Day 10, As my friend Gary Taylor would say, “Oh You LUCKY Dawgs!”

We got up about 7:15 a.m. and I took a shower.  I had never been in a shower that has a little bench built right in it for someone to sit down and take a shower. 

Breakfast this morning was; a hard boiled egg, a yogurt, a hot croissant, homemade chocolate chip scone, coffee, orange juice and the fruit bowl of the day was Mango, Plum and Blue Berries.  Lovely breakfast and Erin the owner was the person who brought it to us.

We listened to several loons calling back and forth this morning on Hay Lake.  As I stepped out onto the porch to listen, I saw a Flicker hopping around in the yard, about 20 feet from where we saw bear scat.

We left after breakfast for the park.  We started up route 127 and turned on to Old 127 which is this old dirt road.  As we came around a corner we scared 3 deer out of the road.  Not quick enough to get a picture of them, but fun to see them.

We drove through the town of Whitney and came upon the East Gate of Algonquin Park.  

We drove out the Opeongo Road and stopped next to Costello Creek after the little bridge.  There was a great blue heron in the water less than 5 feet from us.  We watched it for awhile.  I got the feeling it was kind of a young heron, seemed to be stabbing the water a lot and coming up with nothing to eat.  

We left Opeongo Road and headed deeper into the park and turned up Rock Lake Road.  Many moons ago when we visited we had come around a corner and found 3 wolves playing in the road,  today, near that same corner we saw a  bicyclist and a short distance ahead of him was a young buck.

We turned around at Rock Lake Campground and headed back out to Highway 60.  We continued to head west and ended up driving up the to Arowhon Pines Road.  This is a fancy smancy lodge about 5 km from Highway 60.

We turned around in their parking lot and perhaps irritated someone in a very fancy car who had to put on their brakes because we had just turned around.  They caught up to us rather quickly and left us in their dust when I found a spot I could pull over easily in.

We continued driving and came around the corner in time to see a ruffed grouse.  As it walked very slowly out of our way and into the brush we noticed there was a 2nd one there.

Just after we got out to a wider part of the dirt road we came around a corner and met 3 HUGE busloads of people apparently headed to Arowhon Pines.  I believe this place costs about $496.00 a night and they have a dock falling into the water and except for this time, any other time we have driven out there to the Lodge, there has been a tremendous septic smell.

We got back to Highway 60 in time to meet up with several halves of houses driving through the park to someplace west.

We headed back down Opeongo Road for another looksee.  Came around a corner and all I could say was, “Holy S...!” Kirsten looked up and we saw a wolf lope up on to the road, cross it and disappear into the woods in no time at all. Including no camera time at all.

It has been years since we have seen a wolf in the park, we have heard them many times over the years, but this was our 3rd siting.

We continued on down the road, came around the corner, the wind is blowing mightily and there is this heron about 8 feet off the road trying to fly but being buffeted by the wind and so looks as though he is coming directly at us.

We got down to the Opeongo store and turned around and came back out to Highway 60 and headed back to the cabin.  It is getting windier and I guess it is supposed to pour tomorrow.

We made some veggie soup for supper and about 5:44 decided to go back into the park.  It takes about 20 minutes from our cabin to the East Gate.

We drove out the Opeongo road, met with a couple who pointed down into the bushes and said a moose was there.

We stopped the car and got out.  You could see a moose and calf through the brush.

More and more people showed up.

When you get this kind of a scene, then you get the following types of views of whatever the wildlife is that you are looking at.

Then of course because you are in moose country, you do have to watch your step.

Kirsten managed to get a lovely mirror image of the moose.

I decided having been pushed out of several brushy spots by someone who wanted to see a moose, to walk on down the road to the Opeongo Store.  I plunked down in the grass and watched them walk towards me.

Kirsten drove up just about the time my memory card filled up and so I jumped up to go get another card.  We both sat there and took more and more pictures as mother and calf walked towards us.

They walked over near Lucy the car and  up the hill.  More people drove down to the store and they went up near the cabin where the Opeongo Store people live.  We watched for a while then left and went back to the little bridge to sit and take it all in.

We could hear brush and ferns being mashed about and the clicking of something perhaps antlers but never saw anything.  We did however watch a great blue heron fly up out of Costello Creek and end up in a spruce tree for the night.

As we continued out beyond the picnic area on Opeongo Road, this HUGE frog leaped out into the road.  We stopped, took its photo of course and convinced it to leap back into the brush instead of out into the road.  The thing was about 6 inches long.

This has been a tremendous day viewing wildlife and we feel truly blessed that Nature shared so much with us today.