Rather than follow Highway 17, I went south on Highway 11 to Huntsville, stopping at a cute village called Powassan for breakfast. From Huntsville I drove east into Algonquin Provincial Park. This might be the route I take one day when I finish off North Bay to Ottawa--but for now I was just another tourist in the park.
The day was a little strange weather-wise, with a severe storm warning for the afternoon. I got to the park around 12:00, and the sun was out and it seemed nice, so I started out hiking an 8 kilometre loop trail.
In just minutes the sky turned dark and rain started falling, so I decided I better turn back.
I continued down the highway, and the rain was letting up, so I stopped to do a little 1.5 km loop boardwalk trail. I decided to run it, and sure enough just a few minutes in it began to rain again. I finished running the loop and headed to the park's visitor's centre, where I had a light lunch at the cafeteria and started learning a bit about the park, including that it is supposed to be the best place in Canada to see moose.
The rain stopped again while I was there, so I continued down the highway to a 2 km loop trail called Beaver Pond.
From the Beaver Pond trail head I drove further east, now alone on the highway. So far I had enjoyed Algonquin quite a bit, but I was really hoping to see moose, and with the highway empty, it gave me more opportunity to scan the numerous ponds and ditches on either side.
Then, sure enough, I could barely believe my eyes, were three moose!
I pulled over into the shoulder immediately, and ran back. This turned out to be a mistake, because obviously they did not appreciate the noise of my feet on the gravel. I heard them moving around and crashing up into the brush from out of the water. I could see them in the trees, but barely at all. Darn it, I thought, and went back to the vehicle.
Then I heard more crashing, and out of the woods came mom!
I stood on the running board of the jeep so that the vehicle was between me and her, and she look at me and looked around, and then crossed the highway behind me.
Quickly I changed to video mode:
Eventually a car came along and they headed back into the woods.
Still thrilled from the moose sighting, I stopped just ahead at the logging museum, which involves another short (~1.5 km) trail with outdoor exhibits on logging.
It proved quite interesting, and I was especially fascinated to learn that logging continues in the park today, albeit (apparently) 100% sustainably.
From the park I went south to a tiny place called Maynooth, which actually has a hostel in it.
I checked in there, then headed west to see the part of Algonquin park that sticks down from the main rectangular part of the park.
In the end there was not much to see here--what was once known as the south gate is now abandoned--and anyway it really began to storm while I was driving this stretch (presumably at roughly the same time two tornadoes were hitting Ottawa about 200 kilometres east of where I was).
Back at the hostel I began to get worried about pain in my left big toe which had been bothering me since one of my earlier hikes. I broke this toe 14 or 15 years ago and it often causes me discomfort, but this was far worse than anything I had felt since it was actually broken. I decided I better get it checked out, so I drove down to a hospital in the nearby town of Bancroft. I spent almost three hours in emergency, but eventually x-rays proved nothing broken, so I was relieved. I had a beer at the Bancroft Brew Pub to celebrate.
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