I got up past 8h15 and packed up the car. On the way to breakfast at Vi’s, I said good-bye to my hostess and staff at the motel and turned in my key; it was another fine stay and I really appreciate the flexibility that being able to keep the key affords my packed schedule. Skye Mountain had lost a lot of its leaves, especially on the upper slopes; there was still some colour but it was well past peak. I drove out the Orangedale Road to Orangedale and continued on out the Stoney Point Road, which I had explored this summer, as I was curious to see how the leaves were there. I turned around at MacLeans Cove: it was a very pretty drive along the water of North Basin, but numerous evergreens made for fewer colours than I had hoped. I returned to Orangedale, which, given its autumn colours this year, would be more appropriately named Yellowdale, and then took the Marble Mountain Road towards Valley Mills. The bridge is currently closed at Valley Mills, so I followed the detour onto Eden Road and drove it to River Denys. Both the Marble Mountain Road and Eden Road had nice colours, but the few reds in evidence were mostly pastels. Eden Road had been freshly gravelled and graded; they were still working on its northern end.
seen across the North Basin from MacLeans Cove on the Stoney Point Road
seen from Eden Road at the bridge over an unnamed brook/inlet
From River Denys, I took the Big Brook Road to West Bay Road, stopping for photos at the railroad crossing and at Archway Falls, where it began to mist. In West Bay Road, I turned onto the Cenotaph Road and drove it to West Bay, where I took the County Line Road to Cleveland and Highway 4 to MacIntyre Lake, by which time the misting had stopped. I captured the colours along the lakeshore there. The Barberton Road ends on Highway 4 close by and I didn’t remember having driven it previously, so I turned onto it, or so I thought; it was the old road, which dead-ended at the new road with no access to it, so I backtracked to Highway 4 and then turned onto the new road. It is paved and, as it descends towards its end on the Long Stretch Road, has some fine views of distant highlands, most likely part of the Big Ridge, but the lighting was very poor and I could not identify with any precision what I saw; I definitely want to return here with “Big Bertha” next year. Along this road, the colours were well past peak, though some yellows and oranges were still pretty, and the tamaracks were well along in transition to the fall yellows. I turned onto the Long Stretch Road, where the conditions were the same as along the Barberton Road, and took it to the Trans-Canada Highway near the Port Hawkesbury airport. As I was descending into Port Hastings, I saw some very nice colours across from the electric substation, but I couldn’t stop due to vehicles behind me, so missed out getting any photos there.
From Port Hastings to Port Hood and beyond to the Rocky Ridge Road, the colours were now at peak on Highway 19, though a fair number of trees exposed to the winds had lost their leaves and stood bare. Highway 19 was less busy than the Trans-Canada Highway, so I stopped above and at Mill Brook for some photos there. In Troy, I dropped in for a nice visit with friends there and then made my way to Port Hood, where I got my room and cleaned up for the evening.
seen from the hill above Mill Brook on Highway 19
seen from the bridge over Mill Brook on Highway 19
to the right of the red tree
Dear friends on Rocky Ridge had invited me for dinner, so I drove up there. Pleasant conversation with them and the other dinner guests ensued. The lady of the family is a marvellous cook and we sat down to a beautiful table prepared for a grand meal, beginning with a dinner salad with croutons and cheese and followed by a main course of seafood pasta penne, made with lobster, shrimp, and scallops in a delightful creamy sauce, and finished with a sugarless apple pie served with frozen yogurt. Scrumptious doesn’t do it justice! Sated, we all sat in the living room and continued conversing; I stayed on long after the other guests left, chatting about many topics, as this would be our last visit until the coming year. I then drove back to Port Hood and read and unwound; it seemed I was coming down with a cold and the post nasal drip was starting to make my throat sore, so I cracked open a bottle of Buckleys and went to bed about midnight. At least the cold had the decency to wait until my trip was almost over!