it up with water for Sylvie to drink and took it back to the campsite. 

Along the way back I noticed some ant hills in the sand. They were very tall and looked like super ants lived here. 

I got back to the campsite just in time to eat supper while watching a beautiful sunset. 

There was one stray cloud that caught my attention because it was a bright orange where all the other clouds were mostly grey or white. 

After supper we took the dog for a walk and then came back and played board games for awhile until it was time for bed. 

It was a bit chilly and windy on this evening, but the stars were out. The sky was beautiful and the haunting cry of the loons reminded us why we loved camping so much.  We had a busy day full of adventure and now we were ready to sleep so that we could see what adventures awaited us the next day. 

The noisy people had packed up and left before we got up in the morning. That was a small blessing. 
Now it was time for us to pack up and go too. We took our time and enjoyed the sunny morning. 

Everything was going well until we took down the tent. Inside each and every pole and nook and cranny we found a multitude of earwigs. So many earwigs. They were inside the poles and inside the seams that hold the poles. I had to painstakingly shake out and check everything. I did not want to bring even one of these little critters back home with me. Nor did I want them squished in my tent.  It was a time consuming job but by the time we had finished packing up, I was confident that we had no hitch hikers of the insect kind. 

Carsten and Penny wanted to get home but I had some time to kill before I had to go back to Toronto to pick up my kid from the airport. So, I decided to drive the 40 minute drive from Sandbanks Provincial Park to North Beach Provincial Park, which was mostly the direction I had to go in to get back anyways.  We said our good byes and parted ways and I headed off to see what North Beach was like. 

I arrived at North Beach Park at about 12:15 pm. I was surprised to find a gatehouse at the entrance to the park. All the other Day Use parks I had been to had never had a gatehouse. 

As I pulled up I noticed a sign saying "Advanced Registration Required". I wondered if I was going to be able to get in. The rules have always been that if you camp at another provincial park and still have a valid permit you could use it to get into the day facilities of any other park. But it was the "advanced" part of it that I was unsure of.  Well the only way to find out was to drive up. 

I presented my permit to one of the two people in the gatehouse. She was unsure about it so she turned to her co-worker who took a look at it and paused for a moment. Then he said "yes, it's valid." and I was cleared to enter. 

The next sign I encountered was one that warned of an undertow. Today it was considered to be a moderate threat. I was reminded of the conversation we had with the cashier at the Sandbanks Park Store who told us how one side of North Beach had dangerous under tows but the other side was calm and a safer place to swim.  I think that is part of what makes this park such an interesting place to visit. 

The park is long and narrow and the main road is paved and runs right down the middle of it. 

Almost immediately I could see the waves from Lake Ontario lapping up against the shore of a beautiful sandy beach. I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet and already I liked this park. 

It was easy to find the parking lots. The sign said that there was a park store and a pet area as well. 

​There was plenty of parking and on a very hot day like today, I was happy to see that there were still plenty of empty spaces. I parked the car and got out to walk around. 

On the ground near the parking lot I found an empty bird nest. 

I decided to start on the Lake Ontario side of the park which is on the left side. The waves were rolling in and the sea gulls were dotting the shore.  

It was not over crowded, nor even slightly crowded for that matter.  Such a beautiful beach. Truly a hidden gem.

I walked back towards the car but did not get in it. Instead, I crossed over tot he other side of the parking lot where a sand dune path led to the other beach on the right hand side of the park. 

A little house wren was perched in a tree watching me as I walked by. 

I came to a fenced off area that caught my curiosity. The sign on the fence said "Protected Nesting Area. Please Do Not Disturb". There was an opening at one end and the area inside seemed to be empty. 

Well, almost empty. There was one single egg in the middle. It looked like a Killdeer egg. No mamma appeared to be around anywhere. With no mamma to regulate the heat of this egg on this hot day, I assumed it was not a viable egg. But I was only guessing. 

Off to the right I spotted one of the bathrooms or change rooms. 

Next I went to check out the beach on the North Bay side of the park. Just as the cashier at Sandbanks Provincial Park had said, the water was much calmer on this side of the park.  There were no waves but there were a few more people on this side.  Parents seemed to be more comfortable with letting their children swim on this side. 

Despite there being no waves and no dangerous undertow on this side, it does not mean that it doesn't come without it's own dangers. You still have to be cautious on this side. There is a sudden drop off here, much like the ones in Sandbanks Park. 

They do have markers out in the water showing where the drop off is though. 

There was a sign that indicated no fires, no alcohol, no pets and no BBQs allowed. 

It is a nice enough beach on this side but it had a bit more vegetation along the shoreline. It was not as purely sandy as the other side. 

But some of that vegetation had a beauty of its own. There were little yellow Silverweed flowers growing from the tendrils of its vines along the shore. 

Next I went to check out the designated pet area which was on this same beach, only a little further down towards the far end of the beach.  It had a nice sandy area, but the water was a little bit more marshy down here. Not the worst but definitely not as nice as where the humans get to swim. 

There were picnic tables in the pet designated area where you can sit and watch your pet. There is not a whole lot of shade though. So your pet would have a bit of trouble in the heat in that regard unless you brought a shade tent like some people have done. 

Across the bay, I could see a couple of swans swimming and fishing for their meal. 

After awhile I walked back to the parking lot and got into my car and drove further down the main road of the park to the other end. I found a new parking lot and parked closer to the park store. 

The park store is a little cantina with a patio. Not sure what the patio is for. Perhaps they have tables there at some point in the season? 

It could be that there is nothing there right now because I happened to come at a time when the store was closed. 

Disappointed that the store was closed, I instead explored the beach area near the store. They provided a beach access surface for wheelchairs and baby carriages. 

I followed the blue mat to the shoreline and to the picnic area. 

I walked up the road to as far as it can take me. At the very end, if you keep going straight it will bring you onto private property. However, the park road curves to the right and changes from pavement to a dirt road that will bring you to the North Bay (the calmer beach). 

