Car Stringh

It's Halloween and the scary snow started falling today and most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. Oooooooooohhhhhh, damn snow. Happy Halloween everyone.
Here is one more scary Bay Street Banker zombie to scare the heck out of you.

All Hallows Eve is this Sunday and the little ghouls and goblins will be going door to door for treats. Here are some more zombies to help scare you to death in honour of the night. And the pictures are extra large so they are extra scary - except for the superhero.

While zillions of people head north on the summer and fall weekends I take the opportunity to visit the lands along Lake Erie and I start with the Port Stanley Terminal Rail which is an operating tourist railway. The line started in the mid 1800's as a passenger and freight line between London and Port Stanley, then became an electric commuter railway which ceased in 1957 with the freight train ending in 1982 with the railway now running as a scenic tourist trip up and down a short section of tracks. You can lean out the train in the cars that don't have windows or stay in the enclosed car and later check out the trains at the park at the end of the line, like the train plow below.

The fall colours are fading fast and there won't be much time left to view the beauty of Ontario's forests. After the leaves fall there is nothing left but the coming of winter, the harsh, harsh winter. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm, maybe a little on the coolish side so get out and enjoy it if you can.
I went to a local pond (Frog Pond in Acton) to see the colours and what was left of the leaves on the trees. We have definitely passed peak and the majority of leaves have fallen to the ground. The remaining leaves are burnt and colours with very few vibrant orange, yellow and reds.

It's fun to go to places that share the same name with more famous travel destinations. We were on a waterfall tour on the way to a train ride in Port Stanley when we ran out of time and just decided to continue looking at waterfalls. On our way back we stopped in Paris and to prove it Joe Fresh took our picture (I noticed that famous Cigar Guy had joined us in Paris - check out the photo after the jump). Paris was nothing like I imagined it, but they did have a river (the Grand), which also had a man made waterfall at a dam just upstream of the town.
We stopped at two waterfalls on this day. The first was Sherman Falls in Dundas.  This waterfall is nice and easy to walk to and is just a few minutes away from the road. The valley was filled with leaves falling to the ground and there was a nice flow of water. For some relaxing video of the waterfall click here.

Heading out to Elora we go looking for the fall colours around the Gorge and we find there are a lot of cedar trees so there is not a lot of bright splashes of leaves. Still, you can't go wrong visiting Elora. The beautiful, old, stone downtown, full of restaurants, art and tourist shops, sitting along the Grand River and the Elora Gorge cut deep into the stone. Close by the downtown core is a casino - the Grand River Raceway, a traffic circle and a Tim Hortons.

Saturday brought some rain and clouds but I thought I would check out the Fall colours anyways. I headed north and my first stop - the Cheltenham Badlands. The Badlands, with their rolling orange hills and white stripes, surrounded by a forest of colours is a perfect way to start the adventure.
With an early start and the possibility of rain we did not have to battle the crowds on the hills. As Fall continues it's steady progress Caledon and it's natural attractions will fill up with thousands of people.
We continued our journey north towards Collingwood, stopping along the way when we found some nice views of the red, orange and yellow leaves filling the deciduous trees.
In Collingwood, which is located on Georgian Bay, the adjacent Niagara Escarpment is made for hiking (and for marriage ceremonies). So we journey upwards and explore the Bruce Trail and the top of the Blue Mountain Resort and Ski Hill. Blue Mountain has a lot of bike trails and they have a ski lift running. For $7 you can ride the ski lift which has been converted to a pedestrian lift with special bike racks and so down the hill we went. You can ride down for free and then buy the ticket to get back to the top.
It is incredible what they have done to Blue Mountain. The resort is full of condos, stores, restaurants and bars. There is a pond where you can rent pedal boats and relax on Muskoka chairs. The place was humming with action and a wedding party played a giant chess set in a friendly battle of the sexes.

I have spied with my little eyes that some leaves in the forests have already started to change colour. While the prospect of the coming winter fills me with something less than glee I must admit that I do like Fall. The comfortable temperatures and beautiful scenery make Fall one of the top four seasons. Fall does not officially start until September 22, 2010 so those leaves better stop changing.

The Ontario Parks - Fall Colour Report website currently shows that 0% of the leaves have changed colour, well screw them, I know what I see and I won't be silenced. Ontario has some of the best places to take photos of Fall and I look forward to my annual waterfall tour.