A friend and I spent a few days at Cyprus Lake campground located within the Bruce Peninsula National Park. I love coming up to this part of Southern Ontario to enjoy the scenery and especially the campfires during the cooler evenings late in August. The days bring warm temps that are comfortable enough to hike the trails in and spectacular sunsets over Cyprus Lake are some of the best I’ve seen. The colours of the clouds in the opposite direction of the sunset also intrigue me.
Cyprus Lake
For some reason I was fascinated by the way the light filtered through the trees to our campground as the sun started its descent. It took a couple of nights to get this one just the way I wanted but I really like how it turned out.
Sunset through the Trees
We spent most of our days wandering the streets of Tobermory and hiking the trails around the campsite. Our first hike was along Cyprus trail out to Indian Head Cove on the shores of Georgian Bay. Many sunbathers were out to enjoy the sunshine. I found it a little too breezy to be out but the sun worshippers were all up for catching the last little bits of summer. Alongside the cove is the grotto. Many people climb down in the cavern and others charter dive boats to scuba dive the grotto.
The Grotto
One of our other hikes lead us south from the Visitors Centre to Dunks Bay Road. At the end of Dunks Bay road there is a small beach which we found to be almost empty. Taking a short break to enjoy some rays we soon got hungry and decided to head back to the trail. My friend stopped walking abruptly which made me look up from my camera fiddling to see a large bear head into the trees heading in the general direction of the trail. Now I know what you’re thinking…where is the photo? Well first the bear was too far away for the lens I had on the camera. Second the bear was in the trees within seconds. Third I was too shocked to do much. I had been to this area a number of times over the years and had never seen a bear up here. During this trip I found that my friend was my good luck charm (more on this later).
Later that evening I had to get more shots of this wonderful light that kept peeking through the trees. This is the Cyprus Lake trail that circles the edge of the lake.
Cyprus Lake Trail
Our final day had us packing up and heading home just after breakfast. We decided to do one last hike. Devil’s Monument was on the way home so we navigated the streets and soon found a place to park. This part of the trail keeps you on your toes. There are many ups and downs. There was a point were I was thinking I would need climbing gear to get over the rocks. With my friend of the lead most of the trail I spent most of my time looking down and out towards the bay. I soon heard a shout and my friend came running toward me as I heard a soft rattle in the background. Looks like my friend had found the Massassauga Rattlesnake. See what I mean about her being lucky š
Massassauga Rattlesnake
We made it down to the monument but decided to take the side trail back to the car, which turned out to be an easier hike out but not the best views. A wonderful few days in the Bruce with a great (and lucky) camping buddy!
