Bill Smith's Photography

Last year, we hit the Bat Lake Trail around 3:30 or 4 p.m., a little later than we should have. Ok by the time we got to the view looking North East, it was about 5:30 seeing the fall colours looked spectacular, downside it was still a long hike back to the car. To make things even more interesting, we discovered fresh bear poop on the side of the trail and near the end we were still hiking after sunset in the dark and it was fast descending into a  re-enactment of the Blair Witch Project. For those who never been to Algonquin Park, it's one of those places if you walk a certain direction, you are neither seen or heard from again. This year we hiked the Bat Lake Trail in the morning and it was a totally different experience with the bright sunshine. Sadly though the leaves barely changed colours so you make do with what you have. I enjoyed the hike and next year, it's time to head elsewhere in the park. Thankfully no bear encounters but we did come across some wildlife aft...

Now this is the real Algonquin Park, no tourists, tour buses, crowds, just eight photographers and two models in the woods, tackling the trail a little too late in the afternoon. We really starting getting a little freaked out when one of us spotted some bear shit on the side of the trail, it was brisk hike back the parking lot which we got to after sunset. Now some of the photographers and one of the models were of Polish ancestry and were singing Polish children's songs to scare any bears away as the last bit of daylight left us. Aside from that, Bat Lake Trail was an amazing hike, we decided to re-do next year, only in the morning this time. The consensus is wandering around Algonquin Park in the dark without flashlights  hoping like hell you are on the right trail for the parking lot can be spooky. Camera: Nikon F2A, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.4 lens.  Film: Kodak Portra 400 iPhone 5s, VSCOcam App.