Up above me, in the tree branches, sat a Mourning Dove watching all the goings on down below. 

I came to an informational sign that talked about the ecosystem of the beach. 

The part I found interesting on this sign was the information about the Larval Antlion pits.  I had seen a whole bunch of these pits at Sandbanks Provincial Park but didn't know what they were until now. 

The larva stage of the Antlion is a little bug with pincers, while the adult is a fly that reminds me of a cross between a Crane fly and a Dragonfly. I searched and searched for the Antlion pits here in North Beach but I did not find any.  (Note: These pictures of the Antlion are not mine and were not taken in this park). 

Eventually I gave up looking because something else had caught my eye.  In an area off to the side and away from beach goers a Killdeer was making a bit of a ruckus. He was flailing around and making noises. 

I paused to pay more attention to him and to see if there was something wrong.  This was all part of his plan and I fell for it. 

You see, he was trying to get my attention on him in hopes that my attention would be diverted from the female who was a little further away. 

And this was important because along with the female were all of her little chicks. They were very well camouflaged in the sand and the gravel. . There were about 3 or 4 of them. It helped that they were not even as tall as the grass yet. To be honest, if the male had not drawn my attention to him, I might not have noticed these little guys at all. So his good intentions kind of backfired a little. But lucky for them I was not a predator. 

​  I wondered if the lone egg in the nest at the other end of the beach was one of hers that didn't make it.  

These little babies were just the cutest. They mimicked momma and were little mini versions of her.  Baby killdeer always come out running. They hatch with their eyes open, and as soon as their downy feathers dry, they start scurrying about, following their parents and searching the ground for something to eat.

These fluffy little chicks were doing just that. They ran around chasing bugs and momma and each other through their little sandy, grassy, jungle. I watched them for a few minutes before it was time for me to leave. I had a kid of my own that I had to go and pick up at the airport. 

Getting to see these little Killdeer chicks was the icing on the cake on this trip to North Beach Park.  Such a beautiful place and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. 

We woke up at 8 a.m. to the sound of the neighbouring campers talking. Usually that is pretty normal but in this campground it sounds like they are standing right outside the door.  But it was still pretty peaceful here, all things considered.


After breakfast I decided to take a walk by myself down the road to a trail that I saw some people come out of the day before. I enjoy solo walks in the morning. It's always quiet and the best time to see birds. 

As I started walking I noticed that the Purple-flowered Raspberry plants were vibrant and cheerful looking. 

And a little Herb Robert flower was peeking out from under the woodwork. 

I hadn't walked very far at all when I was surprised to find another bathroom. Up until this point we had been using the one across the road from us and there is no sink or place to wash your hands in it. 

And although there was no sink in this bathroom either, there was a water faucet right across the road from it. We now had a place to wash our hands after we were done!  How did we not find this yesterday? 

The bathroom itself was a typical non-flushing vault toilet. It was half way decent. It had that vault odor that is unescapable. But someone took the effort to fix that with a pine scented car air freshener.  Ha ha! 

The trail I was following came out onto a road. Despite being in a provincial park, there were some sections of private property. This was not all that unusual. 

On the opposite side of the road I spotted an Eastern Kingbird sitting on a wire. 

He was guarding a nearby nest in a tree that contained a female Kingbird warming her eggs. 

I came to an entrance that had two stone pillars on either side of it. 

Apparently I had arrived at Lakeshore Lodge. It was once a hotel but now only its ruins remained and the property has become one of the parks picnic areas.. 

Biting Stonecrop now grew among what stones were left of the old building. 

There was an information board that detailed some of the history of the old lodge. I read a little bit about it but I had been gone from camp for quite sometime without letting Carsten and Penny know where I had gone so I felt I should probably get back. 

I decided to come back later with Carsten and Penny to show the this place. It was too beautiful not too. 

On the walk back I took notice of all the little creatures that many people overlook when out walking. 
I saw an American Giant Millipede. 

A couple of Asian Lady Beetles also didn't have very good ​camouflage skills.

However, the leaves they were sitting on were big enough to hide them. 

They were bigger than my hand! 

When I got back to camp, Carsten and Penny were eating breakfast. While I waited for them to finish, I started inspecting what insects had become trapped inside the dining tent. 

For a tent that is supposed to be designed to keep the bugs out, there always seemed to be a large number inside. But sometimes it's the best way to see some insects you might not ever see. 

Today we had Heliomata moth on the screen. 

There was an Eastern Black Carpenter Ant finding the scent trail that other members of his colony had left for him to follow..

A Spongy Moth caterpillar was just minding its own business and chilling in a corner.

Our plan for the day was to drive over to the Dunes beach and to hike the Dunes Trail. We all hopped into my car and we drove over to the beach. Along the way we saw a Read-headed woodpecker sitting in a tree beside the road over by Richardson Trail. We stopped the car to try to get a better look and a picture but it didn't sit still and it flew off. We were a bit disappointed at not getting the picture, but still happy that we had seen it. 

We continued on our way to the Dune Beach excited for the sighting and for what the rest of the day would bring. 

The Dunes beach had a picnic shelter but it was not as pretty as the picnic area at the Lakeview Lodge.

There was a play structure for the kids. One kid loved climbing this structure so much that his sisters were having a hard time convincing him to come down. 

There is a park store down at this beach. 

They sell ice cream, snacks, and beach toys here. 

Unfortunately, it was closed the entire time we were there.

The beach, true to its name, had rolling dunes that reached all the way down to the waters edge. People were having a good time swimming in the cool water.  

​They had to be careful though and mind the buoys because there is an incredibly sharp drop off not far out from the shore. 

A sign near the trail explained how this drop off came to be. 

On the other side of the beach is the trail head for the Dunes Trail. It is a two and a half kilometer loop. Despite the temperatures being extremely hot and humid, we were very curious about this trail and were excited to hike it. 

The trail begins with a boardwalk made out of recycled materials. 

