Living Life by Design - with Alan and Mark: Day Trip

Day Trip to Aubrey Falls - May 28th, 2014

There are some places that we just keep revisiting because they are so beautiful and because we know that we see something new each time. Nothing could have prepared us for what we were going to discover when we returned to Aubrey Falls yesterday.

Setting off under a cloud-covered sky, but with fairly warm temperatures, we kept our eyes open for wildlife - one of our favourite pastimes. Just as we headed north from Iron Bridge, we spotted an elk crossing the road ahead of us. We've seen them before in this area, usually far off in the surrounding fields in this farmland area, along with wolves, bears and, of course, deer by the dozen. This was the closest we had been to an elk in the wild in Ontario.

One of the things that Alan misses about the U.K. is the springtime, which is much longer than here in Ontario. That being said, there were many blossoms along the roadside - some of which had a nice fragrance.

Just south of Aubrey Falls, there is a large area that was destroyed during a forest fire back in 1948. Although the scenery is rife with burnt tree stumps, the resilience of nature is shown by the new growth and upshoots that are abundant on the forest floor.

Upon arrival at Aubrey Falls, we covered ourselves with insect repellent - based upon our experience from last summer when we had been bitten to pieces!! In fact, there were fewer bugs around than we had expected.

The walk from the parking lot always reminds me of an aisle in a natural cathedral, with white birch trees on either side of the trail. With the clearing sky, and emerging sunshine, the forest floor was lit up and the contrast between the freshly sprouted leaves on the trees and the pure blue sky was impressive - especially as the puffy clouds kept changing shape to create ever new vistas.

Having heard the roar of the falls long before reaching them, it still thrills us to step onto the bridge over the gorge and see them for real. (When we had trekked here just over a week ago, the waters were just trickling as the GS had turned them off by the time we had reached there in the late afternoon. This time, we had left early in the morning so that we could get there before this would happen again). We were rewarded by the familiar sight that always enthralls us. There's something about running water that we find mesmerizing - and very calming.

While standing at our normal viewing spot, Mark noticed a crag on the other side of the gorge which was closer to the actual falls. We wondered if it was accessible, so we investigated in our 'Adventure Mode'. You can imagine the glee in our hearts when were able to navigate the rocks, nooks, and crannies and emerge right there on the crag with a view of the falls which was awesome!!

Alan near the top of the falls

Never thought Alan would dangle his legs!

...or lie down so close to the edge!

Mark taking it easy at the top of the crag...

Mark - feeling on top of the world!

Thumbs up! Mark on the crag!

After spending about an hour just drinking in the experience, we started our journey back home, marveling how different things looked when the sun was shining.

Amazing sky on the journey back.

Part of the beautiful Mississagi River

Open Farmland - in contrast to the surrounding hills

Flack Lake from a distance

Rapids on the Little White River

46 pounder - landed in May, 2013 - Flack Lake

On the way back, we dropped in to Laurentian Lodge to meet a couple at whose wedding Alan is going to officiate in June. Mark took a walk up past the waterfalls there to the beautiful Flack Lake where, last year, someone caught a 46lb lake trout. This is now mounted inside the restaurant at the Lodge.

One of the many lodges at Laurention Lodge Resort

Finally, we took a detour along some local back roads in the hopes of seeing a bear or two. Alas... no luck today (and I suppose we should count ourselves lucky - having seen 4 the day before!!!). However, at the end of the day we had seen an elk, a deer, and two sandhill cranes. We also come across a small lake that we hadn't seen before. Mellon Lake appears to be mostly for fishing... though it did look swimmable and it has placed itself on our 'to do' list for this summer.