On my previous hike, I had left off at Ball's Falls. Looking at parking options, I realize that the next spot I can feasibly (legally) leave a car is 10 km away.
So I put a call out on FB to see if anyone wanted to join me and do a shuttle (masks on, of course). K responded so we met up at the end point, and drove in one car to Ball's Falls.
I didn't take a lot of selfies on this hike, because I was self conscious about making K stop so I can photograph myself. Instead we stopped to look at a lot of nature things.
Like these weird mushrooms/fungi/lichen:
K figures this cluster of feathers are from a dark-eyed junco since we spotted about 20 of them on the hike
This is the first hike I've done where mud was a serious factor. It has snowed lately but it hasn't been cold enough for the snow to stick around. Not embarrassed to say that I fell in the mud at one point, right on my ass. Grateful that I had thermals on, so I got myself up and kept on going.
This hill was brutal. Between the mud and the incline, we ended up relying on roots and rocks to get to the top.
It paid off with this view. We could see the CN Tower and
Skydome, which is supposedly going to be knocked down.
I couldn't have passed this without taking a selfie, of course
Best find of the day? This owl pellet. I hadn't seen one in the wild before (only the ones sold to the nature centre where I used to work) and thankfully K is a birder and knew what it was. It was full of grey fur and tiny bones and I was able to pick it apart to find this tiny jaw, likely from a mouse.
In related news: I've planned my next two hikes:
Marker 67.9 to marker 73.5, then double back (10 km)
Marker 73.5 to marker 83.3 then Uber back (10 km)
And that will bring me to the end of the Niagara section of the Bruce Trail and I will be able to apply for my end to end badge for that section. Definitely will be done the Niagara section by the end of 2020, even if weekends aren't feasible for weather, as I am off work from December 23rd until January 4th. I might plan a hike for Xmas day since it will distract me from the terribleness of the holiday.
Plus, my icers and hiking poles have arrived. I've also ordered some fleece layers - top and bottom - as my cotton layers aren't going to be practical for the winter months.
Stats:
starting near marker 57.9
ending near marker 67.9
total hiked today: 10 km
total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 67.9
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