Day 37 – Hiking Day 30 – Thursday October 12 2017

Day 37 – Hiking Day 30 – Thursday  October 12 2017
Iroquoia Section K 93 Colling Road and Guelph Line to Iroquoia Section 64 Valley Road Near Rock Chapel
Distance –  29.49
Time  - 8:05














Today was the first day on the trail when we had to start in rain gear. It wasn’t raining very heavily, just enough to make us wet and it lasted on and off all day. It was nice and warm though, around 13/14C.

Starting off, we hiked along the top of the Escarpment in the Mount Nemo Conservation Area in the early morning mist and gradually the views over the surrounding countryside became clearer. Then, we came to a sign that said “….Slippery when Wet”. Random! Most of the trail has been slippery and wet!! We had a descent over the slippery, gnarly, rock that we came to know so well in the Peninsula Section. And the rock continued. Soon we were back up on top in a beautiful golden forest. The colour is becoming much stronger and the forests are looking their best. No where near “peak”, but still stunning. We hiked a lot today along the top edge of the Escarpment in some places smooth paths and in some the gnarly, slippy rock. In some places the path was as wide as about 1/3 the length of our trekking poles and there were drops over the perpendicular sides of the Escarpment that would have broken every bone in our bodies! We moved slowly and carefully for much of the day. We had some road work today as well including 2.1k on Walkers’ Line. We crossed a couple of very busy highways (Highway 5 or Dundas Street) which is always scary and crossed Highway 6 by way of a tunnel. The peacefulness of the country is leaving us and we are continually hearing the hum of the busy roads and highways in the area and the aromas of industrial businesses. Nonetheless, it is amazing that land such as that on the Bruce Trail exists amidst the hustle and bustle of modern day living. 

The area around the Grindstone Creek Valley was quite beautiful and we followed it upstream for quite a distance. From that point, our trail started to deteriorate! More gnarly rock, very slippy, and not such attractive forest. We also climbed up and down the sides of the various ravines that we traversed probably around 10 times. They weren’t as long as the climbs in the Beaver Valley or Blue Mountains Sections, but the footing was very slippy and filled with rocks and roots! 

We started a little later this morning so with the slow terrain we were really pushing the light but managed to get back to the car before 6:00 p.m. Even then the daylight was fading fast.
We met a couple of girls hiking in the morning, and maybe 2 or 3 other groups, mostly people walking their dogs.

We drove about 30 minutes back to the B & B, quickly changed, then went down Walkers’ Line to “The Judge and Jury for dinner”. Neat place, good prices. 

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