My friend Violet joined me for the hike the first day. The beginning was lined with boardwalk, just like the day before, and was an easy walk. Violet was ahead of me when we flushed out some ruffed grouse from the bushes. I couldn't help but laugh when she screeched and jumped at the sudden movement.
The Trail took us over a couple of stiles. We stopped to find a geocache, then came upon a group of 33 hikers having their lunch at the side of the Trail - the largest group I'd come across yet. They were being led by a guide from the Toronto club, and everyone looked like they were having a fantastic time. After chatting with them for a few minutes we continued on to Limehouse, spending some time at its restored bunker and lime kilns. Then to the Hole in the Wall, with its extremely tall ladder and rock corridor.
That evening was scheduled for my weekly supply drop, so we found Dan at the end of the Trail waiting for us.
The next morning he dropped me off at the same spot, where I continued southward along the Trail. For a time it ran through hedgerows in between farmers' fields. I found myself trying to avoid stepping on fallen apples and hopping toads. Making my way through a meadow overgrown with wildflowers, the Trail then turned into a cool forest where I discovered the remains of an old stile laying at the side of the path. Birdsong floated in the air from the tangle of applewood above my head. I found myself wishing I knew the birds by their sound better than I do: something to work on.
Then I ran into a bit of a problem. I came out onto a road, but the blazes didn't show a right or left turn, and there didn't appear to be anything straight ahead. I checked the map - it showed a left turn for only a few metres, then into the bush. So I turned left, and found a Bruce Trail sign a few metres up, and an overgrown path. I started down the path but it quickly fizzled out, with much deadfall blocking the way and no blazes to be seen. After stumbling and bushwhacking through thick stuff for a few minutes, I finally came out to the well-worn Bruce Trail. Curious, I backtracked on the Trail to see where I'd gone wrong. Turns out it started to the right, not the left - the map must not have been updated, and the old sign not removed. Found it in the end, though.
It was in Speyside that I began to hear the sounds of the big city: at first, the sound of jets taking off from the airport, and then the roar of the 401. The Trail runs along the edge of the escarpment here, allowing for many cityscape views. I could pick out the CN Tower on the horizon. Turkey vultures soared across my field of vision.
The walk was lovely. I noticed quite a few maples tinged with red: the season was progressing. A baby garter snake slithered across the path in front of me, and I noted many tiny toads the size of my fingernail. Then the Trail took me across the Dufferin Quarry Bridge - a truly impressive structure. Apparently it can even be seen from the 401.
I found a patch of thimbleberries on the other side of the bridge and stopped to savour a few. Then it was down to a road and past a golf club, and through a passage under the 401 where my friend Mandy picked me up for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment