Another solo hike. This time I am determined to (a) plan this the right way and (b) not end up Ubering back to my starting point.
I have now invested in a high visibility vest. Not because it's hunting season (well, it is but I'm not currently hiking thru hunting areas) but because I'm going to be doing road walking and I want to be super visible to drivers. It's a look.
Lots of folks get pissy about this, but I actually listen to podcasts when I'm hiking solo. I'm *supposed* to be listening to nature around me, but that is not enough to keep me from overthinking during the entire time. So I listen to these podcast episodes:
This American Life: Ten Sessions is about a type of therapy called Cognitive Processing Therapy, specific for unhealed trauma.
Off the Cuffs: A-hole New World delves into using kink to work through trauma.
There's a theme here. I don't want to get into it, namely because healing from trauma feels so out of reach right now, as does engaging in sex/kink.
I cover a lot of different terrain on this hike, from rocks to roads to roots.
This hike has me ending in Ball's Falls, but neither falls are on the route that I take on this day. I do hang out at Twenty Mile Creek for a bit to eat and enjoy the sound of the water.
I already knew I was going to encounter these stairs, and was prepared for them. I was not prepared for the small kid that started down the stairs as I was going up them. Even when I told him to back up six feet, he kept coming. He eventually turned around, but perhaps because I "gestured " with the 5 foot stick I had picked up along the way to use as a walking stick. His dad told me to 'stop being so afraid of life' and I told him to fuck off. No shame. Encountering people is slowly becoming my least favorite part of passing through the conservation areas and parks.
I did encounter a lot of downed trees. I wonder how this tree survived whatever attacked it in those early days and how it recovered enough to keep growing.
And this...if a tree falls in a forest, and it is caught by its comrades, has it really fallen?
Metaphors for life, probably. But also look at these lovely rotting things...
Aiming for a 10 km shuttle hike next weekend but the weather isn't looking great. I'm still not at the point of wanting to invest in microspikes for my boots, or hiking poles.
Stats:
starting near marker 52.2
ending near marker 57.9
total hiked today: 5.7 km (x 2 except I took the Jim Rainforth Side Trail on the way back, which probably saved me 1 km on the way back so let's say 10.4 km)
total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 57.9
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