Pukaskwa National Park

16/9/2026

I recently returned from my fifth trip to Pukaskwa National Park, located on the north east shore of Lake Superior and one of my favourite places on Earth.

This time I finally hiked to the White River Suspension Bridge. The route was around 18 kilometres round trip, which I completed in roughly 4.5 hours of hiking, or about 5 hours including breaks. It was a long but rewarding afternoon through boreal forest, exposed Canadian Shield, and eventually out to the dramatic gorge and suspension bridge. Park staff give out a sticker for completing the hike, so if you ever make it out there, make sure you claim yours too.

The trip also offered some excellent astronomy. On Wednesday, August 12, I observed a partial solar eclipse, and on the following Thursday and Friday nights, clear, dark skies gave me the chance to spot several Perseid meteors, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Double Cluster in Perseus, and plenty of time to simply scan the Milky Way with binoculars. Under skies that dark, the Milky Way can look less like a faint band and more like a luminous blanket stretched across the sky.

Some of my favourite moments were quieter ones: Faerie-like paths winding through the forest, lichens spreading across rock, mushrooms rising from moss, a butterfly resting on driftwood, a toad nearly disappearing into the forest floor, sunsets over Lake Superior, and views from my favourite sitting spot high on a rock at North Beach.

I took a lot of photographs while I was there. Some document the larger landscapes and destinations, while others are simply things that made me stop and look a little closer.

These are a few of my favourites.