Fall Colour in Algonquin

I returned to Algonquin Provincial park twice in mid to late September for my annual autumn colours photo hikes. Peak colour for the maple trees occurs around September 27th on average, and we had some fairly cold and raining days towards the end of the month which usually pushes the colour transitions forward. On both weekends I left early in the morning before sunrise to hopefully catch some of the first light on the landscape and avoid some of the traffic in the park along highway 60. It's also a lot easier to find parking at the trailhead before everyone else arrives. I tackled two main trails these two weeks, the "Centennial Ridges" trail (which was a first for me) and the "Track and Tower" trail which I have done several times in the past.

The fall colour transition was at about 50% the first weekend, which meant that the understory of the forrest was still very green. The maple canopy when viewed from the cliff tops was still rather patchy, but the expansive views over White Fish lake were still impressive.

After wrapping up on the trail I stopped at the Lake of Two Rivers to see one of the more iconic views along highway 60. As the sun was starting to set, the island covered with windswept pines was being lit nicely with some impressive cumulous clouds rising high overhead. I framed a shot to include both the island and the clouds together which seemed to complement each other.

On the following weekend, the maple trees along the highway were showing much better colour, and some of the trees were dropping leaves on the pathways and creeks along my hike. Although the lake and river levels were much lower than last year, I was drawn to a small intimate waterfall scene with red maple leaves scattered throughout.

Perhaps my favourite shot of the two trips was this scene along the shores of Grant Lake. With mostly evergreen trees surrounding the south side of the lake, the image doesn't have much fall colour, but the beautifully soft light on the mid ground white pine highlights the main subject in a very appealing way.