Mississauga Road South to Lake Ontario

For those not familiar with our part of Ontario, the north-south oriented Mississauga Road loosely parallels the Credit River that flows south from the Brampton - Mississauga border to Lake Ontario at Port Credit.

As I walked south from Lakeshore Road along Mississauga Road, with the mothballed Petro Canada lands to my right (west) and tidy houses to my left, I could see a band of dark blue across the lake.

Clouds Mimic Mountains -- Lake Ontario Mid Autumn

This band of blue colored clouds looked for all the world like steep land rising like a mountain on the far shore. Now I am a reasonable person and know that there are no mountains across Lake Ontario from Port Credit but it was a terrific optical illusion.

Cyclist On Waterfront Trail Mississauga

I picked up the path and walked west along the waterfront trail past the south side of the fenced off Petro Canada lands.

The clouds in this view still mimicked shoreline across the lake; on a clear day, you'd be seeing parts of Hamilton in the distance. The dark needle of land projecting into the lake (middle, right) is Clarkson.

Lake Ontario at Dusk, Looking West Towards Clarkson (Mississauga)

I had hoped that the on and off blustery winds had set up interesting waves, but they hadn't. This beach is part of Rhododendron Gardens, and until volunteers this year removed weeds and scrubby shrubbery, was largely unnoticed.

Now, most days, but especially on clement weekends, it's a magnet for visitors.

Late-blooming Rhododendron -- Fall Color in Mississauga

While all the rhodos are sporting next springs chubby buds, this little rhododendron just couldn't wait that long. Mississauga had had a few wonderfully warm summer-like days that must have coaxed him out.

Update: By the next day, someone had picked the rhodo. (Sigh). The gardens are now named Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens and I manage a new and separate blog dedicated to the BRG.

See how this part of the Waterfront Trail looked on Thanksgiving weekend, a few days earlier.