43 Days With Bruce

Day 25 – Hiking Day 22 – Saturday September 30 2017 Dufferin Highlands Section K53.9 1 st Line EHS to Dufferin Highlands Section K23.9  8 th Sideroad Distance – 30.25k Time  - 8:15 We woke to blue skies and sunshine! Our hearts leapt to another dry day! And it was. Cool, 6C at the start and probably no more than 11C during the day, and it was glorious! We had a lovely walk. It was varied and we went from Middle Earth, pine, and hardwood forests to farmers’ fields, to short stints on the road, to the top of the escarpment  and down to river valleys with streams rushing into the Nottawasaga River and on to Georgian Bay. Lots of up and down!! Trail surface was for the most part easy, but of course, we couldn’t have a day without the deep crevices and gnarly rock! A group of wild turkeys crossed our path, we startled the odd grouse into the whirring of its wings and flight, and passed by an interesting pond/small lake where people were ...

Day 24 – Hiking Day 21 – Friday September 29 2017 Blue Mountains Section K 20.4 Hamilton Bros Side Trail to Dufferin Highlands Section K 53.9 1 st Line EHS Distance – 24.03  Time  - 6:55 We are in touch with a couple of police who did the end to end through hike in June. Unfortunately, they had awful weather with rain every day. Well, we got to experience a little of that today. It was raining when we started so we set off all rain-suited up. The rain turned into a heavy downpour, then stopped, and continued intermittently most of the day. Ray once again hiked in to meet us about 3k from the end, and we finished the hike in the dry with sunshine. Temperatures were cool around 8C with a short peak up to 15C when the sun was shining, then back down to 8C for the end. The winds howled through the trees but were even worse on the road and final cross country as we hiked down to the car. The rain didn’t really interfere with our spirits or hi...

Day 23 – Hiking Day 20 – Thursday September 28 2017 Blue Mountains Section K 45.3 Pretty River Access Trail to Blue Mountains Section K 20.4 Hamilton Bros Side Trail Distance – 25.41 k Time  - 7:15 Another great day on the Bruce! The temperature changed abruptly over night! We started out at 12C this morning, and although the sun did come out later, the wind remained very cool – so about 13C! It was long sleeves, a short sleeve t-shirt on top…and to start with…my vest! That didn’t last long though. Shortly out of the parking lot we had a massive climb back up on to the top of the Escarpment….time to strip!  Our footing today was for the most part fairly easy, except for one small section where the rocks and boulders were replaced by tree roots. We left the Pretty River Valley Provincial Park and entered the beautiful forests of the Nottawasaga Lookout Provincial Nature Reserve. Then a stint on the roads and views of the Duntroon Highla...

Day 22 – Hiking Day 19 – Wednesday September 27 2017 Beaver Valley Section K8.4 21 st Sideroad, Loree Forest to Blue Mountain Section K 45.3 Pretty River Access Trail Distance – 29.97k Time 8:00 hours We set off on the hike today with fresh, rested legs. Within the first two minutes we headed straight up the Escarpment! The steep climbs aside, it was a lovely easy hike going around the Loree Forest, then up onto the Escarpment and travelling along past all the ski clubs: Georgian Peaks, Alpine, Craigleith, and Blue Mountain. We had great views down over the Town of Two Mountains and Collingwood. Then it was down into the forests of The Scenic Caves and through all their snow-shoe and cross country ski gentle ups and downs and along their cushy, soft, paths. We passed by the Osler Ski Club and entered the Petun Conservation Area where the Petun People lived. They were decimated by smallpox in the 1600s and then eventually wiped out by th...

Day 21 – Rest Day 3 – Collingwood – Tuesday September 26, 2017 We are truly grateful for the planning we did before setting out on this hike. Time is short, and neither of us thought about the total commitment it would require en route. I am doing my best to keep this blog updated. Be patient! I will get there! Pictures are slow to load….but they are coming….!! One of the things we are grateful for are our rest days. Both of us were pretty tired in the legs by last night. The hardest part though is keeping our feet healthy. You would think that blisters would appear at the beginning of our walk as they did with Robin, but a couple of days ago I developed some “rubbed” spots on the heels and toes. Thankfully we have the “miracle tape!” So today, as we rest by catching up on social media we are celebrating our half way mark. Eighteen hiking days completed, a total of 460.76k completed….and we are still enjoying every minute of it! We drove into Barrie and visited the Atm...

Day 20 – Hiking Day 18 – Monday September 25 2017 Beaver Valley Section K33.3 9 th Sideroad, Duncan to K8.4 21 st Sideroad, Loree Forest Distance – 25.67k Time on the trail: 7:40 Robin’s husband joined us on the first part of our walk today. It was a beautiful day; we thoroughly enjoyed the walks through the countryside and the forests. Not much climbing; not much rock. Probably the easiest day we have had yet! Just as well. The legs are definitely feeling the effects of all of previous two days of hill training!! We passed hay fields, corn fields, walked along dirt roads lined with shady trees, and sweated! Gracious, it was hot!! Thank goodness most of the walking is done in the shade. We have noticed that there were many more leaves off the trees on the west side of the Beaver Valley than on the East side and we also notice that the leaves are not turning red but are crinkling on the trees and gently floating through the air to the ground while still gol...

Day 19 – Hiking Day 17 – Sunday September 24 2017 Beaver Valley K56.2 Eugenia Falls to K33.3 9 th Sideroad, Duncan Distance – 23.73k Time on the trail: 7:00 We had a shorter distance to hike today and just as well. Central Ontario is experiencing a heat wave! The temperature was something like 33 and goodness knows what the “feels like” was….somewhere up around 40 I’d say. Fortunately, the majority of the hike was in the trees but we did have about 4k or so on the hot roads. I don’t think there was anything that really distinguished the scenery except some of the views over the Beaver Valley were gorgeous. We could look over the Valley and see where we had travelled yesterday which was kind of fun. We came across some white towers that flummoxed us as to what they were. We have discovered that they are the "surge" towers for the OPP Eugenia Generating Station which has supplied renewable electricity to the Province of Ontario for over 100 y...

Day 18 – Hiking Day 16 – Saturday September 23 2017 Beaver Valley K81 Sideroad 7A to K56.2 Eugenia Falls Distance - 24.38k Time on the trail: 8:50 We felt our hike today was one of the best so far. We were travelling down the side of the Beaver  Valley across the dips and valleys. We enjoyed playing on the ski slopes of Talisman and Beaver Valley. We enjoyed travelling down the sides of the farmers’ fields, some with a nicely cut grass border for hikers to walk on, smelling the sweet aroma of the hay, and feasting our eyes on the beauty of the purple asters, white daisies, and yellow goldenrod, and dipping our hands in the babbling brooks that rushed down the side of the mountains.  There was very little time on the road and although our general pace was between 3 and 4 k per hour, we made good time. We were delighted when we came around one corner and there was Ray, with our friends Jacky and Sherry and Lloyd Cooke. Sherry, ...