Days Forty-Two and Forty-Three, August 15 and 16: "Socializing and Shrines." Wentworth Steps to Grimsby, 38.3 km., 13.5 hours.

The bed-and-breakfast where Trish and I had spent the night was just metres away from the famed Wentworth Steps, so it was a quick walk back to the Trail the next morning.  We had spent the previous evening catching up on each other's lives and enjoying each other's company; we have known one another for over 26 years and we still both work at the same place, so there was plenty of fodder for conversation.  In the morning, we became part of a rather eclectic group around the breakfast table, which also included a brilliant young chess player accompanied by his mother, in town for an important tournament, and a couple from South Carolina here to catch up with distant relatives - she a teacher, and he, a government worker. 

It was Saturday, the day of my supply drop, so Dan and the boys would meet us later in the afternoon at Fruitland and drive Trish back to her car at the bed and breakfast.  The plan was a good one, and went off without a hitch:  we had a wonderful day of hiking, and plenty of conversation.  There was a small ski hill to pass through, this one marked much better than ones I'd previously experienced on the Trail.  After hearing numerous cracks of club to ball, we caught sight of a golf course below.  Trish pointed out a huge black and yellow butterfly dancing through the scrub - or perhaps it was a moth?  We cogitated on the difference, and decided it was a job for Google.

We drew nearer to the Red Hill Valley Parkway, and into a small parklike area dedicated to ecological restoration.  A joint effort by Six Nations and Hamilton, it includes an interesting replica of an ancient aboriginal meeting place:  huge escarpment rocks placed in the formation of a bear paw.  Interpretive signs in the area caught our interest, and we spent some time here.

Then it was under the Red Hill Valley Parkway, and past Felker's Falls, which was a mere trickle this time of year.  Trish was a bit disappointed that the Trail didn't actually go past the Devil's Punch Bowl, with its enormous gorge.  It was accessed by a blue-blazed side trail, so we'll have to come back one day and explore that area. 

Suddenly, two goofy canines bounded along the Trail towards us:  a Saint Bernard and a cream-coloured Golden Retriever, and I knew we'd reached our destination, near Fruitland.

The next morning, Dan ferried two of my friends from the end-point in Grimsby to where I was waiting near Fruitland, at the point where Trish and I had ended the night before.  Shannon is an avid camper; we have been on many adventures together and she and I had plans to camp in Jordan overnight, after the hike.  Ted is an outdoor buff and a highly respected geocacher in southern Ontario, and had wanted to join me for a day's hiking.  I was looking very forward to hiking with both of them.

The day was filled with laughter and great conversation.  I was anointed our 'fearless leader' and handed the front position in our small group, but I had the sneaking suspicion that the other two simply didn't want to be draped with the dreaded cobwebs that crossed the path.   As an indication of how the thought processes were going, when a small group of crows scattered at our presence, Ted noted there weren't enough to actually constitute a murder, and declared them merely an 'attempted murder'.

We passed by a glacial erratic, a huge boulder dumped by the great sheet of ice as it moved across the land.  Shannon and I heard a whoop from Ted, and turned to find him phooning on top of it.  A phoon is a pose in a running position, and Ted has it down to a fine art. 

We met a large family coming our way.  They were out for a walk after their brunch; I was grateful to see them, as this meant no more cobwebs for me.

We saw many toads along the Trail, and I was lucky enough to catch sight of a young rose-breasted grosbeak in the shrubbery, its red neckerchief still quite subdued.  Then we passed through a patch of stinging nettle that encroached upon the path.  All of us were affected by it, but thankfully only slightly. 

Upon entering Beamer Memorial Conservation Area we noticed a look-out tower in the middle of a field, and guessed at its purpose.  We thought maybe a dark-sky observatory, but we were wrong:  this is actually a hawk watching tower, used to monitor the migration of raptors over the Niagara Escarpment.  We followed the Trail down the escarpment, across Forty Mile Creek, and up the other side, and noticed an odd structure set in the side of the mountain.  Built of rock with a rounded roof, it reminded me of small shrines I'd seen during other hikes in mountainous countries, but might even have been a fountain at one time.   Shannon seemed to remember us seeing it during a previous hike through here.  I'd love to learn the history behind it, but so far have had no luck with this.

We finished the day at a nearby English-type pub, so Shannon could satiate her craving for fish and chips.  During supper, Ted asked me a question I hadn't been asked yet, but that I knew would be coming sooner or later:  "What's after this?"  A question I was almost dreading more than the infamous "Why" question.  Hmmmmm.  Lemme think.