Excursion to the Bruce Peninsula
Our latest excursion was a four day camping trip at Bruce Peninsula National Park, near the tip of the Bruce Peninsula.
The camping at the Cyprus Lake campground could be described as "rugged", however, it was quite luxurious compared to canoe camping. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon with a van load of kayaks, bikes, tents, and camera gear.
Wednesday morning was a beautiful day, and our main activity was an approximately 8km hike. We headed out the trail to Georgian Bay, then followed that along to the famous "grotto" and swimming area.
At one point, the Bruce Trail headed back inland, and all the major trail signs pointed that way. But we spotted a small marker pointing along the rocky shoreline. A quick check of the map board revealed a trail that had faded in the sunlight and was barely visible. We took the long way around, and it was worth it! (Although at one point the trail climbed back through a small cliff that is breaking away and will soon bury that part of the trail in a couple tons of rock.)
Eventually we emerged high on a cliff with howling winds. At this point, the cliff face is around 30m above the water, but it continues about 170m below. This is the deepest part of Georgian Bay.
From there, we descended to the rocky beach and the famous land arch and grotto. This is where all the people were hanging out. Kristin and Jakob braved the chilly water and went for a swim. Later, we discovered the small opening in the rocks that lead to a slanted passageway to the water below, and the entrance to the grotto.
When Kristin discovered the pool in the grotto, she just had to go back up and change into her bathing suit. The water in here was even colder! The grotto pool glowed with a beautiful blue colour, lit by an underwater entrance. I was the only guy down there with full camera gear on a tripod, which led another visitor to question if Kristin was doing a modelling session.
On Thursday we headed into Tobermory, where we found a geocache before boarding a zodiac for a speedy trip out to Flowerpot Island. We stayed for four hours and enjoyed more incredible scenery and fantastic hiking trails.
Thursday night brought a thunderstorm and a torrential downpour. We didn't quite finish with dinner before the rain hit. Since we were car camping, we had a dining shelter set up for shelter which was quite nice. It was also nice that the rain let up right around bed time so we could get into the tents without getting soaked.
Friday was home time, but not without making a stop in Lion's Head for lunch at the local diner. After getting our fill, we headed out on the Bruce Trail to the Lion's Head Lookout, the site of more incredible views (and a geocache of course).
Click HERE to visit the Photo Gallery for more pictures of the trip.