At first all you can see are scrub lands and you wonder why you thought this hike was going to be very interesting at all. 

But then you slowly start to see the dunes start to peek out over top of the bushes and scrubs. 

And then eventually you realize that you are in the middle of the dunes. 

Sometimes you would be walking through the grasses. 

And sometimes you would be walking through the sand.

And other times your boardwalk seemed to be mostly buried and you wondered how much longer before it disappears all together. 

Every once in awhile you come across a bench so that you could sit and rest. 

The amazing thing was, despite these seemingly harsh conditions, beautiful things grew and lived here. 
We spotted some Viper's Bugloss flowers. 

Two swans flew overhead. 

Some places were lush and green. 

Birds like the Great Crested Flycatcher could be seen and heard singing in the trees. 

Wormwood and sage bushes grew plentiful and helped to keep the sand from eroding away. 

A Shoreline Wolf Spider blended in with the sand.  

Around every bend of the boardwalk we were introduced to a new and different part of this unique ecosystem. 

The day was so hot and the sun was beating down. There wasn't a whole lot of shade. We felt like we were in the desert or on an alien planet.  Yellow flowers poked up out of the ground like creatures with tentacles. 

Even their name "Hairy Puccoon" sounded alien. 

The Tamaracks were reaching out like they were ready to grab you. 

The unopened blooms of the Starry False Solomon's Seal plants looked like alien eyeballs popping up to see what was going on, like something out of a movie. 

Part way through the trail we came to a lookout.  It was not your typical lookout. It sat on top of a dune and was not all that high up. 

However, it did give us a splendid view of the surrounding dunes. 

Sometimes you felt like you were exploring some ancient ruins. You always wanted to know what was over the next hill and up the next set of stairs. 

We noticed that the boardwalk and stairs had wire cable running through them to keep them together. I suppose without the cables someone might take them away for firewood. 

One minute you were in the sand and the next thing you know, you are surrounded by a field of grass. 

Then the grass turned into a forest which offered up a bit of shade. We dwindled here for a bit in hopes of getting some respite from the sun. 

Many of the trees were cedars with interesting shapes to them. 

The next place that the board walk took us to was a marsh land. Except the water level here was very low. 

So low in fact that a painted turtle was trying to find its way to some water.  I was worried about it at first. It had a long way to go.  But it was headed in the right direction and was traveling surprisingly fast. So, I felt more confident that it would make it to its destination. 

We rounded a bend and came to the only body of water we had seen since the beach.  (This was how I knew the turtle was going in the right direction. It had been heading towards this area). 

There was a bit of a lookout platform here, but there were some park employees working on fixing it so we didn't go on it. They had driven here in an air conditioned dune buggy. We must have looked over heated because they were kind enough to offer us an invitation to sit in the buggy to cool off for a bit.  I thought that was super kind of them. However, we declined the offer because although it was quite hot out, we were still in good shape and didn't feel that we were in a dire need for it. 

Instead we continued on our way around the marsh and spotted a Killdeer in the mud looking for a meal. 

A Silver-Spotted Skipper butterfly was sitting on a plant. Its wings were curled under and were misshapen. I am not sure if this as because it had just emerged from a cocoon and its wings were not fully unfolded yet, or if this was a deformity of some sort. I like to think it was the former. 

As we got closer to the end of the trail the pathway got wider and sandier. 

We could see the lake off in the distance. 

Then we were a little taken aback when we came across a skull that was sitting on top of a trail marker sign post.  

We had so many questions. What kind of animal was this? What happened to it? Why did someone feel the need to put the skull up on the post? 

I did some research when I got home a few days later and I have come to the conclusion (with a little help from the people at iNaturalist.com ) that this seems to be a raccoon skull.

The vibrant purple and yellow of the Bittersweet Nightshade was stunning and beautiful. 

Once we were done our hike and got back to the beach we thought it might be a good idea to eat lunch at the beach. However, the cooler with all of our food in it was in Carsten's car which was back at the camp.

​We could have both driven there and then switched cars, however, the Richardson Trail linked the Dune beach to the Richardson campground so we decided to hike the trail back to camp instead of driving.  Penny was too hot and tired to do another hike so she stayed behind and saved a picnic table for us. 

The Richardson Trail started off as a small gravel path.

But then turned into a wider, dirt trail that had a canopy of maples. It gave the illusion that you were about to walk through a leafy tunnel. 

Occasionally we would find snail shells embedded in the clay dirt of the trail. 

At one point we came to a fork in the road and were unsure which direction to choose. We assumed it was probably the fork tot he left since it appeared to be more maintained and in keeping with the trail we had been on so far.  But we pulled out the map just to be sure. 

Sure enough, after checking the map and going left, we passed a sign saying that we were going in the right direction. 

I had commented to Carsten that this trail seemed rather unremarkable as far as trails go.  I said that it would be much more interesting if were were able to see some wildlife like a deer or something. 

No word of a lie, about a minute and a half later, a deer jumped up from the bushes right in front of us! It was literally less than ten feet away from us. It scared us for a second and made us jump. We all stood there for a couple seconds looking at each other before it bolted into the woods.  But then it stopped and stood perfectly still. 

It stayed like this for a few minutes; not moving a muscle. It probably thought we couldn't see it. Or it was at least hoping we couldn't see it. But we could. And this gave me an opportunity to pull out my camera and try to take a picture. By this time it was quite a bit further away and there was a whole bunch of branches and overgrowth in the way. So, all I could get was just  the shape of it. 

We got back to camp, got the food and drove back to Dune Beach.  Penny had picked out a table under the awning of the store. It was the perfect spot because even though the store was closed, there was still electricity in the outlets and we were able to charge our phones. We got the idea from other people who were also charging their phones from other outlets around the building. 

As we ate our lunch and played board games in the shade, I looked up to watched the shore birds down at the beach from time to time. 

There were a couple of Killdeer rummaging through the sand and weeds along the shoreline, looking for insects and food. 

