Hike # 27 & 28 Autumn Hiking

Hike # 27 - km 23.8 to 42.1 in the Beaver Valley.

Hike # 28 - km 42.1 to 56.2 in the Beaver Valley.

Autumn is our favourite time to hike. The beauty of the colours, no bugs and cooler temperatures make for almost perfect conditions on a sunny day. We did experience a tumultuous day on Saturday with the weather constantly changing - causing us to remove and then put back on layers of clothing, hats and gloves repeatedly. A brief period of intense ice pellets and wind was not too pleasant, but we carried on as there is no choice on the trail.

The scenery in this section of the Bruce Trail is certainly some of the most beautiful we have seen thus far. The views from the top of the escarpment overlooking the valleys filled with fall colour was breathtaking. 

What makes the trail in this section breathtaking in it's beauty also makes it difficult. We hiked up and down steep hills numerous times and scrambled up and over rocks. Much of the trail was covered in newly fallen leaves which created a beautiful but treacherous carpet as we could not see rocks, roots and holes ready to trip us up at any time.  

Tough as the hiking was we enjoyed every minute (well, maybe up until the last couple km's) and we hope to get another hike in before the snow flies!

I will let the photos tell the rest of the story.  The first picture is the last I took at our end point at Eugenia Falls. What a beautiful spot.

Looking out at the late afternoon sun at Eugenia Falls Conservation Area

Chilly morning - happy hikers ready to go

We always have to say hello to the horses along the way

The horse whisperer 

Glorious colours

Across the farm

How do we get up here?

Up up we go

The face of the escarpment

We stumbled on a camp fire.  Too bad we didn't have marshmallows.

Smoke gets in your eyes

Holding up the rock

Rock climbing

Views for miles

Up higher than the treetops

Across the fields

Beautiful maple tree

Just after the hail storm

Hitch-hiker

Up again.. and again

High on top of the escarpment

Over the treetops

End of day one

Start of day two

Down a big hill

more colourful maple

Worth the climb for this view

And this

Old bridge at Eugenia Falls

From the top of the falls

The end which is the beginning next time.

Hike # 26 - A Good Stretch of the Legs

Hike # 26 - km 2.3 to km 23.8 in the Beaver Valley.

And just like that, summer is over, it's the first day of Autumn, and here we are hiking once again.  It was a wonderful and busy summer for all of us although we weren't hiking - occupied with other activities.  Our fellow hiker Nancy broke her wrist!  She was still going to join us (what a trooper), but something came up and so it was just the three of us this time out.

The day started out chilly and overcast, but soon the clouds broke up and the sunshine came through.  It is our favourite time of year to hike -  nice cool air without any bugs to bother us!  Plus there are usually apples to pick along the way.  We did not see anything in the way of wildlife (we talk too much), but we did see evidence of black bears (or just one bear who also likes this section of the trail) and porcupine.  The leaves are just starting to change and in a few weeks time when we return for another hike they should be well along.

The trail took us through some beautiful deciduous forest (Len Gertler Memorial Loree Forest) and along many pastures.  We were in one such pasture with a herd of grazing cattle and thankfully they did not notice us.  After our last cow encounter, I was less afraid of seeing a bear - ha ha.

It was very cool to find a sign telling us we were hiking on an old mail road circa 1830 - 1850! Once again we enjoyed breathtaking views of the bay, the glory of the canopy of leaves overhead and the sense of well-being that comes with every hike.

As we hiked along, I thought about how we intended to complete the trail, end-to-end over the course of 3 seasons, but how circumstances and the usual stuff that life throws at you had slowed our progress down.  Still, we have set our intention to finish, and as we continue along our journey toward our end goal, I am certain we will reach our goal no matter if it takes us another 4 years or more.  

Accomplishing your goals does not always come easily or quickly, but every time you move in the direction of your goal you are that much closer to achieving it!  Set your intentions and just keep going! 

Happy to be on the trail again

Farmland views

Happy Hikers - bad selfie

Glorious Green

Trees just starting to change colour

I spy a grasshopper

And here he is!

Along the trail

More green

Old Mail Road 1830-1850

Apples along the trail

Tree lined trail

From the top - view of the bay

Big sky

Happy Birthday Valerie!  Cheers to many more years of hiking!

Hike 24 & 25 - A Tale of Two Hikes

Hike # 24 -  km 35.9 to 55.7 on day 1 (19.8 km)  in the Blue Mountains 
Hike # 25 - km 55.7 to 66.0 in the Blue Mountains and km 0.0 to 2.3 in Beaver Valley on day 2 (12.6 km) on day 2.  Maps 22, 23 and 24. 

Finally, after two cancelled hike dates, we were heading out on the main trail again!  We had booked an ambitious goal of finishing 40+ km over two days back to back.  As it turned out, it was a bit too ambitious and we decided to shorten our Sunday hike to just over 12 km for a total of 32.4 km (not including the side trails that we walked along).

We set out from home around 7 am loaded up with our hiking gear and our overnight bags for a night at Blue Mountain, plus the requisite bottles of wine.  It was a girls weekend and that we had been looking forward to for a long time.

We started our hike where we left off many months ago, and were met with the lovely green canopy of late spring.  Unfortunately we missed the Trilliums this year, and judging by the many wilted ones we saw, it must have been a spectacular show a couple of weeks ago.

Saturday's hike took us up and down (and up and down) over the valleys and mountains that make up the Blue Mountains.  I would call them large hills instead of mountains, but they are still quite a good steep climb on foot and the views overlooking Georgian Bay are spectacular. 

Part of the hike (along the Osler Bluffs, I think) there were deep crevasses in the escarpment.  Looking down we could still see there was a lot of snow in the bottom!  Nature's refrigerator :).  Along the way we took a short side trail further up the hill so that we could reach the highest point along the Bruce Trail.  Unfortunately, even though we were at the highest point, there were no views from up there.  There were some cyclists (I can't even imagine how they cycle on those trails!) who kindly took a group picture.

Due to the difficulty of the terrain on the hike we were a bit off our pace and after 7 hours of hiking we were happy to reach the car and head to our room for showers, wine and dinner.  I, for one, slept like the dead that night.

Sunday morning we were up early and back at it.  We lost our fourth (Nancy) to other commitments, but she kindly dropped us to our starting point before heading on her way.   It was a much easier hike on Sunday starting off down a roadside and along the Scenic Caves Road at the top of Blue Mountain and though the multi-use trails of the resort area.  Without so many steep ascents and descents, and a smooth trail, were back on our pace and finished in just over 3.5 hours.

It will be a few months before we are out again.  We will converge again in September to continue our journey.

Have a great summer everyone!

At the start of Saturday's hike

Green as far as the eye can see

Pretty River

Pretty River

I think we go that way

The Blue Mountains

View from the top of the Escarpment

We reached the highest point on the trail (by way of a side trail)

Rare group shot that is not a "selfie"

Reward after a long strenuous hike - "pre-drinking"
CHEERS

The gang minus one at the start of Sunday's hike

Big wood pile

Down the road a bit

Fuzzy caterpillar

View of Georgian Bay

How many hikers does it take to take a selfie?