The morning broke clear and cool, with rain on the way this afternoon. So up and out the door we hurried to find some adventure and do some leaf chasing. Our plan was to drive out to Clarendon and hike the Bald Mountain Adventure Trail.
It was a beautiful drive, as the fall colours were reaching their peak this weekend.
The hike itself is a short 2.2km loop that ranges from easy to difficult. The lead-in trail from the parking area and the upper part of the loop is easy to moderate. The lower trail is difficult, with quite a few steep areas and boulders to climb over. It’s well worth the effort however, as you come to a huge rock face that is apparantly very popular with local rock climbers. No one there today though, just us.
A little farther up the loop you come to another rock face, this one with a large chunk of rock cut out of it and a nice little seat to have a break and check out the view. This one is aptly called Nature’s Boardroom.
From there it’s just a short hike to the summit where you are rewarded with a wonderful view of the surrounding area, made especially beautiful with the colourful fall foliage. The summit is covered with snowy lichen mixed with raspberry-coloured blueberry plants.
The hike back down and drive home was equally pretty, with several photo op stops along the way.
Just as we were getting back in the city, the rain was starting to fall. I’m so glad we got up early and took advantage of the nice weather while we had it. As I’m writing this, we’re getting a thunderstorm and there are hail stones covering my back deck. That’s the thing about weather in the Maritimes, you never know what you’re going to get, from minute-to-minute. Happy Saturday!
