My first hike in 7 months and I couldn’t stop smiling. The Whiskey Rapid Trail is a 2.1 km hike near the west gate of Algonquin Park. It is October 1st and the colours along the Hwy 60 corridor were amazing and the sun was making them really pop. I am 65 years old and this has happened every year, the trees changing, and at least for the last 45 years I have been mesmerized by the beauty of an Ontario fall. Our house backs onto a deciduous tree line which every fall turns bright reds, yellows and oranges so it’s not like this is a new experience. But still it is almost like Christmas very magical.

The trail itself starts off through the woods with a carpet of roots along the forest floor. It then cuts down to the Oxtongue River and the loop back follows the river to the Whiskey Rapids. We started off on the trail through the woods and then did the loop back along the river. That was just luck and also was the most gradual way down. The way back was relative flat with some boardwalks and stairs for the marshy parts, but it did have quite a steep but short hill to get back up to the parking lot. The parking itself holds around 20 to 30 cars, but people keep coming and going. There wasn’t alot of colour this weekend along the trail, so if you want to see colour, try for one of the hikes which has a bigger view.

The pictures above are all from the Whiskey Rapid Trail in Algonquin park.

A day of rest next and then off to the Torrance Barrens.