We began our Bruce\nTrail End-to-End quest almost one full year ago on Saturday March 17th, 2018.\nWe ambitiously thought that we might be further along at this point, yet we are\npleased to report that we have now completed 130 km. Over the winter, Paul and\nI have been taking part in our ski club\u2019s adult race training program and spent\nmost weekends perfecting our turns and running through race gates. We have made\nlots of new friends and our skiing has improved. This morning, despite the\nhills still being covered with snow, we decided that we had had enough skiing\nfor the season. It was time to get back on the Bruce Trail! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_9765.jpg?resize=424%2C485&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWe started our hike\ntoday in the Hockley Valley, at a parking lot on Hockley Road, at 2nd<\/sup>\nLine. We entered the icy trail with our XTR\nExtreme YakTrax crampons crunching beneath our feet and providing us with\ntraction. We quickly recognized that we\ncould not have hiked today without crampons. Scout and Coco pressed their\ntoenails into the ice and sought out snowy patches in the woods, working hard\nto gain traction and show us the way. Ever the trooper, Coco was determined to\ndemonstrate once again, that she is in fact, a hiking dog. Scout kept busy,\ntrying to find the perfect stick, even if it was buried beneath the ice and\nsnow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hockley Valley was\na popular place to hike today, with several groups congregating in the parking\nlot and along the path. Two km into the trail, we met a group that had turned\naround, as there was flooding ahead, at a tributary of the Nottawasaga River\nand the trail was impassable. We thought we might try walking around the\nflooding, yet the leader of the group looked like he knew what he was talking\nabout, so we turned around. We debated what to do, as Paul\u2019s car was parked at\nthe end of this section and we had set this day aside to tackle some of the\ntrail. I recalled that I noticed another parking area, as we were driving to\nthe starting point. In no time, we moved my car to the parking area at Glen\nCross Side Trail, and entered the hardwood forested hills of the Bruce Trail\nagain. We will have to return in the summer, to fully complete this section,\nonce the forest has dried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a brief\nencounter with a lone hiker, who had turned around due to the ice, we had the\ntrail to ourselves from this point onwards and we were relieved that we did not\nencounter any more flooding. The trail was like a roller coaster covered with\nice, so we took our time. Walking downhill on sheer ice, even with crampons is\nnot easy. Our next greatest challenge was the final kilometre along a farmer\u2019s\nfield, where the trail was covered with a never-ending snow drift. Every so\noften we would suddenly sink into the drift, so we proceeded carefully, not\nwanting to break an ankle! Who knew that hiking the Bruce Trail would be so\ntreacherous!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, we learned a\nlesson about the Bruce Trail- closed sections of the trail are posted on the\nwebsite and regularly updated. With hopes of hiking again the next day, we\nchecked and saw that the section we were planning on tackling, had several\nclosed paths. Instead, we hiked on our favourite Bruce Trail Sidetrail, near the\nchalet. With fingers crossed that the weather will improve in the next few\nweeks, we hope to get several more sections completed before our next\ndistraction- golf! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_9761.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_9771.jpg?resize=818%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n