I had several errands to run today, and one of them took me up to the town of Mono. I decided to go for a short hike at Splitrock Loop Trail since it was just up the road from one of my stops. If you’ve read my other post, How Things Can Change in 4 Days, you know all about my fascination with the birch trees on this trail.
Birches
I love this grove of trees, but I can’t seem to get the photo I picture in my head. One day I will find the shot, until then, expect to see more attempts.
Grandmother Tree in Winter
And then, there is the grandmother tree. She’s even beautiful in winter. It’s fun to be able to revisit the same places in different seasons.
Whites of Winter
On the way home, I spotted this barn that stood out with this amazing blue sky behind it. The white barn would have blended in with the snow on a more typical overcast winter day. Today, however, it screamed at me to take its photo. And with that cloud, how could I not take the photo?
Barn
A little further down I spotted this barn. Both barn photos were taken at the same time, and the skies are very different. The only thing I changed was the direction I took the photo. By turning 180º the bright blue sky has disappeared, and instead, I got this golden cloudy sky.
Amazing how just turning around can give you a completely different look and feel in your photos. Don’t forget to turn around to look behind you next time you’re out photographing.
After a lovely visit with a friend at a local yarn store, I decided to swing by Splitrock Loop trail. My goal was not to hike the entire trail but to get more photos of the birches from the last hike.
Birches
I tried so many different angles of the trees and settled on this one. I love the play of light and shadow in the image.
Three Rocks
I walked a little further down the trail to where the trail splits for the loop section. Here I found this grouping of rocks, with the branches of a tree reaching down from above.
My main goal of this extra short walk was to get an interesting shot of the birches, and I’m really happy with what I’ve come away with.
In the autumn months, it always amazes me how quickly things can change. Only 4 days ago, Nigel and I were here hiking the Splitrock Loop trail. You can read more on The Grandmother Tree here.
Orange Valley
Since our last hike, the colours have deepened towards orange, and in some cases brown. This means that autumn is on its way out, to be replaced with a sea of brown until the first snowfall comes. Until then I’m going to squeeze in every possible bit of autumn I can until it is no more.
Paper Birch
It was a gorgeous day to be out hiking. These beautiful paper birches were glowing in their small patch of sunlight. I think I spent way too much time here but I couldn’t get enough of how pretty they looked.
Grandmother Tree
You can see that the grandmother tree still welcomes us to continue along the trail but has lost some of her leaves. It won’t be long now until she sheds them all and waits through the long winter to get her green leaves again.
My friend Nigel suggested a hike at Splitrock Loop trail and now that the fall colours are at their height up north, it was the perfect opportunity to check out this trail.
Country Road
On the way there we pulled over quite a few times to take some photos of the country roads. This one in particular caught our interest.
Splitrock Trail Loop
After navigating to the parking lot for Splitrock Loop trail, we were greeted by the scene above. Talk about an inviting entrance to a trail. The trail itself is only about 5km and is a loop which makes it a fairly easy trail to hike. There isn’t a lot of up and down on this one either.
Grandmother Tree
My favourite part of this trail is the gorgeous tree that we passed towards the end of our hike. Like a grandmother with her arms open, inviting us further along the path. What a great trail. I highly recommend this one if you’re in the area of Mono Cliffs. I will definitely be visiting this one again soon.
The day started on the gloomy side as I drove with my friend Nigel to Hockley Valley Provincial Park. On the way up we stopped on the side of the road to photograph this barn.
Barn
There are times when I try to stop for photos, if its safe to do so, while I’m driving to and from my destinations. Occasionally, I’ll get something I really like or and sometimes not. If you don’t stop to take these photos (as I sometimes don’t) there’s a chance you might regret it. So, if you can, stop and take that roadside photo when it catches your eye,
Nigel and I decided to hike the Glen Cross Side Trail, a 4 kilometre hike inside Hockley Valley Provincial Park. Our hike was mostly though forest but we did find a large opening overlooking the valley below. It was here that we came across some purple flowers just about to bloom. I guess it’s not too late in the season to find little pops of colour.
Late Bloomers
This late bloomer is the New England Aster.
I also found some mushrooms. ‘Tis the season as they say…lol One of my favourite mushrooms is the crown-tipped coral mushroom. It is one of the more uniquely shaped mushrooms since it looks like something that came from the ocean.
Crown-Tipped Coral
And then there is the yellow-orange fly agaric mushroom. Or as I like to call it the fairy mushroom,
Yellow-Orange Fly Agaric
This reddish-orange mushroom reminds me of the mushrooms you see in stories about fairies or even something from Alice in Wonderland. It was the perfect mushroom to end our hike with. From here it was back to the car to head home.