A Red-winged Blackbird was also down on the beach joining in on the hunt. 

On our way back to the car we saw a little rabbit in the grass by the parking lot. 

There is a Pet Beach located between the Dune Beach and the Richardson campground. We were curious to see what sort of a beach set up they had for our four legged friends. So, we made a bit of a detour to go poke around and see it. 

It was actually quite nice. It was a section of a beach that was attached to the left side of a humans only beach.  There was no dividing fence or anything. Just the sign that indicated where the pets were allowed to be. It was large with a beautiful sandy shoreline. 

Much the same as it looked to the right. 

Growing in the beach sand were some pretty purple Seaside Peas. 

And not to be out-done, the sea shells were also keeping up with the purple theme of the beach. 

When we got back to camp I noticed that we had another visitor in our dining tent. At first I thought it was a Bumble Bee. But it turns out that it is not a Bumble Bee after all. Upon closer look at its feet and head it is notably different than a Bumble Bee. This is an Eastern Yellow-backed Laphria which is a type of Robber fly that mimics the colouring of a bee.  

Back at camp we relaxed for a few hours and eventually had dinner.  After dinner I suggested to Carsten and Penny that we all go down to see the Lakeside Lodge picnic area that I had been to earlier in the morning. 
We had done a lot of walking already today but they were still up for it. 

As we passed the bathrooms on our way to the Lakeside Lodge, we passed  another little bunny hanging out in the underbrush. It was so cute with its little white spot on the top of its head. 

On the side of the road, a Giant Millipede was traveling along at a relatively quick pace on all of those legs of his. 

And a White Admiral butterfly stopped for a rest in the gravel. 

Before long we reached the wooden fence line of the picnic area. It looked rustic and quaint, like a country farm. 

This time while I was here I walked down closer to the shore line. I realized that the rock and the ground by the shore had some interesting formations. 

If you were standing on top of this rock formation you would not even realize that there was a big hole under you and that the ground might not be as stable as you might think. 

The shapes of the banks and the shapes of the rock below the surface of the water combined to make a picturesque scene that would make for a wonderful painting. God is such an amazing artist! 

Someone had created a little mini inukshuk down by the waters edge. 

Bell flowers were growing in purple splendor against the magical back drop of the water from the lake. 

Penny called me over to see the Virginia Ctenucha moth that was in the clover. I just love the bright blue and orange colours he is dressed in. 

A Mallard duck was searching for minnows by herself down in the lake. 

On the walk back to camp we saw another Kingbird. Or perhaps it was the same one as earlier. 

There were some red flowers growing by the side of the road that I had never seen before. I looked them up later on and found out that they are Hound's-Tongue. 

When we got back to camp I was still a bit restless. So I decided to go and see if I could find the Red-headed woodpecker (or maybe its a pileated woodpecker?) that we had seen from the car earlier in the day. I walked alone a little bit up Richardson Trail and sure enough I found it. Or rather, I found two of them. I spent a good 20 minutes or so trying to get a good picture of even one of them. But no luck. The best I could do was the red tuft of a head from behind a tree truck. Oh well, maybe better luck next time. 

By this time the sun was starting to go down so I began to head back to camp.

I couldn't help but make a quick detour before I went back though. I was curious to see what the campsites were like a little further up the road from where we were. There were a few like site 426 that seemed to have more privacy than the open field that we were in. 

It was too late now to go and ask to switch sites but for future reference there were a select few that had trees surrounding them. 

We decided that it would be a good night for a fire. It was a gorgeous night with a big orange moon. Fireflies were flitting everywhere. We were thinking that we were going to have a really good evening. But alas, it wasn't so. 

The noisy neighbours from across the road decided to become increasingly noisier than the day before. They were drinking and playing music on their truck radio. Whenever they got to a "favourite" song they would turn it up even louder. And of course then they would have to talk/yell even louder over the music so that they could hear each other. 

To add to this, the campers behind us thought it would be a good idea to turn on their car and shine their headlights over the entire campground (because there are no trees to block any of the light so every campsite was flooded with light, not just ours). They left these lights on and motor running for a full half hour. They weren't even setting up camp or anything. They were just sitting in their vehicle doing nothing.  

We were getting angrier and angrier and then the mosquitoes came out.  The campers next to us were also getting fed up. They started to yell at the noisy people telling them to shut the music off. This of course fell on deaf ears.  I was wondering at what point do I drive up to the gatehouse to complain when, thankfully, the rangers showed up and told the noisy people to shut the music off.  The rangers stuck around to make sure that they didn't turn it back on again too.  The people with the intrusive headlights had finally turned them off about 5 minutes before the rangers had showed up. 

Despite it now being dark and quiet again, we were no longer in a good mood anymore. We decided to call it a night and put the fire out and go to bed. We were going to be going home tomorrow anyways, so we figured we should probably get a good night sleep. Such a disappointing way to end such a wonderful day. 

It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to drive from Darlington Provincial Park to Sandbanks Provincial Park. We were almost there when we got to a cross road with signs pointing one way for the East Gate and another way for the West Gate of the park.  We really hadn't done our research on this before hand and so we were not sure which gate to go to. We took a wild guess and basically followed Googles suggestion and decided to head to the East Gate. 

Turns out we guessed right and the East Gate was the correct one for us. Later on we figured out that the West Gate was the entrance to where the RV camping is. Although, I suppose they may let you in at any gate because all the roads eventually joins up together no matter what part of the park you are in. But that is only a guess on my part. 

We were not expecting the park to be so busy. There was literally a line up to get to the gate house.

There are actually two lanes when you enter the park. The one that we were in where you lined up to register, and another lane that was for those who had already registered. That way they could just go on through to their campsite without having to wait in line behind everyone else. Naturally that lane was pretty empty. 

We waited for about 15 minutes before it was finally our turn at the gatehouse.  Not too bad considering how many cars had been in front of us.  Since we had a reservation, it didn't take us long to get registered. 

