The Mizzy Lake Trail ... In The Rain - (Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario)

The one hiking trail in Algonquin I wanted to do was the Mizzy Lake Trail. It's the longest designated hiking trail in the park at 11 kilometers (almost 7 miles), and it's supposed to offer some good wildlife viewing opportunities as it travels by nine ponds and through varied terrain.

As planned, we were loaded into the Jeep early on on the road. It was drizzly, but warmer than yesterday.

Shortly after entering the park, Esther spotted a bear on the side of the road sitting on its haunches near the edge of the forest. Unfortunately, by the time I turned around, all the rest of us got to see were the shaking bushes where it had quickly retreated back into the cover of the trees.

As planned, we stopped at the Lake of Two Rivers Cafe where Steve and Linda got coffee and Esther got some hot tea. A fellow in the parking lot told us about a moose at the 22.5 kilometer mark on the park road.

Before we got to that point, Esther spotted a moose cow. We turned around and she gave us a good look at her.

She moved up the road and posed in front of the Bartlett Lodge sign.

A few seconds later, a truck with a large fifth wheel came flying over the hill and that was a little too much for her. She scampered into the woods and she was gone.

Less than three kilometers away, there was another moose right where the guy at the cafe told us.

We crept closer for a better look.

We watched for awhile before moving on to the Mizzy Lake Trailhead.

I've read ... and many people have told us ... that the best place to see the most wildlife is on the main road through the park - Hwy 60. People that have been in the backcountry numerous time say the same thing. So far, our experience has been in line with those comments.

At the trailhead, ....

it was raining a bit but we had our rain gear. I didn't put my rain pants on and later regretted that decision.

The first part of the trail was through thick trees so we were somewhat sheltered from the rain. Eventually, we came to large beaver pond.

This trail is an interpretive trail with a guide booklet at the trailhead. We stopped at the first point of interest, read through the guide, and prepared to move on.

The trail continued through the trees along the pond.

I read that the trail can be very muddy even during dry times. Well, it wasn't dry and it was often quite muddy. There were, however, a few boardwalks that helped.

I really liked how the trail went in and out of the woods and along ponds and marshes.

Beautiful habitat.

We saw numerous varieties of mushrooms and other fungi. This one in particular caught my eye.

We carried on in the light rain.

After a long walk over boardwalks, rocks, roots, and through the mud, we came to the part of the trail that runs on an old railroad bed.

Our guide said that wildlife is often seen along this section and to be on the lookout for moose, bear, and wolf tracks.

We did see some moose tracks, but we didn't see any wildlife. I scanned the edges of the ponds with my binoculars.

Still, the remoteness and stillness were mesmerizing.

The rain finally ceased and Steve said "This would be a good place to do some meditation". He was right.

After enjoying the open, rainless, wide open section of the trail .....

we turned back into the thick woods. And immediately it started raining again.

And it rained, and it rained, and it rained. We had about 3 miles or so to go. We hoped the rain would pass, but it didn't. It just kept raining and our already muddy trail turned into a flooded trail mess. We adopted the trail straddle method as we walked.

Not only was the trail flooded, but the trees weren't providing much shelter AND the trail was surprisingly overgrown. So the wet vegetation along the sides of the trail soaked us as well.

Note to self: Always wear long pants on this trail and go ahead and put on those rain pants if it has been raining. :)

Along the way, this female Spruce Grouse took our mind off the rain for just a bit.

She didn't seem to mind us at all, and she was very cooperative with our photos.

Esther took this photo of us exiting the woods onto a boardwalk. We looked like we'd been run through a washing machine.

We were all soaked to the bone.

We remained in good spirits, but we were certainly ready to be done. The little drizzle at the beginning was okay, but the complete downpour the last couple of miles pretty much did us in.

However, I still think this is probably the best designated hiking trail in the park. We would certainly do it again during a future visit.

After our hike, we made a beeline back to the hotel where we got hot showers and laid out all of our clothes across the room to dry. We doubted everything would get dry by morning, but we had to try.

After showers, I went over to the Mad Musher to use their Wi-Fi to get some work done. After I got photos uploaded and a Journal entry posted, Linda joined me to return some emails. We've got 150 people registered for the Fall Rally, and we have some things we need to get accomplished.

Later, Steve & Esther joined us for an early dinner.

After a couple games of Qwirkle back in our rooms - it was still raining - I went back to the restaurant to get some more posting done. Finally, around 11:00, I went back to the room and we called it a night.

Tomorrow, we are driving up to Pembroke where we'll explore the eastern part of the park. The weather is finally supposed to improve, and we hope to do some short hikes tomorrow followed by a paddling trip on the Barron River on Monday.

Algonquin has been challenging our mettle so far, but we're enjoying the nature and we hope to end our little trip with a couple of better weather highlights. :)