What a great day today. We decided to do a longer hike despite the 'rain' forecast... learning not to take them too seriously!! So we took off for The Tracey Lake trail which has a side trip to Bruin lake. The trail-head starts at Bennett Lake near the Kayak rentals, so we had hoped to go kayaking after the hike (didn't happen).
The trail was wonderful, winding through the forest and across a small stream (Janice was terrified of balancing on rocks and logs to get over the stream but she did it!!) After about four and a half kilometres, we arrived at Tracey lake and chatted with a father and his 2 sons who were there wilderness camping by the lake. We then headed further up the trail to the end of Tracey lake then up another short trail to Bruin Lake... lots of big frogs/toads?? Back at end of Tracey lake we had a picnic lunch. So peaceful, not a sound, no traffic, no boats, just the lake and the forest. The trail had an abundance of mushrooms of various colours. We were hoping to see moose or deer, but no luck there.. just moose poo and a few squirrels and chipmunks! We only passed one other young couple hiking the trail, so it was lovely to have it all to ourselves. Hiking back we passed the father and sons again and met a few young guys further down the trail who were heading out to wilderness camp at the end of Tracey lake (our picnic spot).. they will have a great time. 
When we returned to Bennett Lake after our 10km total
hike, we were not really disappointed to be greeted by heavier rain and
so the kayak idea bit the dust and we headed back to camp for a hot
shower. We packed some of the trailer ready for leaving in the morning
for a two day drive to Ile D'Orleans in the St. Lawrence River near
Quebec City.
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| Wilderness Camp at top of Tracey Lake |
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| Wonder why they are called Red Spruce? |
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| Typical Mushroom site |
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| The dreaded stream crossing |
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| Bennett Lake - lovely |
