Today I headed out to pick up the trail from highway 89 but this time I had a friend of mine join me for the hike. It was a nice leisurely walk compared to what I normally do and that was a nice change of pace. Hiking in north from the highway takes us straight into Boyne Valley Provincial Park. Our goal today was to reach Murphy’s Pinnacle.
View of the trail from the pinnacle
The pinnacle offers great views of Boyne Valley, the challenge was getting up to it. There are two ways to get up to the hill and we, of course, choose the harder way. In the photo above you’ll see the easy way to get up to the pinnacle. We found an unmarked trail that headed steeply uphill, leveled out and then headed uphill again. That’s the one we choose. (It’s the one to the left in the photograph below.)
Murphy’s Pinnacle
Before reaching the top we noticed a swarm of bees cross our trail. It was an unusual experience to see that many bees traveling together. We decided to wait for them to cross before finishing our climb. At the top we took a break to eat our snacks and spend some time photographing the valley below. When we started our hike the was barely any clouds in the sky but while we sat on the pinnacle large clouds rolled in.
View from Murphy’s Pinnacle
On our way back towards highway 89 we noticed some yellow flowers in the distance along a side trail. Turning off the main trail we headed their way and found a few large groupings of lilies. After spending a few minute here I realized that the shots just weren’t working for me but as I turned around looking back toward the main trail I saw this view and had to get the shot.
Approaching Storm
I love the cloud shape in the photo. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to go out in the middle of the day 😉
