Hike #19 - January 30, 2021

Another hike with my new hiking buddy. In the week since we've met he's checked in to see what I thought about pace and amount of conversation. This is good. I like this. 

It's a gorgeous morning. We're coming off a full moon and it's crisp and gorgeous. The forecast is calling for 7 hours of sun. Perfect. 

Again, no starting point selfie. It's actually too cold to stand around so we get moving. The sun is barely up, and the trees are covered in frost. 

Again, he sets the pace and we get moving. There's a lot of winding around trees and there are a lot of tracks from rabbits and deer. 

Before long we pass over a bridge and I'm tempted to play pooh-sticks. 

As we do a little road section, I notice that there's a swan just paddling around in a pond. They seem so out of place. White on white, it's hard to see until they paddle around in a circle. We pass by again on our way back and they're still there, but in better light. Looking back at these photos shows me how differently the light hits at 9 am vs 11 am. 

We don't come across very many people, probably because of the time of day, but also because it's cold and fresh. I'm glad for this, because the hills are intense. We end up in Silver Creek Conservation Area and hit a parking area, which I assume to be our turnaround point. 

Back to those hills, but mostly downhill this time. It looks like there's another escarpment ridge on the other side of the valley. 

By the end, my feet are dragging but we decide that we'll go off-trail and check out this waterfall. Totally worth it, even though my battery dies while I'm taking video. 

I'd like to come back in the spring and see if I can't find the trail that brings you to the base of the falls. 

It's only 1 pm when I start the return to Toronto, so I decide to go ahead and pick up the STP device I ordered from CAYA, which has finally returned to Toronto with a storefront in Kensington Market.  

I've done my research; Blair Braverman uses this and it's the only not-gendered STP that comes highly recommended. I give it a try when I get home (yes, yes, I've been told to practice in the shower) and I don't do too badly! The biggest thing is telling my brain to pee while I am standing upright. After 40 odd years of sitting down/squatting, standing to pee is not something that comes naturally.

It's not until we're both in our respective homes and comparing notes that I realize we should have kept on hiking for another 2 km before turning around. He mentions heading out again tomorrow and before I know it, we've planned to do just that, for a 19.2 km out-and-back. 

Here's hoping I don't collapse after hiking 32.6 km over two days. At least my Monday morning commute is easy.

Stats:

starting near marker 36.1

ending near marker 42.8

total hiked today: 6.7 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 124 km

Hike #18 - January 24, 2021

CN: graphic photos of dead animal remains

Teaming up with someone who is just starting the Toronto section means re-routing things a bit. I share my spreadsheet with him and we decide to meet up at 42.8 and walk to the end of the Toronto section at 50.3. 

After some confusion about where to park, we find our starting point and start out. I'm too self conscious to take a starting point selfie. In fact, I take very few photos on this hike because I'm super self conscious (New people! Ack!) and I also don't want to slow him down, as he set a faster pace than I'm used to on solo hikes. I usually meander and take my time, and have a podcast or several to keep me company. 

It's good to have company. I'm feeling quite people starved. Too many meetings on Zoom and MS Teams. Not enough in person time. I miss my friends. I miss hugs. 

Another CN: graphic photos

We come across this fabulous find not too far into the trail. It looks like a rabbit has been recently attacked, and the predator has left behind the rabbit's stomach, full of moss. 

Next up is proof of deer, which isn't a great surprise. When we stopped to figure out parking, we both looked up the road to see several deer taking their time crossing the road. 

In the back of my head during this hike, I have an abstract photo project for National Park of Emotions. Abstract photos are new to me; I'm used to taking photos for iNaturalist for id'ing purposes. But I snap the following (none of which I end up using for my submission):

I have something in mind though, linking decay to grief. Grief to decay. January is a hard month. The month that N left. The month I met S. The month I uncovered D's lies and decided to leave. 

We wrap up the hike and I tell him I'd like to do it again. I can't end the day without a selfie, so I pull over on the way home to take a photo and unearth snacks from my pack. 

It's not a great photo, but it's me. 

I get home to a sleepy adorable doggo. 

Great sunset that evening too

Stats:

starting near marker 42.8

ending near marker 50.3 (end of Toronto section)

total hiked today: 7.5 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 117.3 km

Hike #17 - January 16, 2021

I wasn't feeling this. It took me a long time to actually physically get out of bed and get going. I think I was so drained by chatter online about what is essential. Is hiking essential? Is hiking 45 minutes from home essential? 

I already do what I can to manage risk during the pandemic. I made every attempt to gas up in Toronto before I go. I don't stop for coffee or food. 

There were calls for people to stay within their own neighbourhoods. My neighbourhood of Parkdale is adjacent to High Park. 399 acres of park within a city. And completely over-run with people. The last time I visited it was nearly impossible to distance. I imagine the same is happening in the ravine systems of Toronto. Lots of folks are getting outside and lots of them are doing that in Toronto. 

I felt a bit guilty about travelling 45 minutes from home to go hiking, but I don't know what else to do. Is this essential? To me...yes. My mental health is a goddamn mess. The days are a blur but Saturdays...on Saturdays, I hike. 

