0 algonquin provincial park...

early saturday morning, we grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to algonquin to check out the fall colours. while i knew it would be busy since the colors were in 'peak', i was just not expecting it to be thaat busy. we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for nearly 2 hours in a lineup to get to the park's information station where everyone had to get parking permits. because of that, we got there much later than we were expecting and couldn't do the full trail we wanted to - the centennial ridges trail. it's classified as 'difficult' and is supposed to take 3 hours; however, because we were only starting our walk at 2:30, we knew we wouldn't finish it before it got dark, and i did not want to be stuck in a huge park in the dark.

we did what we could and managed to still see some great sprawling views. in my opinion, the trees are a lot nicer looking and much more vibrant driving through the park on highway 60 rather than once you're hiking the trails. regardless, it was still beautiful and just amazing to look out and see a never-ending sea of trees. i really had my hopes up that we would see a moose, but alas, we saw no wildlife, unless you count a chipmunk.

dylan really prepared us for the worst. yes, that's bear spray.

along the highway.

that's us!

oh canada.

i mean, really...

wine stop.

hello, is anybody out there?

chilling the wine in a creek.

i think we'll plan our next visit for the summer and maybe stay in a cabin. that way we have a lot more time to explore the park. it really is beautiful, though. it's approximately a 4 hour drive from downtown toronto and a definite recommendation.