On Monday, Chad and I decided to go to Singing Sands, a sandy beach on Dorcus Bay that is part of Bruce Peninsula National Park near Tobermory. Thankfully, we got there pretty early. We got a parking space and didn’t run into too many people while we were hiking. By the time we left though, the place was PACKED. Holiday weekends, geesh!
First things first, we walked the short Boardwalk Loop that goes over a fen. A fen is an alkaline mire, a type of wetland, with some drainage.
Fens are rich in calcium but not in nitrogen, which plants need. Some plants, like this Pitcher Plant have adapted by becoming carnivorous, getting their nitrogen by trapping and consuming insects.
First a Nature Reserve, then a Provincial Park, now part of a National Park. We hiked the Highway 6 Connector Trail by mistake, but it was still a nice walk. Lots of pretty wildflowers along the way.
I was so excited to see this Bee Beetle on a pretty pink wild rose.
This is Castilleja Coccinea, otherwise known as Indian Paintbrush or Painted Cup.
Yesterday I posted the yellow Lady Slipper. This one is the Showy Lady Slipper. I confess that I had to venture off the trail a bit to get my pictures, but I couldn’t leave without snapping some pics of these gorgeous orchids.
Walking along the beach. It’s called Singing Sands because the dry sands apparently make a sound when the wind blows over it. I can’t say I have ever heard it myself.
Luna isn’t much of a water dog, but she was fine wading in the warm water with us. And of course going crazy, digging a hole for no apparent reason.
Singing Sands is really shallow and you can walk quite a long way out without going above your knee.
~Laura
