Day 38 – Hiking Day 31 – Friday October 13 2017

Day 38 – Hiking Day 31 – Friday October 13 2017
Iroquoia Section 64 Valley Road Near Rock Chapel to Iroquoia Section 38.7 Chedoke Radial Trail
Distance –  27.14
Time  - 7:22











We started this morning hiking through the grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was warm with no rain! We feel so lucky to have had the weather we have experienced up to this point. With only 5 days left (after today) we know it is turning cold this weekend with high winds and thunderstorms! We will embrace them. Yesterday we had quite a bit of wind on top of the Escarpment and it is truly a lovely feeling to have the wind brushing your skin, and hearing the chatter of the squeaking trees.

Part of the hike today was through a beautiful area around the Dundas Valley Conservation Area where we came across  ruins for “The Hermitage” a large stone house owned at one stage by an Irish born Scotsman!  The forests were tall, and mature, and of course we had some ups and downs. Other areas of the hike included beautiful waterfalls such as Sherman Falls. We met a group of Peruvian vendors selling their wares …..at least that is what we thought. There were too many people and we didn’t stop to investigate! A lot of the trail was noisy with the constant hum of vehicles on a road or highway, but that didn’t stop us from tuning into the birds. We saw and heard more birds today than before. Curious given that we are surrounded by towns and cities. The soft paths of the forests were sandwiched between long steep walks up and down the sides of the ravines on slippery rock and roots
The day ended with 289 steps….up to the car!! We had a sprinkling of rain but nothing to speak of.
The high point of the day was sighting three deer in amongst the trees. One of them stopped and stared at us for the longest time, then decided we weren’t a threat, and continued on munching! Beautiful!!

We also had a treat! About 6.5 k into the hike we diverted our tracks by about 200 metres onto King Street in Dundas and found “Detour Café.” We went in for a latte and a treat! Our Australian hiking friends Lari and Hedley told us about this! When we travelled along the path after our coffee, we met a mother and son also hiking the Bruce. They had been given instructions to a Tims but couldn’t find it. So we were able to pass along our information! We hope they found  the Detour Café! It was excellent!!

We are both feeling really strong and healthy and totally amazed that we only have 5 days of hiking left. It seems beyond reality.

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