Hiking the Cypress Trail portion of the trail to the lake:
Driftwood glasses:
Kev and I at the top of the waterfall leading from Cypress Lake to Horse Lake:
Cliffs on the Georgian Bay Trail ... the kids had a lot of fun climbing here. You can see Iain peering over from the top of the cliff if you look carefully:
Georgian Bay at Indian Head Cove:
A tree at Indian Head Cove ... check out where it managed to establish itself. The Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Park is a world biosphere reserve because of its ancient trees. Some of the tiny ancient cedars growing out of the rocks are 1000 years old.
Another typical photo ... it's remarkable how plants can die in my garden no matter how carefully I tend them, and yet check out this wild columbine, growing out of a crack in the cliff with barely any visible detritus or dirt in which to anchor itself ...
More climbing at Indian Head Cove ...
The Natural Arch ...
The kids sitting on the arch ...
Alison in "the rabbit hole". This is the easy way down to the grotto ... if you fit. I don't any more ... it was much more difficult than I remembered to get down. This is a vertical tunnel that cuts through the rock and comes out by the large erratics at the mouth of the grotto. Another way down involves sliding horizontally along a narrow ledge ... also better for the under 20/skinny set. All the other methods involved rock climbing down the face ... SO FUN! Although I did require the assistance of a kind Asian man who got me started in the right direction.
The mouth of the grotto. The lake is below the lip of the grotto entrance, yet the grotto is filled with water. There's a tunnel out to Georgian Bay about five feet below the water's surface (Alison could just hook her toes on the top of the tunnel). My interior photos did not work ... too bad because the eerie light coming through the side of the cave was spectacular.
Bad photo of the kids swimming in the grotto. A teen on a hiking trip with a YMCA camp commented "Is it possible to have water below freezing and still liquid??" Very, very cold! (Not quite as cold as the time I went swimming in Lake Huron at Easter, but very close ... you'll notice I didn't actually get in ... yes, I have matured ;-) ...)
The view from inside out:
Post-hike. Kev made it out part way today, and committed himself to making it all the way to Georgian Bay before the end of our trip.
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