In what might become a Labour Day holiday tradition, some friends and I spent the long weekend at my buddy Justin’s cottage near Pembroke in the Ottawa Valley, some 5 hours drive from Toronto. We were also there last year to mark the unofficial end of summer. Here are a couple of fairly random photos from the three days.

Chapeau Village

The small village of Chapeau is located along the Culbute Channel of the Ottawa River, about 20 minutes drive from the cottage. It consists essentially of one main street with a few businesses and a handful of residences. Locals and visitors seem to congregate in Chapeau for two reasons: the bakery and the convenience store. At least, this is why we were here. The convenience store houses a butcher who supplies superb bacon and pork chops. Karl’s Bakery is known for its fresh baked bread and sticky Chelsea buns.

Barron Canyon

We spent some time exploring the Barron Canyon Trail on the east side of Algonquin Park. This is a short 1.5km loop from the parking lot located a short distance from the park’s  Sand Lake Gate, and offers a great views of the 100m-tall cliffs for very little effort. The entire path along the cliff and scenic lookout is unfenced, so tread carefully – a misstep here would likely be fatal! You could also paddle to the canyon from one of the nearby campsites, which is something we’re looking to do one day.

Night at the Cottage

Evenings at the cottage usually means campfire and boardgames, and there was plenty of both. The skies were relatively clear, and despite the moonlight and nearby light pollution from Pembroke we could still see a fair number of stars. Jeff and I took the opportunity to capture some night shots from the beach next to the cottage. The Milky Way was just visible over the horizon.

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