I had never been to Lake Huron before so we decided to see the country and to stand on the shore of the lake. Looking out over the lake one could see only miles of rippling grey-blue, there were no features at the end of the horizon! That was a neat experience as on the White Rock coast we have a big island in the distance. The beach looked fairly pleasant but today was quite cold and very windy - not great for sunbathing and the water was posted as unsafe for swimming.

The countryside was vast, much bigger than one can appreciate from the maps of this part of Ontario. The one constant was that every kilometer was almost the same as the previous and this went on for over a hundred kilometers. Just mile after mile of shallow rolling hills, farm country growing corn, soy beans or pasture, it could get quite boring after a while. But, if one looks closer you can see subtle changes every few miles. The texture of the ground, the colours of the vegetation, the angularity of the hills all tend to change in subtle ways as you drive. This gave me something to ponder as we drove along.

Down stream from St. Jacobs is a 5km nature trail that hugs the Conestogo River. It has many lovely sights and made for a great morning walk though it was a cold day. The river is much different from the ones out west; this river lazily meanders through the countryside with a slow but constant flow. It is a great home to birds and various water mammals. The constant level of the river allows the grasses to grow within inches of the water giving a full and overgrown look to the place.

This time of year was perfect for variety as one could see some of the colour of the autumn leaves but also the bare branches on other trees. Together there were many opportunities to show contrasts and textures that other seasons would hide. Part of the trail crosses through cow pastures and I came upon a grazing herd, none of whom were much interested or concerned at my presence. In the pasture region I had to watch out for barbed wire fencing, it may look easy to avoid but it packs quite a reminder if you miss it.

October 22 saw us drive up to Elora to view the Grand River and its interesting rock formations. A trip to Saint Jacobs is not complete without a visit to the gorge. Though it is small compared to the river action in the coastal mountains, the Grand River brings its own type of gentle harshness to the scene. I really do find the scenes around Elora to be plentiful and grand. 

The brick construction adds a European element to the architecture, which is novel to a West coaster like me. The age of the buildings and even ruins are not as common out West. The Grand River has some very attractive viewpoints in this region, and one could spend days here playing with the angles and changing light conditions. Though the gorge is not all that deep, the sheerness still gives it grandeur. I find it fascinating in how many different plants dig into the Cliff walls and flourish seemingly suspended in midair. 

Our day of departure. I took a last walk along the millrace and came upon numerous wonderful reflection images. I always feel melancholy on the last day in a place and today was no exception. But rather than stay at the inn and read, I chose to walk the millrace one more time. It sure was worth it. Today, the clouds had parted and exposed brighter periods of sunshine. This gave me all new vistas to enjoy, and it exposed some extravagant reflected pictures of the trees. Some were truly breathtaking. Even with me standing staring at the water for long periods of time, waiting for the right lighting, people still just walked by past completely oblivious to the beauty that was theirs if they would only look. 

We drove up the Tamihi valley on November 8, 2003 to see if we could get up our favorite climb. First I took a series of shots of the Creek. I just never seem to get enough of this one small length of the creek. The trees and logs and mosses are incredible and form fantastic sights with each different angle. Add to that the changes from season to season and you can see why there is so much to photograph here. Once I had collected a few images we ascended the hills. We decided to climb the mountain that had stopped us on our last two attempts. It almost succeeded for a third time with a 40 foot strip of ice covered road. The boys rose to the challenge to chip away two tire ruts for us to drive on. Without solid footing we would have slide off the edge and landed a few hundred feet down. So after 45 minutes we had our path and we were on our way up again. Fortunately it was the only spot blocked by ice.

The views were actually much better then I had been expecting! We then drove further up the valley to Chilliwack lake. The lake offers an endless supply of photo opportunities.

The one thing that always amazes me about the older forests is the thick layers of Moss. Moss is everywhere! The ground is deep in Moss, and though the floor looks clear and easy to walk through, the softness and slipperiness of the Moss actually makes travel quite slow. The Moss also hides obstacles, at one point I slipped and fell onto a stick. It bruised up the posterior a moderate amount. I was just fortunate it wasn't a few inches to the left. 

This collection was taken on two separate trips into the valley our first on Aug 16, 2003 ended abruptly after a short walk, when we returned to our car we found that it had been vandalized and much of our stuff taken. We returned on Sept 27 once the fire hazard had passed.

The views of the mountains are very spectacular. I develop a strong urge to stand on top of them when you see them from mid elevation, but the difficult climbs many require put them beyond my reach. Such a shame.