Hydro Outage

(Sunday Sept 8th) We had been told that there would be a Hydro outage at the cottage from 6:00am to about noon.  So we took this as an excuse to have an early start on the Bruce Trail.  We had breakfast at about 5:30 and the power went off promptly at 6:00am leaving us in the dark for a while.

It was still somewhat dark when we resumed our hike along Fox Ridge road.  Being out in the open, this wasn't a problem and being early meant some wildlife sightings including a porcupine.

This road section didn't take long and, as the weather seemed to be OK, we continued on at km 37.5 which leads to McCluskey's Rock.  The trail becomes quite rugged along here and goes through a 'pass' or crevice in the escarpment:

Afterwards, we decided to 'mop up' a bit that we had not completed.  It's part of the Duncan Crevices Nature Reserve and is a popular spot for walkers.  This was the only part of the trail so far that I'd call 'busy'.  The parking lot was quite full when we arrived and when we left there were people parking along the roadway.  The walking is quite easy and wanders through some old orchards before reaching the crevices.  The apple trees held lots of small birds (warblers?):

Lots of views to the east and towards Metcalfe Rock.  We continued on to Pinnacle Rock which was the furthest point we had reached in the spring time.

(Monday Sept 9th) Started from km 41.7 and backtracked to McCluskey Rock.  Very pleasant along here.  Some views of the 'main' part of Beaver Valley to the west.  We met a trail runner who had started at Old Baldy.  She assured us that Justin's Oven in Kimberley has a great brunch.  We will have to try this as we are likely to be in Kimberley quite a bit.

After returning to the car, we started on the Old Baldy section.  This was confusing!  The trail has been rerouted and our map is now out of date.  We talked to another hiker (Stella) who explained that local landowners became fed up with people parking along the private roadway that leads to Old Baldy Conservation Area.  So they closed it ... even though there's a easement to allow access to the Cons Area parking lot.  Consequently, BT rerouted the trail all the way down Sideroad 7B to Grey Road 13, then back up another trail to join the main trail to the south of Old Baldy.  We were getting a bit tired at this point so we decided to go back for lunch and continue the next day.

(Tuesday Sept 10th) Started at the parking lot (km 42.1) and followed the Mac Kirk side trail which connects through to the main trail (!).  

Lots of late summer flowers around:

Looking for a short walk that would be easy on a recovering back injury, we chose what we thought would be a road walk from the Duncan Crevices Parking Area through the Village of Duncan and along Fox Ridge Road. There was light drizzle at the start that tapered off as we walked. The first couple of kilometers were exactly what was expected.  

What we didn’t expect was a very recent (Late August 2019) trail reroute off the road and on to a lovely path through open meadows filled with Goldenrod and Pearly Everlasting. This is the new Fox Ridge Nature Reserve purchased by the BT Conservancy in 2018.  If this is how our donations are being used, I’m happy!

The trail continued into rolling wooded terrain with some eerily shaped trees, eventually opening up again to apple and pear trees that are now wild and likely a big hit with the local deer population. It was peaceful hike interrupted only once by a friendly blond mom, 3 blond kids and a very large not-so-friendly and not at all blond dog. 

Sunday May 26, 2019

The parking lot at Metcalfe Rock was full today likely due to the sunny weather (finally!) and the fact that it was a Sunday. We headed West, away from the popular climbing spot and only encountered one family.  Highlights were Mill Creek with its impressive foot bridge, an unusual mushroom and a rocky ascent Pinnacle Rock.

                     

The walk back to the car was hot and a little buggy.  We have now covered 31.1 km of the trail.  That's over 60 kms with walks back to the car.

Wednesday May 22, 2019

An afternoon hike from West to East through the Kolapore Uplands, Metcalf Crevices and some of the loveliest forested areas in the section. Timeworn stone walls, rows of majestic pines, lush meadows and fields of trillium emerged as we made our way towards Grey Road 2. 

Few birds until we were rewarded with a close view of a chestnut sided warbler low in a clump of cedars, so close we didn't need binoculars to detect its markings.  This plaque was secured to a bench placed in memory of a loved one. Who was Wendy?

A little light rain came down as we started back but it ended and we got most of the way back before a downpour hastened our scramble to the car.  We encountered no one on this popular route except one backpacker moving quickly.  I hope he made it to his destination before getting drenched!

Sunday May 19th 2019.  Parked at 6th Line near 13.3 km mark.   Quite a warm day with a mix of weather.  This brought out the bugs which were rather annoying.  Started with a road walk along 6th line and Grey Road 119 to get to the start of a very nice section that includes some crevices and marshy bits as it follows the edge of the escarpment.  On our return route it started raining heavily so we were quite wet by the time we got to Rock Union church.  But the wind picked up and the sun came out so we were quite a bit drier by the time we returned to the car.

Monday May 20th 2019.  We decided to park at Kolapore parking lot on Grey Road 2 and walk 'backwards' rather than trying to park on 12th Sideroad.  The weather was a fine mist/drizzle and windy.  Perfect training for our trip to Scotland!  Very nice hike through some wooded areas and some fields.  No road walks at all. We crossed a piece of the Old Mail Road:

Along the way were lots of flowers including marsh marigolds, white trilliums and this more unusual red trillium:

Quite a few birds despite the weather including a very amusing Brown Thrasher.

Saturday April 27th 2019, we parked at Swiss Meadows and started walking west. The snow had only just melted so the ground was very wet and muddy.  We only saw one other person on the whole walk!  There's a beautiful view of Nottawasaga Bay at the Loree Forest end with a strategically located bench.  Along the way, there are a couple of deep ravines to cross.  One of them has a wire-cable handrail to help hikers get down.  Fortunately, we didn't have to walk back that way and were able to take a flatter, easier route along 21st Sideroad.

Sunday April 28th 2019, we parked Loree Forest on 21st Sideroad and walked to the start of the Margaret Paull sidetrail.  We've done that sidetrail many times before so we skipped it this time and returned along the roadway to where we had parked.  This walk was much less muddy than the previous day. 

It's spring 2019 and we've decided to be deliberate about our hiking this year. The goal is to complete the Beaver Valley section of the Bruce Trail from one end to the other by the end of the year. It will take us from Craigleith to Blantyre covering 117 km of main trail.