This time of year is perfect for hiking on any trail, regardless of where you are in the Northern Hemisphere. The heat and humidity of summer has abated, and the plague of mosquitos and black flies has died away in the cooler temperatures.
Since we started our Trans-Canada journey back in the spring, we have remained focused on the trail in Southern Ontario, and although the terrain doesn’t have the magic of the mountains, or the song of the oceans, it’s particularly beautiful at this time of year.
These are some of the sights from the trail during the past couple of weeks.
I’ve updated our status, and so far this year we have covered 587 km (365 miles). It’s considerably less than I thought we would cover, but as Helen often says, every day spent out of doors is a good day. In other words, I’m not worrying about it.
This is what our journey looks like to date. The black lines indicate what we have completed of the green trail.
I hope the weather holds for many more weeks so that we can continue to enjoy the beauty of autumn in Canada.
Following A Bold Plan 
Beautiful photos. I think you’ve made a lot of progress.
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Thanks Dan. I have to keep reminding myself that getting to the end is not the goal … it’s enjoying this country, and the process of discovery that’s important.
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You and Helen did well with the number of miles covered this year. I didn’t even come close, but enjoyed the trails immensely…had some beautiful days. The Trans Canadian trail is gorgeous and I hope you have one or two more adventures before the weather turns.
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We’re quite accustomed to hiking all year so the winter weather isn’t necessarily a deterrent. We won’t go out if driving conditions are iffy, and I don’t like to venture out if temperatures drop below -10C (14F)
Preliminary predictions are that we are going to have a very snowy winter. If that’s true, our snowshoes may get a major workout – something I’m not necessarily looking forward to 😏
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it looks like this might be the last nice weekend for awhile but with the unusual weather patterns we’ve been happening it wouldn’t surprise me if the weatherman is wrong on this one. I remember taking the kids out in November to play soccer during gym classes. That was the year by the way when we had that huge snow fall in January.
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Slow travel is good travel in my book. Take time to breathe the air and look around you. Love the autumn colours in your second image and the waterways. What does it mean by ‘baited’ area? I also like the composition of your last image – the bike casually leaning against the wooden fence amid all the fallen leaves. Looks so peaceful. I hope you manage to do a bit more before winter hits. I really enjoy seeing your part of the world.
Jude xx
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Thanks Jude. Helen and I are used to hiking all winter, so I expect we won’t be stopping unless the weather is really uncooperative. That makes driving to and from the trail rather treacherous.
My bike was actually leaning against a small bridge, and we were traveling through a section of trail with 11 bridges practically back-to-back. As we crested one hill, there was another bridge at the bottom. It was sooo much fun … a bit of an adrenaline rush.
The way I understand it, these ‘baited’ areas are where there are food sources put out to encourage wildlife into the area in the midst of so much urbanization.
Hunters also do it to attract the animals they are trying to shoot … not so cool.
In conservation areas, like this one, they have to specifically tell hunters they are not allowed … which as a hiker passing through the area, makes me really happy.
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OK. Thanks for the explanation. I wouldn’t be happy either if hunters shot down migratory birds.
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It seemed that summer never really made it – to the North, anyway, but autumn is making up for it, in spades. What glorious weather!
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It’s the same here, Maggie. It took until mid-September before we finally lost the mosquitos! Usually they die off by mid-summer from the heat, and all the standing water has been evaporated.
This weekend is going to be gorgeous! Enjoy it now while it lasts 🙂
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Looks like your are making progress – how wonderful to have such an ambitious goal. I’m enjoying the cooler temps as well. Just 2 weeks ago it was still hot and humid, so the change has been welcomed.
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The cooler temperatures make it so much nicer to be outdoors. We always start off with an extra layer that eventually needs to be removed as the morning heats up … which is fine by me 🙂
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Lovely – you don’t need mountains to be beautiful. I always love the juxtaposition of names from different sources in North America, and how many of them are familiar to me. I grew up near Durham – England – but have never heard of Penetanguishene. I suppose our place names are the same, many deriving from different waves of invaders, but so many centuries ago now it doesn’t seem odd.
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I always joke that the early pioneers in Canada didn’t have much imagination. They just named places based on where they came from in England or Scotland 🙂
There are the exceptions, like Penetanguishene which is a First Nations name.
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I love your positive approach to your ‘bold plan’…Helen’s too!
Sending you good vibes for extended warm weather in your area!
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Thanks! We have a gorgeous weekend to look forward to. I hope you do too 🙂
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Wow amaizing. Autumn colours made world beautiful. Really nice captures.
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Thank you 🙂
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You’re welcome.
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Oh it looks lovely! I want to come birding in that baited area, and the oranges, and golds of that trail at Penetanguishene are gorgeous! I hope the weather holds out a bit longer too.
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When I was in Penetanguishene on Thursday, large groups of ducks and geese would come flying low off Georgian Bay in V formation. It was beautiful.
Of course I missed getting a photo each and every time it happened!!
You would have gone crazy here yesterday with the birds. I haven’t seen them quite so active in a long time. We had a wide variety of birds, both big and small, including cardinals and woodpeckers in the backyard. Large groups of them were stopping to take a bath in the water which had pooled on top of the pool cover. I could sit and watch them indefinitely!
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Cardinals and Woodpeckers in your yard!! The Cardinal has been on my life list forever. We don’t have them here.
I had hoped to see one just one while in NYC but, I didn’t see one. 😦
Yes, I would have been doing my happy dance with excitement there yesterday.
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omg – we get so many cardinals and they always seem to be traveling in pairs. They are noisy birds (especially at the crack of dawn) when they start calling to each other, but they’re guaranteed to make me smile.
I could almost guarantee you a cardinal sighting – especially in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees and their bright red colour makes them stand out!
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Yes, I’m thinking early May in NYC wasn’t the right time to see Cardinals.
The only birds with red in their coloring here are Finches, and in Winter we see Tanagers which are Yellow with Red crowns.
And a couple of Woodpeckers with Red on their heads, crowns.
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This looks pretty, Joanne. I especially love the sky in the Durham region photo–gorgeous!
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I love clouds like this 💕
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I love the colors! It’s the perfect time of year for a hike or bike ride. You two have fun!
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It looks really nice, I love the autumn colour’s!
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For the most part, the changing colours seem to be very late in coming. I’m hoping we will see much more colour in the weeks ahead 🍁🍁🍁
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Haha, yeah. They are just sonbeautiful but It’s a bit chilly though. 🙂
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