Our site was in the Richardson campground on site 410. 

You are only allowed to park one car per campsite and any others had to be parked in the visitor parking. This seemed a little ridiculous because the sites were so big and open that there was room for probably 4 or 5 cars on each site. 

All the sites were huge, but we were very disappointed to find that there was an extreme lack of privacy on almost all of them. It was like one big open area with everyone's site joined together. It was hard to tell where yours began or ended. Standing in our site and looking out I could see at least 4 or 5 sites away with nothing blocking my view at all. It felt more like a picnic ground than a campground. It was a complete let down. . 

We tried as best we could to set up our tents in such a way as to afford us as much privacy as we could get. It wasn't the greatest.  Sound travels easily in such an open area and we could hear every little thing. At least we were on an end site, so we did have a few trees to our left. But behind us and to our right there was nothing. 

Since we were using our tents as walls it meant that we had our dining tent a little closer to the fire pit than we would have liked and the door facing in a different direction than we wanted. We put a tarp up over the back door of the dining tent to give us a bit more privacy.  

The site with the most privacy was across the road on site 107. That would be the one I would choose if I were to come back again and camp in the Richardson section. It had trees almost all the way around it. Right now though, it was currently occupied by a group of young, and very loud group of couples. Probably about 6 in all. They were blaring their music and swearing and had no consideration for neighbouring campers. I thought to myself that this was looking like it was going to be an unpleasant stay. I was wondering if perhaps Cedar campground or Outlet campground would have been the better choice of campgrounds in this park. 

At least there were some pretty Purple Flowered Raspberries near by to make things a bit more cheerful looking. 

It was very hot and we were sweating profusely. So, we decided it would be a good idea to go take a shower. To our surprise and dismay we discovered that there were no showers or comfort stations in the Richardson campground. Every other section of the park had one except our section. This meant that we had to get into the car and drive to the West Gate to use the showers there. Actually, you had to drive to get to just about anywhere in the park. 

The showers were at the top of a hill that over looked the RV and trailer section of the park. From where we were, we could see that those campers didn't have much privacy either. It was like a wide open field here too. 

There were only 5 parking spaces at the showers and 2 of those were for wheel chair access parking.  We were lucky that we came when it wasn't busy and we were able to get a parking spot. But one guy who came after us had to park on the side of the road. 

The showers were ok, but they could have been cleaner. 

The water was warm but you can't control the temperature. 

As I waited for Carsten and Penny, I admired the purple Vetch that was growing in abundance along the side of the road. 

I was also impressed by the charging station for electric cars that was right beside the showers. 

Looks like it is free for now, but won't be forever. I don't have an electric car but I am sure that by the time I ever do get one, it won't be free anymore. 

The comfort station was in better condition than the showers. It was clean and well maintained. 

After our showers we drove to the park store. We could tell by the sign that said "Full Hot Breakfast" that this was not your average provincial park store. 

This park store had a full on café and grill inside. It also had a patio on the outside. 

We climbed the steps and went in through the big double doors. When you walk in the store is on your left and the café and grill are on your right. 

We began at the store. It had things you would never see in a regular park store, such as freezer mugs, pancakes, and angus burgers. 

There were books and T-shirts and a multitude of other toys and souvenirs. We spent quite a bit of time in there looking around at everything. We picked out a couple of fun items and headed over to the check out.  The young gentleman at the cash register was super friendly and had a wealth of information to share with us about this park a well as two other day parks we were considering visiting; North Beach Provincial Park and Lake On The Mountain Provincial Park.  He told us that Lake On The Mountain had spectacular views but the North Beach had  fabulous beaches. He explained that North Beach was unusual in that on one side there were big waves and you had to watch out for under currents but on the other side, the water was calm and safer to swim. This really piqued our interest. 

​We thanked the cashier and then headed over to the café and grill to buy ourselves some dinner.   

You placed your order at the counter and then you went around the corner to the tables to wait until they brought the food out to you. The food was good and we enjoyed the meal. 

There didn't seem to be any washrooms inside the café and grill but there were some directly across the road. The building looked like a mini comfort station from the outside and I was expecting to open the door and find multiple stalls inside. Instead there was only one toilet behind each door. This meant that there was a bit of a line up outside the bathrooms. We were there near the end of the day when it wasn't all that busy. I can just imagine the line ups during the height of the day in the heat of the summer.   

There may have been a lot of wasted space but it did mean that the bathrooms were large inside. They were relatively clean for the most part. 

After dinner we decided to go check out Outlet Beach. It was getting little late in the evening and we didn't have bathing suits for swimming, but we just wanted to go see it.  This beach is supposed to be renowned for its wonderful sandy shores. 

You could tell that the beach was very big. You could drive a long ways down the road and get to a number of entrances to it. 

We were at the beginning of it, at parking lot number one. The parking lot was huge and could accommodate a large number of vehicles. That was just the first parking lot. Looking down the road, off in the distance, you could see other signs for other parking lots; each one an entrance to the beach.  This place had to be hopping when it was in full swing. 

We followed a blue mat that was laid out over the sand that allowed for wheel chairs to have access to the beach. 

After passing some dunes the path opened up onto the beach. The mat turned from a blue one to a brown one and it headed in the direction of the water. 

However, the mats all of a sudden stopped short. They didn't go all the way down to the water. In fact, they stopped quite a distance away from the water. It left me wondering how anyone in a wheel chair could ever get down to the water. It has to be frustrating for someone to be able to get that close only to be hindered at getting any further. I am unfamiliar with the process so perhaps I am missing something here. 

I must admit, the beach certainly did live up to the name of the park. The sandy banks and shores were absolutely lovely. It did not disappoint.  It was clean and inviting and it seemed like it went on and on forever. I can see why this would be a very popular beach. 

It was interesting to look down and see that much of the sand was made up of shells; both whole and crushed. 

The gulls were waiting quietly near by, hoping that someone would either drop some food or throw them some. 

