Saturday March 16th, 2019- 8 km

We began our Bruce Trail End-to-End quest almost one full year ago on Saturday March 17th, 2018. We ambitiously thought that we might be further along at this point, yet we are pleased to report that we have now completed 130 km. Over the winter, Paul and I have been taking part in our ski club’s adult race training program and spent most weekends perfecting our turns and running through race gates. We have made lots of new friends and our skiing has improved. This morning, despite the hills still being covered with snow, we decided that we had had enough skiing for the season. It was time to get back on the Bruce Trail!

We started our hike today in the Hockley Valley, at a parking lot on Hockley Road, at 2^nd Line.  We entered the icy trail with our XTR Extreme YakTrax crampons crunching beneath our feet and providing us with traction.  We quickly recognized that we could not have hiked today without crampons. Scout and Coco pressed their toenails into the ice and sought out snowy patches in the woods, working hard to gain traction and show us the way. Ever the trooper, Coco was determined to demonstrate once again, that she is in fact, a hiking dog. Scout kept busy, trying to find the perfect stick, even if it was buried beneath the ice and snow.

The Hockley Valley was a popular place to hike today, with several groups congregating in the parking lot and along the path. Two km into the trail, we met a group that had turned around, as there was flooding ahead, at a tributary of the Nottawasaga River and the trail was impassable. We thought we might try walking around the flooding, yet the leader of the group looked like he knew what he was talking about, so we turned around. We debated what to do, as Paul’s car was parked at the end of this section and we had set this day aside to tackle some of the trail. I recalled that I noticed another parking area, as we were driving to the starting point. In no time, we moved my car to the parking area at Glen Cross Side Trail, and entered the hardwood forested hills of the Bruce Trail again. We will have to return in the summer, to fully complete this section, once the forest has dried out.

After a brief encounter with a lone hiker, who had turned around due to the ice, we had the trail to ourselves from this point onwards and we were relieved that we did not encounter any more flooding. The trail was like a roller coaster covered with ice, so we took our time. Walking downhill on sheer ice, even with crampons is not easy. Our next greatest challenge was the final kilometre along a farmer’s field, where the trail was covered with a never-ending snow drift. Every so often we would suddenly sink into the drift, so we proceeded carefully, not wanting to break an ankle! Who knew that hiking the Bruce Trail would be so treacherous!!

Today, we learned a lesson about the Bruce Trail- closed sections of the trail are posted on the website and regularly updated. With hopes of hiking again the next day, we checked and saw that the section we were planning on tackling, had several closed paths. Instead, we hiked on our favourite Bruce Trail Sidetrail, near the chalet. With fingers crossed that the weather will improve in the next few weeks, we hope to get several more sections completed before our next distraction- golf!