There's a time in early September that instantly tells you summer is at an end. And it's always too soon. All of the back to school talk and Labor Day long weekend is complementary to it. It seems there's always a time where the temperature drops quite drastically, the countryside smells like apples and goldenrod is everywhere, lining the sides of roads and trails, the mushrooms burst out of the ground, the days of dramatic overcast fall skies begin, and also unfortunately the sunset and sunrise quickly start to change and the days shorten. I love the seasons and the change it brings. To me, it is also excitement.
September is my favorite time of the year to get outdoors. The provincial parks instantly quiet down, with a good percentage of the people that use them concentrating on school and other things. The weather is so nice for some of it. Sunny but not too hot during the day, perfect for hiking and paddling, and the nights are crisp and cool, perfect for sleeping. The water has warmed up over most of the summer and it is inviting to go swimming, if you can bring yourself to believe that the water is nice and warm even though the air can be chilly at times.
I look back at this summer and what I have been up to, and it always goes quicker than I would like. I also think about what I have done over the summer and how it changes year to year. This year I have not done much hiking at all, day trips or backpacking. I think part of that is that there is not much in the close area to me that I have not seen before. Some years I have paddled much of the summer. That is not this year either, although I did buy a canoe, and use it for a bunch of short daytrips and also have been kayaking in Tobermory. The water had been pretty high for paddling on the local rivers this year, much more so than years past, but I haven't taken advantage of it too much.. I did paddle from Guelph to Cambridge early in the spring melt which requires extra high waters.
But, one thing I have been more into this year than years past is mountain biking. I didn't for the first part of the summer. It was cool and often rain or threatening to rain so I hadn't been biking to work. I work basically 5km away, a perfect sort morning bikeride if I go directly there, it wakes me up and invigorates me first thing in the morning. In the past I would alternate between taking my homemade moped (yes I put a two stroke enging on a cruiser biker, very fun to ride although a bit loud), and my pedal bike, it's a1996 (yes, that's right) Specialized Stumpjumper I had recently upgraded the front end with premium Fox 100RLC air shock forks, hydraulic brakes up front and earlier this year I added a Rockshox Reverb dropper seat to it, which adds a huge amount of functionality to the bike and the ability to rider rougger terrain. It is quite an amazing hardtail bike for a frame and some components that are almost 20 years old. The difference between the two bikes is that I can wear my work clothes with the motorbike and have to change with the Sumpjumper,when I get to work as it is an increase in elevation to get to work. This year I have been pedal biking much more than the moped. What I have been doing lately is following under some power lines on a sort of firetrail out to the country, going to Guelph Lake and their decent mountain bike trails there, then heading back to my house along the Speed River which my house backs onto. I ride 25-30km after work, almost all offroad and it gives be great exercise and fun at the same time.
In any case, I just got myself Light and Motion Seca 1700 Race lights for my bike so I can extend my after work mountain bikes despite how little light will be available after work, and I am looking forward to using it. The trails will be completely devoid of fishermen, dog walkers, hikers and most other mountain bikers, all of which have not been much of a problem but the almost guaranteed solitude will be nice. This light is a nice ultra bright and very light package designed by guys who make scuba lights, so it is sealed well. It is very expensive, I found an awesome deal on it since the 2014 lights are bumped up to 200 lumen spec instead of the already insanely bright 1700 lumens I got, but I did save over $150 on it... managed to get it for $330. I scoured the internet to find it at this low of a cost, it is not to be found anywhere else for this price now.
I am also looking forward to hopefully heading to Chiniguchi in two weeks time for a paddling trip. Chiniguchi is an area not much people have heard about, it is northeast of Sudbury between Sudbury and Temagami area. It is a proposed provincial park, Crown Land and quite rugged. I would like to do a 5 day trip there to get away from it all, if work calms down enough for me to get away. It will be beautiful to get away from everything ad enjoy a decent backcountry trip which I like to do every late September/early December. In fact, I am off to make some Chili now, which I will dehydrate for my trip. Happy September! One of the best times of the year to be outdoors.
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