Hiking on St-Bruno Mountain

Last Friday I went hiking on Mont St-Bruno, a little mountain about 15 kilometers south of Montreal, in order to appreciate autumn's beauty. It was a relaxing meditative experience, being surrounded by the singing of birds, the crackling sounds of fallen leaves being walked on by busy squirrels preparing for winter, the warm and strangely pleasant smell of decaying vegetation, weird mushrooms popping-up everywhere. The temperature was nice, about 8°C, which is perfect for hiking. Because it was a weekday and I went in the steeper longer trail, I saw very few humans all day, which is nice.

Of course I used this opportunity to take lots of pictures. Here's a few of them.

A peaceful lake, sat there on a rock for about an hour, eating, having tea, and then just observing the leaves falling in the water while breathing fresh autumn air.

I bought a polarizing filter recently, I wish I had bought one sooner, its effect on water is really cool.

Weird ducks! I seldom see species of ducks that aren't mallards or geese, so this was an exciting sight. I think they are bufflehead ducks? 0.5 Steem to anyone who can correct me in the comments! Sadly the photo is terrible, my 300mm telephoto lens did not deliver, a longer one would be nice.

Mushrooms gloriously bursting out of a tree.

Colourful canopy.

Having fun swirling around with my fish-eye lens...

WoooOoOoOOOOooo

An artificial grotto, built by catholic monks in honour of the grotto where St. Bernadette Soubirous saw apparitions of Mary. The stones were carried without machinery by the monks themselves. It served as a place for prayer and ceremonies.

The ground. Imagine all the diversity of microorganisms and insects living in there! Death=life.

I hoped to reach a peak with a good view either of Montreal or further nature for golden hour, but did not manage to find such place, as the woods are too dense. Still is was a great day and I'm happy about a couple of these photos.

Camera is a Sony alpha330. Lenses used are: Sony 18-55mm, Minolta 75-300mm, Tamron 9mm fish-eye.

Thanks for reading.
-a0i