A Day in Prince Edward Island

Though the morning was cool at the end of September when I set out to walk near St. Peter's Bay in PEI, the beaming sun soon warmed up both the countryside and my spirits. I took lots of pictures and even some videos so you could come along.

Starting off in Greenwich National Park, early - before 9 am - so nobody else around. The water on the south side of the peninsula is St. Peter's Bay, an active aquaculture location - mussel farming. The Park is the whole westerly tip of the peninsula.

This is the path in from the parking lot.

There were quite a few picnic areas around that were beginning to be well-used by the time I had walked all three trails and was on my way out.

There are three 2.5 km trails to choose from, so I did them all.

starting with the Dunes Trail since it looked like the most interesting of the three, with this inviting start:

There are lots of interpretive signs

and here is reindeer moss, a grey lichen, photo taken from the boardwalk. The sign explains that lichen is a particular combination of a moss and an alga in a symbiotic relationship. The alga gives the lichen the ability to capture energy from sunlight while the fungus allows the lichen to decompose organic matter. 

The boardwalk winds on

and on 

and on

Eventually a fairly steep path leads up the final dune toward the beach.

Yaaay!!

Here's what it's like

Turn up your volume!

The other two pathways were less interesting except that I discovered and was diverted by the masses of raspberry bushes, still laden with end-of-season berries. Other walkers were smiling at me stuffing my mouth :)

After completing all three trails in the Park I headed back to St. Peter's Bay and launched myself for a stroll along the Confederation Trail heading west along the south side of the bay, with the peninsula in view across the water.

It was a very pleasant walk on a perfect day. Very few people about, just a couple groups of cyclists.

Met a great blue heron.

Saw plenty of apple trees.

I walked as far as this bridge, then turned around.

On the way back I stopped at a picnic table for a snack and to enjoy the ambiance for awhile in the warm sunshine. Nice!

That's the St. Peter's Bay Inn across the way and mussel farming in the water.

When I got back to the hotel, I headed here. That's a fake owl on the fence.

Aaaaah.....aren't vacations wonderful!!