The Park For All Seasons

THE PARK FOR ALL SEASONS
 October 18 & October 20

Nature film makers John and Janet Foster tell me they spend as much time in Algonquin Provincial Park as they can. It is a special place to them. When I told them that my wife and I were there one recent October morning, and had enjoyed lunch at a picnic spot along Opeongo Road, at Costello Creek, Janet was quick to point out that this was the very location where she had filmed the otters that appear in their Algonquin show. Opeongo Road is special, she says, as it takes one down a long stretch of good habitats with wonderful chances for filming. When we did the 9 km drive along the road which ends at the Lake Opeongo Store and Outfitters, we passed two groups of birders, and numerous photographers along the way.

The Fosters’ favourite season in Algonquin is winter though, and they enjoy exploring the trails on snowshoes, and filming as they go. I have included myself in a “bunch of the boys” who get together every winter, usually in February, and take in the wonders of the Park scene at this special time of the year. Here, snow will be deep, but enough people visit its trails and facilities to keep the trails well packed. It is a time of the year when gray jays and black-capped chickadees land on your shoulders for pieces of sandwiches. Some of my best winter shots have been taken in Algonquin Park where the sun glistens on clumps of snow hanging off the conifers, here and there a few open patches of water gurgling in the wetlands surrounded by abstract snow mounds that the winds constantly sculp around tall, grassy vegetation. And it is here and there, too, where the gray jays often catch up to us.

When my wife and I arrived one weekend in early October, the colours had not yet climaxed in the east end of the park, but were quite spectacular nearer the west end. We spent part of our time on the Big Pines Trail, one of my favourites among the 14 interpretive hiking trails that Algonquin has to offer. Big Pines is one of the more recent trails to be established in the park, made possible through the financial support of the Friends of Algonquin and the Algonquin Forestry Authority. As the name suggests, it is the white pines we come to see, but these are impressive behemoths, at least 75 of them, reaching into the sky for at least 100 feet. Much of the park’s human history centres around the winter cutting of white pine and the spring river drives by the early lumberman.

Big Pines Trail, the Spruce Bog Boardwalk and the Logging Museum are just a few of the attractions we will see during an interpretive bus tour that I have planned for Algonquin in June of next year. One of those tall pines is on my website at www.naturestuff.net and you can see it along with details of the June bus trip if you look under Events from the Main Menu of the website. And I am also working on a possible winter tour of the park for the following year. Other features of the event include a tour of the Visitor Centre along with lunch, and a road tour of the park as I point out some of the campgrounds and hiking trails and other features along the way. There will also be on board videos of Algonquin as we make our way from Belleville to the park.

Part of the success of today’s educational and interpretive programs in the park can be attributed to the Friends of Algonquin, founded in 1983. They have developed over 70 new publications and other educational products, and have raised an incredible one million dollars for the new Visitor Centre and Logging Museum, have annually staffed these facilities and contributed towards many of the existing interpretive programs. The Algonquin Park website at www.algonquinpark.on.ca is actually managed by the volunteer group. Of course, their spectacular nature store in the Visitor Centre is always a big hit where one can purchase sounds of nature recordings, videos/DVDs, souvenirs, clothing, and books on just about every conceivable natural history subject.

One of the successful events held each year is Loggers’ Day at the Logging Museum. This summer, the event featured demonstrations and displays around the Logging Museum Trail, an old time loggers’ lunch in the sawlog cookery, and entertainment by the well know Wakami Wailers, singing and telling lumberjack stories. Sandbanks Provincial Park Assistant Superintendent Mark Despault is a member of that group.