 Behind us were some sand dunes that were roped off. 

A sign in front asked that you stay off the dunes because they would easily erode if they were walked on. 

​We stayed on the beach for a bit but eventually decided it was time to head back to camp. We said good bye to the sea gulls and made our way back to the car.

When we got back, we settled into the dining tent to play some board games for a few hours. A Rustic Borer beetle joined us for awhile on the screen of the tent. 

The noisy neighbours that I had worried about turned out to not be a problem after all. They became quiet by 10 pm and we were able to enjoy the evening. 

When it was time to get ready for bed, we headed over to the bathroom to brush our teeth and wash up. We had not used the bathrooms in our campground yet because we had been in other parts of the park all day. So it was to our surprise and dismay that we found out there was no sink or running water at the bathrooms at all. You couldn't even wash your hands there.  We didn't know where the water pump was and it was too dark to go looking at this point. So, we ended up having to use a bottle of water to wash up and brush our teeth with instead.  It's a good thing this park has a wonderful beach, because the campgrounds themselves are terribly lacking. 

As we drifted off to sleep I could hear a loon really, really faintly off in the distance. It reminded me that despite the park not being all I had hoped it would be, at least I was out of the city and under the stars. 

We woke up to the sounds of a huge thunder storm. There was lightning and peals of thunder crashing all around us. The wind was something to be reckoned with.  Our tent was flapping all around and I was sure that it was going to come crashing down on us at any moment. It wasn't even supposed to rain at all, and yet here we were wondering if the tent was going to hold up. 

After about a half an hour, the storm subsided and we could finally hear the waves on the beach again that we weren't able to hear during the storm.  We heard the first cry of a sea gull telling us it was ok to come out.​

We opened the tent door to discover the dining tent had moved in the wind. Half of what had been inside was now outside and was soaked. Penny's hiking boots had been in the dining tent. Now we were literally pouring out the water that had collected inside of them. 

The fire pit was now surrounded by a little lake.  

What was just as surprising as the storm was how quickly it got hot and muggy.  It was only about fifteen minutes later that the sun was out in full force and drying everything up. It was a good thing too because we had to pack up today and go to a different park. 

We started to lay everything out on my car and on Carsten's car to dry.  I kid you not, you could literally see the steam coming off some of the items as they dried, that's how hot it was.  It was amazing how fast everything dried out. 

After the storm, the birds were very happy. Robins were out looking for worms in the drenched  grass. 
A couple of Merganser ducks were swimming contentedly in the lake. 

The rain had also brought about a surprisingly quick bloom of certain fungi and mushroom.  Where there had been none the day before, all of a sudden there was an ink cap mushroom growing by the bathrooms. 

To our delight, we were fortunate enough to see a  Baltimore Oriole.  Its vibrant orange and black colouring made it easy to spot. However, the fact that it wouldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, made it incredibly hard to get a decent photo. 

It continued to dart around back and forth and sing quite loudly. 

It wanted all eyes on him. But not because he was vain. He had a very different reason to want our attention. 

He was trying to divert our attention away from a cute little fledgling that was hiding in the branches of a near by tree.

The fledgling sat still and just waited patiently and quietly. 

Well, mostly patiently and quietly. When its dad came near it would open its mouth in anticipation of food and would make some calls saying "feed me please!"  If it wasn't for that, I might not have even noticed it was there. 

But once I spotted the fledgling I knew that the dad would not go far. So, I was able to just have some patience and sit and wait for the dad to come back whenever he disappeared. 

The downy feathers on its belly looked more like fur than feathers. 

We sat and watched them for a very long time. And they watched us right back. 

Eventually we had to leave them because we had to finish packing up so that we could get to the next park that we were heading to today -  Sandbanks Provincial Park. 

I really didn't want to leave Darlington. But at the same time I was curious to see what Sandbanks would be like. By 2 pm we were packed up and ready to go.  We said goodbye to Darlington and headed out to our next adventure. 

We woke up to the sounds of the Mourning Doves calling and the waves crashing on the beach below us. It was heavenly! 

It was such a beautiful morning. The yellow Meadow Salsify flowers seemed to be shining as bright as the sun. Penny said that she had been up earlier that morning and that it had down poured for about 5 minutes. You couldn't even tell it had rained at all at this point. 

The Robins were hopping around in the grass looking for their breakfast. 

I spotted a Spotted Wood Wasp on the screen of our tent. I had never seen one before and was intrigued by its white antennae and white spots on the underside of it. 

Today was the perfect day to do some hiking.  We decided upon starting with the Burk Trail.  It was not too long and we were interested in seeing the cemetery that is along the trail. 

We didn't drive there. It was within walking distance of our campsite. We walked the roads until we got to the trailhead. 

Most of the trail is a wide, easy to walk path nestled under the shade of the cedar trees and pines. 

Every once in awhile the trail crosses the road and continues on the other side. 

We didn't have to go very far before we arrived at the little historical cemetery.  It was fenced off with just a single head stone in it. 

However, there was more than one person buried here.  There were multiple members of the Burk family here. This family is who the trail is named after. 

Not far away from the cemetery we came across a sign that informed people that they too could scatter the ashes of their loved ones in this park.  It was an odd sign to see and I have never seen a sign like it in any other park that I have visited so far. 

We saw some plants that looked kind of pretty with yellow spots on the leaves, Unfortunately, the spots are not actually part of the plants natural colouring. It is something called "mayapple rust" which is a fungal parasite that forms tiny bright orange cups on the underside of leaves and shows through the tops of the leaves as yellow spots. 

A little further up the trail we came to what they have labeled as a "look out" on the trail map.  There is a cute little balcony area and a picnic table, however, I would personally not call this a "look out" .  where there may have once been a view of some sort , the trees have grown too tall to allow for a far off scenic view anymore. It is still a pretty spot to stop and take a break though. 