I'm starting off from the town (village?) of Limehouse. I started a hike from here with EW in September, so I know exactly where I'm going. There's a tiny stretch of road, so my icers are off my boots and in my bag. I had anticipated not needing them because the weather in Toronto had been so mild but just 45 minutes away, the Halton Hills area still had hard packed snow/ice on the ground. Once I finish the road portion and head up the rocky portion of the trail, I put on the icers. 

Maybe it's because I was here in September when the trees were lush, but I continue to just not feel into it. There are a lot of dead trees on the ground. It feels like everywhere I look, there is rot. I do stop and marvel at this tree, which has lost a portion of its trunk (how did that even happen?) but is still standing. 

I also have a newfound appreciation for yellow birch. 

When I reach my turn-around point, I see two cars full up, each with a family of four. The four kids take off and the four adults follow slowly behind them. I guess this isn't a gathering of more than five people, since I never see them all together, but I do wish the kids would step off the trail as I approach. I do stop the kids at one point so I can point out the evidence of a bird murder on a boardwalk section. 

Not far from there, I find this delicate nest, maybe belonging to a red-eyed vireo.

I take the Ridge Side Trail and Todd Bardes Meadowlands Side Trail on the return. The meadowlands are pretty bleak compared to what they looked like in September, but there's a bench so I sit and enjoy a bit of a sun bathing and snacking.

Once I'm back to the start, I collect some cedar and remove my icers. It's only 3:30 pm so even with the late start, I haven't killed nearly enough time. I was able to complete 10 km in 3 1/2 hours with pee breaks, a sit on the bench and generally wandering at the end point to see what condition the roads are for the next hike. It's time to re-route my hikes so that I'm going for longer. Here are some random photos of nature things that I captured.

I'm beginning to take an interest in fungi and lichen identification, which requires the ability to identify the trees that they grow on. We'll see whether I do anything with this interest.

Once I'm home I do some planning for longer hikes and calculate that I'll be able to finish the Toronto section in just three more out-and-back hikes and ponder whether I need to switch to weekdays to avoid people.

Today I had a cute man I've been chatting with ask me to go hiking with him. Folks, I'm certain that I blushed (swooned, possibly?) when he sent me that message. He's also a Bruce Trail hiker (but several sections and 3 years ahead of me). It will be nice to meet in person after months of messaging after matching on a queer dating app. I have mentally put him firmly in the Friend Zone because I don't want to get my hopes up. I miss having a hiking buddy, first and foremost. 

I'm trying not to think about what I'll do when I finish the Toronto section. We're certain to still be in some form of lockdown, so my only thought it to start the Iroquoia section from the end point (in Kelso) and work my way backwards, so I'm still within an hour of home. 

Hey, look what I bought myself to keep in my pack while I hike. 

Stats:

starting near marker 21.5

ending near marker 26.5

total hiked today: 5 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 109.8 km

Hike #16 - January 9, 2021

I've managed to route out the rest of the Toronto section and if I'm able to do one hike each week, I'll be able to finish it by February 13. The longest hike will be almost 15 km out and back and I'm hoping this can be my standard length for the Iroquoia section. I've routed that out too, but have no idea when I'll be able to take that on, because fuck this pandemic. 

Today they declared a state of emergency and there's conflicting advice about what is essential exercise. Is it essential that I drive 45 minutes each way to hike? Probably not. But am I going to do it anyway because I just need to get the fuck out of Toronto once a week? Fuck yes. 

Am typing this after having taken a sick day. I'm not sleeping well and when the alarm goes off in the morning, I immediately feel super anxious, like someone has punched me in the sternum. Also, my entire body is sore and I'm trying not to think about the possibility of COVID. 

I was sick a year ago. I spent about 4 days passed out on the couch, with a fever and heavy chest. For three weeks afterwards, I coughed so much that I had to use bladder leakage pads. I feel fairly certain that what I had was the first wave of COVID that hit Toronto, but there's no way to know for sure. 

This hike takes me through cornfields for 2 km and looks like they've planted these trees to keep folks on trail and not in the fields. It's a sunny day and it's so nice that I stop every so often just to close my eyes and hold my face to the sun. 

Once crossing 5th line, I've entered Limehouse Conservation Area and it's...busy. And busy with folks who aren't prepared for the packed down snow/ice, so there is a lot of screaming. It's unpleasant. It's also more people than I want to be around. I do follow the trail to get into the Hole in the Wall and try and get a photo but am distracted by a screaming child and a couple coming VERY VERY close to me. 

 

I've seen many photos of Limehouse on IG and I did try to visit once in the summer, but the crowds were too much. It's nice to explore in winter and because I have microspikes, I can literally run on the ice around people who are in my way. 

Plus cool frozen things in the water! How was that even formed? 

I get to my turnaround point and decide to take the Black Creek side trail on the return to avoid crowds. This takes me along the creek and I stop a few times just to enjoy the sound of the water and to take photos of more frozen things. I also find that someone has pulled a cedar branch off of a tree, so I strip it down and bag it to pass on, hoping one of my Indigenous friends could use it. I end up passing the two poop bags full onto a Metis friend. 

While taking a video, I spot what I later determine to be a mink but am not able to capture it on video. 

It's super peaceful and quiet on the side trail and even tho I end up having to climb a hill, the terrain is nothing like the hills in Niagara. 

Back across those cornfields again...

Stats:

starting near marker: 17.4 km

ending near marker: 21.5 km

total hiked today: 4.1 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 104.8 km