According to a local weather network it was supposed to be an awesome day for a hike, full of sunshine and warmth. However, it did not feel that way when we stuck our heads out of the log cabin.
It was -1C and the car was covered with frost. Despite the signs of “early winter” we put our trust in the weather man and decided to “go for it” anyways.
10/10/10/ at 10 am
After some debate over choice of trail we decided on an 11-km route, which was not only rated as one of the longest, but also one of the most difficult.
A warm breakfast melted our fears and made us venture into the depths of Algonquin. We started at 10am, which some consider to be a lucky hour due to the rare arrangement in date of 10/10/10.
This trail was conservatively rated to take 6 hrs and a quick calculation was enough to figure out that if we start at 10am we will be back by 4pm. That seemed a bit too long, so to shorten the time we started off with a challenging pace.
Mizzy trail & tranquil lakes
Mizzy trail greeted us with several peaceful lakes and although fall came early not leaving too many leaves on the trees, the lakes and nature’s reflection on the water, definitely made up for the fall colors.
The lakes were very tranquil and peaceful. There weren’t too many people on the trail possibly due to its difficulty, but those who we’ve met along the way were avid hikers and nature lovers.
Hiking is not walking
The trail wasn’t easy for sure, within the first half our of the hike I realized that just walking wasn’t enough for this trail. Balancing on rocks, skipping over wet puddles, jumping from heights, stretching arms to grab on to branches for stability, and stepping high on uneven root-covered paths was on the menu. We did not spot any moose, but we had a few encounters with colorful birds and small rodents.
The trail was long, but we made it without problems except for ripping my shoe when my foot got caught in the root of a tree. We arrived back to the car by 1:30pm, which means we actually made the trail in 3.5 rather than 6 hours. That gave us the idea of checking yet another trail.
Here come urban hikers and cigarette butts
We chose a short 2.1km trail of moderate difficulty a few kilometers down the road. This trail had a completely different feel than the previous one. It was crowded, busy and polluted. We almost instantly spotted cigarette butts, plastic bottles, and aluminum food wrappers on the ground. Not good!
We also spotted mostly “urban hikers”, couples adamant about pushing strollers, with little success, through root-covered and rocky paths and young women meticulously made up holding Gucci purses, wearing large “Jacky O” sunglasses, while balancing in high stiletto boots over the uneven terrain that nature provided. It did not seem as though any of them knew what to expect when they left for the trail this morning.
Despite these odd moments on the short trail the long Mizzy Lake trail was definitely worth seeing. Our next trip to Mizzy Lake will be in May or June, the time when we are nearly guaranteed to spot a moose.