We stopped for a rest here and we saw a female cardinal on the ledge of the railing. It flew off too quickly for me to get a picture of it though. As a matter of fact we saw cardinals many times while we were in Darlington Park, but I was never able to get a picture. For a bird so brightly coloured, they sure are camera shy. 

From the look out railing we could see the trail below us. It looked more like an old road than a trail. That was fine by us though because it meant easy walking. 

At the lookout there is an intersection where you can choose to go north where the trail joins up with the Waterfront Trail or south where it joins up with the McLaughlin Trail.  We chose to go to the McLaughlin Trail. 

Where the Burk Trail and the McLaughlin trail connect the trees are large and shady, which was perfect because this was turning out to be a super hot day. 

Through the trees we could see the tall grasses and gleaming waters of McLaughlin Bay. 

It was the entrance to a beautiful marsh land area. 

There was a little side trail that took us right down to the waters edge. 

It was so peaceful and beautiful. As we stood by the water looking around , there was some movement far out in the water that caught our attention. We could make out some white forms moving in the water. 

To our surprised we realized that it was a mother Mute Swan with her cygnets following close behind. 

She had five little cygnets and they all swam in a straight line behind her. 

We watched the swans for awhile, but then something else caught our attention.  There was a Midland Painted turtle out sunning itself on a log. 

Eventually we looked up from the turtle and noticed that there were even more Mute Swans and these ones were even closer to us. 

Darlington Park is a birders paradise.  There are so many different varieties of birds here. Many of them are here to nest and raise their young. 

​A female Red Winged Blackbird was perched in the tree above our heads. 

While a male Red Winged Blackbird was catching insects on a log near the water. 

There was some other duck like bird swimming in the water. Not sure what it was. Perhaps a duck? Perhaps a Cormorant? 

In the water the Pumpkin Seed Sunfish were swimming around. Their colouring is perfect camouflage for them. 

In case you can't see the Sunfish in the picture above, I have altered the lighting in this picture so that you can see exactly where it is. 

By now the mother swan had safely guided her cygnets to their nest on the far side of the bay.  We could barely make out the shape of her through the tall reeds and grasses. 

The tall grasses on this side of the bay waved in the breeze as I stood for a moment taking in the whole picturesque effect.

But we couldn't stay in this spot all day long. We had other parts of the trail that we wanted to see. So, we made our way back to the main trail. 

The main trail had a beauty of its own.  There were many Bindweed flowers that lined the path. 

The thistles were starting to bud but hadn't quite opened yet. 

We saw a worm in a life or death struggle with an insect of some sort as it tried to carry off the worm that was about five times its size. 

There was evidence that a beaver had been in the area. 

There was also evidence of a Glodenrod Gall Fly by way of a hole in a gall where the adult had exited (or perhaps a predator had entered through the hole).

The fly's eggs are inserted near the developing buds of the plant. After hatching, the larvae migrate to an area below the plant's developing buds, where they then induce the plant's tissues to form into the hardened, bulbous chamber referred to as a gall.

A black squirrel was taking a break from the heat on a shaded branch above us. 

The trail became a bit wild and grassy. 

But then it opened up into a large open area. 

Turns out that the open area was the parking lot and one of the trail heads to the McLaughlin Bay Trail that we were already on. We had entered it at the half way point and now we were at one of the end points. 

The parking lot was empty and there was no one here but us. 

This was a beautiful spot for a picnic if you were so inclined. There was a wonderful large tree near the water with a picnic table and a BBQ pit under it. 

On the other side of the tree was an outcrop of rock and sand that led to the edge of the bay.  I am guessing that people use it as a boat launch for canoes and kayaks. 

You get a great view of McLaughlin Bay from here. 

Looking over to the left, we could see another outcrop area that had a picnic table on it. 

There were more swans over at this end of the bay too. 

And more Red Wing Blackbirds in the reeds. 

We walked down a wide grassy side trail to get to the other outcrop with the picnic table on it to see what was over there. 

There were a bunch of Pumpkin Seed Sunfish in the water on that side. 

There were also some Flowering Rushes growing along the banks of the bay. 

As we walked back we saw more kinds of Bindweed flowers. This park has all sorts of different colours of Bindweed. 

We saw the larva of  a Skeletonizing  Leaf Beetle hanging out on one of the plants. 

Back at the big tree with the picnic table under it, we sat for awhile to take a break. We had been walking for quite awhile and we were beginning to get a bit tired in the heat. 

While we sat, we watched a black squirrel romp through the grass. It had a small white tuft to its tail that made it look like it was a cross between a squirrel and a skunk. 

A Red Wing Blackbird became brave and flew down and landed on the end of the picnic table. 

A young female Robin was taking cover in the shade of a fence post. It stayed there for some time and didn't move. I think she thought that we couldn't see her if she stayed really still. 

By this time we were ready for a bathroom break. Checking our map we found that there was one near by just down a side trail. 

The bathroom was near a large covered picnic area. 

There were some wild roses growing near by. 

The trail from this point changed dramatically to one of thick trees.  It was still easy to navigate though, and we welcomed the shade. 

We came to a bridge that was just before a road crossing. The bridge looked like it was in rough shape at one end. It was warped and the boards were coming apart and we had to be careful crossing it. 

There was another bridge after that which was in much better condition. 

The lush plants growing along the edge of the little creek made it look like a carpet of green. It was a cute little fairy land area. 

We were no no longer in Darlington Provincial Park.  We had crossed the border of the park and were now in the McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve. 

​The McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve borders Darlington Park. This is where Lady Google had sent us the day before instead of the park entrance.  It knew that the park border was here but it didn't know that the entrance technically wasn't, even though you could get there through the connecting hiking trails.  

We stood in the shade of the gateway to the Wildlife Reserve as we decided what we wanted to do. We had already come a long way and we still had to walk back yet.  However, we were curious about what this Wildlife Reserve had to offer. 

As we talked I looked up and saw an old abandoned nest of some Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasps. 

