Ross McLean Loop

Despite grey skies Saturday morning, we decided to do another day hike from our new guidebook. Eric picked the Ross McLean Loop, which was added to the Bruce Trail in 2007.

We had to park in front of someone’s farm and pick up the trail from a path around their barn. From the field, the trail then gets into woods, then goes through a small section of mossy rocks and crevices, then back to woods, then to a creek with an underground waterfall, then past a lake which becomes marshy before the trail veers back into woodland. The hike took about an hour and a half and, thanks to all the rain the last few days, we all looked like mud monsters at the end of it. By the time we were done, the sun had come out.

Lion’s Head

Sunday we drove to Red Bay to check out the nursery at Earthbound Gardens where I bought a cute little Dwarf Balsam Fir. Then we saw a bear sneaking out between the cottages. We kept driving. Eric sized up a few boat launches (Bass Season Countdown has begun). The girls heckled seagulls as we snacked at a roadside chip wagon. I bought ceramic tea paraphernelia at a community art gallery. Eventually, we made our way to a side trail at Lion’s Head Provincial Nature Reserve and had a gorgeous hike through lilacs, pine, hemlock, and cedar.

Oak Island, NC

Boat Lake

Pretty purple flowers and chemtrails

I was surprised to find a chemtrail in amongst the macros of wildflowers taken on a little weekend trip to the Grand River in September. I hadn’t noticed it at all since I can’t see what I’m aiming at when I put my camera on the ground.

More about chemtrails from the Book of Knowledge entry on ‘Chemtrail consipiracy theory‘:

The chemtrail conspiracy theory holds that some trails left by aircraft are actually chemical or biological agents deliberately sprayed at high altitudes for purposes undisclosed to the general public in clandestine programs directed by government officials.