Day-trip to Mizzy Lake trail
Sun setting over March Hare Lake, Mizzy Lake trail, Algonquin Park - January 16th, 2016
We drove up on Saturday morning for a snowshoe of Mizzy Lake trail. Weather conditions were favourable with a temperature of -3°C and light winds. I had been watching the radar the evening before and watched as most of Algonquin Park received a healthy dumping of snow. A feeling of euphoria overcame me and a smile crossed my face as we entered The Park along highway#60 - It was picture postcard perfect. A decent amount of fresh snow covered the pines and lakes. It was great to be back in The Park again. We stopped at the West gate to pick up our daily vehicle permit - A requirement if visiting The Park during the day. The permit was now $17.00 - Ouch!
Once we acquired our permit we drove on, heading for our trail which was only 15.4km from the western park border. I was astonished to see Smoke creek was wide open - I could’ve brought my canoe! I have an upcoming winter camping snowshoe trip in February and open water in mid-January meant one thing: The ice on the lakes could be thinner then usual this year - That and the unusually warm winter so far. No ice crossing this time around, we would stick to travel through the bush. Thoughts like that crossed my mind as we pulled into the parking lot of the trailhead for the Mizzy Lake trail.