We looked at the map that was posted and found the red "You Are Here" star on it.   We decided that we would walk just a little bit of the trail to see what was there.  But not the whole thing. We would aim for "Jim's Pond" and then we would see how we felt after that. 

The Wildlife Reserve Trail was very much like an old farm road. It was wide and grassy on both sides.  From time to time you could see a bird house on a post in the middle of the grasses. 

The trail was equipped with a Port-A-Potty incase you needed one. 

There was a bench too, but it would have been nicer if the bench had been in a place where there was some shade. The sun was scorching and there was very little shade. 

We made it to "Jim's Pond" but were surprised to see that the signs called it "Greg's Pond"  I guess Jim was having an identity crisis.  On the back of the sign post was a couple more bird houses. 

The pond covered a large area and was filled with the sounds of birds and frogs. 

There was a sign pointing towards aside trail called "Beaton Path" . We declined to go down that path because we thought it might be too long.  Carsten made us laugh when he jokingly said  "Well, we are off the Beaton Path".

Instead we decided that the Dogwood Trail would be a shorter walk and it seemed to have some shade. So we made our way in that direction instead. This trail also had some Bindweed flowers growing along the sides. Once again they were a different colour and type of Bindweed. These were Field Bindweed. 

The Dogwood Trail encircled the edges of another, much smaller, pond. 

There were big Flowering Dogwoods and other trees on this trail.  (One person on iNaturalist has argued that this is not a Flowering Dogwood tree despite there being a sign below it indicating that it is. He says this is either an apple or a cherry tree. He thinks that the sign was put in the wrong spot.  Perhaps he is right. I don't know. I will let you be the judge of that). 

Many of the trees had a sign in front of it that identified the type of tree it was. The signs were written in both English and in braille.  

The bridge across the pond looked new and was aesthetically pleasing. I believe it was made out of recycled materials too, if I recall correctly. 

The little ponds had algae growing in them that may seem unsightly to some people but is actually creating a good home for its inhabitants. 

The frogs are particularly fond of it. 

And the turtles seem to like it here too. 

Among the treetops the Song Sparrows sang and flitted around. 

Other birds were singing their songs too, but I was not familiar with them all. 

Eventually we decided it was time to head back to camp and make the long trek back. 
We went back the way we had come and we got to see all the wonderful swans and visit all the beautiful spots again for a second time. 

We also got to see a few new critters along the way, like a toad hiding in the grass. 

And a Northern Crescent butterfly posing for us on some pretty pink flowers. 

I madly chased a bunch of these White Spotted Sable moths before I finally got one to land long enough to take a picture of one. They were plentiful but they are also fast and very active. 

As we left the trail a Blue Jay came to bid us farewell. 

After a long, hot, day of hiking we decided to stop at the park store to treat ourselves to some ice cream before heading back to camp. 

And when we got back to the campsite, it was chips and dip on the menu. 

While Carsten and Penny stayed at the camp to relax, I took the time to go by myself to see if I could do some birdwatching. I had just come back from a hike and here I was walking some more. Call me crazy I guess.  Sometimes I just can't sit still. 

I started searching the trees to see what birds I could find. I could hear them but I couldn't really see them through the thick foliage of the maple leaves that were striped in various shades of green. 

A cute little red squirrel kept an eye on me as he ate a peanut that someone had left for him. 

My walk took me to where the showers were. 

I took a quick peek inside. They seemed clean enough and in good repair. 

Just outside the showers was a tall lamp post. It had 2 holes in it.  The holes looked just like the ones you would see in a bird house. 

The only reason why I had given it any notice was because I saw this little House Wren land there.  At first she landed on the smaller hole at the top. But then she darted into the bigger hole at the bottom and disappeared for a bit. 

I stood and waited to see if she would come out again. I assumed that she had a nest in there. As I waited I could hear the cheerful trilling song of another House Wren. And moments later a male House Wren landed on a near by branch.  He seemed to be on look out.

As the mother came and went with food for the babies, he would sit and watch and warn if he saw any danger. 

I stayed silent and didn't move a muscle, so I was able to watch them for quite sometime before I finally got tired and headed back to camp. 

Back at camp we could see a ship out in the distance on the lake. As we looked over the cliff at the boat, it made Carsten and I want to go and explore the shores below the cliff. Penny had enough walking for one day so she chose to stay at the camp. 

We followed the shoreline to see how far we could go before we either made it back to our campsite or before we had to turn around and go back the way we came. 

Even out here on the lake we found some swans swimming past us. They were headed in the direction of the bay so they were probably on their way home for the night. 

Behind us the sun was starting to get lower on the horizon. 

A flock of seagulls were soaking up the last of the evening sun on the shore. 

The cliffs began to get taller and taller. They got steeper and steeper with a wall of loose sand between the ground and the trees at the top of them. They would be a difficult climb if we had to climb them.  We figured we would probably have to turn around. We couldn't see what was around the bend yet though so we kept going. 

When we rounded the bend we found some very large cement X's all along the shoreline. I am unsure what these are for. Looking further ahead we were not sure we would be able to get past them. 

Looking up we could see the roots of trees above us. 

To our surprise we did find a trail up to our campsite and we didn't have to turn around and go back the way we came.

We took a moment to look around and enjoy the view of the gulls silhouetted against the evening sky before attempting the climb.  

The trail actually joined up to the one that Penny and I had found on the other side of the fence when we first arrived at camp. It was a bit steep but we had been on much more difficult trails on previous backpacking trips so we were able to navigate it with a bit of effort. 

​​From the top of the cliff we turned around and looked at where we had come from. The view of the lake was as marvelous up here as it was down below. 

With all of our hiking done for the day, we settled in for an evening of board games and fun. 

We played board games until long after the sun went down. Before we knew it, it was midnight and time to turn in. 

As we walked to the washrooms to brush our teeth and get ready for bed we felt blessed to be able to see the bright orange moon in the sky above us and to have experienced such an amazing day.