Hike #30 - March 27, 2021

Since it rained twice this week, I decide not to return to where I left off in Iroquoia and instead hike back to Caledon Hills to do the 19.1 km stretch that is mostly road walking. 

I originally plotted this out as two out-and-back hikes but learn that the local town has a cab company, so I decide to park at the end, cab to the beginning, and get this done in one shot. I will out an online booking form the night before; I haven't received confirmation by the time I leave on Saturday morning so I program their number into my phone and decide to call when I'm there. 

I arrive at 8:15 am, call to confirm my 8:30 am pick-up and find out they never got it. They say 'yes, at 9:30 am' and I repeat that I'm expecting a 8:30 am pick up. Once sorted it out, I grab what I need from the car and wait for the cab. My boots have dried out from last weekend and I bang them together to get rid of the mud. I'm starting today with 2 pant layers (including my new hiking pants), and the same four upper layers as last week - t-shirt, hoodie, fleece, down vest, plus a toque and gloves. Since I'm road walking, I also have a high-vis vest. I leave my rainbow bear hat in the car and grab one from a local craft brewer that also happens to be bright orange. 

My cab driver arrives and starts to tell me that someone has made the exact same booking as me, but with a 9:30 am pick-up. I watch the meter climb and climb. Over $65! I was not prepared for this. He knocks it down to a flat rate but it still costs $57.50 with a tip. 

I am ready with podcasts. The sky is grey. I am lonely. But there are tiny signs of spring, like tree buds and the moss is extra green. 

I call a friend when I tire of podcasts and this make the first 10 km stretch go pretty quickly! I stop at the 10 km mark to finish our call, and eat some snacks. Only 9 km left to go. 

I had been warned that this intersection is terrible, but I don't find it too bad. Sure, walking up Airport Road isn't very scenic, but I turn up the volume for my podcasts and push through. I notice that there is someone about 500 metres behind me and it almost feels like having company. 

Along Airport Road, I end up with 3 more hikers following close behind. When I turn onto Finnerty Sideroad, I get distracted by some running water, so I stop to enjoy and take video. 3 of the 4 hikers catch up to me and pass me; they note that they're doing a 12 km stretch. As I enter one of the small sections that goes through the forest my battery dies, so I stop to plug in my pocket charger and wait until it's charged a bit, since I'm sharing my location with folks and they'll be concerned if I disappear completely. While I wait, the 4th hiker catches up to me and I learn that she was the person who got the 9:30 am cab ride. She's another end to end hiker, and...she's LOUD. My nervous system is all out of whack these days and it just feels like she's yelling while we're standing in this lovely mossy forest. She goes on ahead and by the time I'm ready to start moving again, I have 30% battery and can update folks that I'm ok. 

I turn north onto Innis Lake Road which comes to a dead end and leads into conservation area. There are more people here, but also hints of mud. One of the side trails is closed off and it's a shame, as it looks like it would lead to Innis Lake. In any case, this portion feels like a reward for completing the road sections. 

I'm feeling good as I cross that river and find a spot to take some selfies. I sometimes forget that I have a body attached to me, if that makes sense. 

I pass a few more people and decide to finish the hike shirtless. The sun isn't out, but my layers are sweaty and gross. 

I know that I hit the 200 km mark early on in this hike, but I take a photo as I finish this 19 km section. I have just one section of Caledon left and can then apply for the Caledon Hills badge to add to my Caledon Hills winter badge (in the mail). Depending on weather, I might return next weekend to finish this section and start a bit of the Dufferin Hi-Lands section. The other option is to look for routes in Iroquoia that are along roadways, to avoid the mud. 

Back at the car, I strip down completely. I've started to bring a clean set of clothes with me because (a) I end up pretty dirty/smelly and (b) I can now do errands on my way home. I'm totally feeling myself at the end of the hike and take a bunch of selfies. I mean, look at how great my ass looks in leggings! I haven't worn leggings since I was 11 or 12 and my mum shamed me for not having my ass covered. Imagine what she would think of shirtless hiking with my exposed chubby belly!

I am HUNGRY when I finish, so I double-mask and stop at a grocery store to pick up snacks. I even grab myself a slice of chocolate cake, since I never did anything to mark my birthday. The egg salad sandwich is disappointing but the half-price paneer samosas are perfection. I save half for dinner. 

I make another stop in Brampton to return something at Value Village and instead end up spending $35 on clothes. I'm becoming one of those people who wants to wear athleisure wear all the time. After a literal lifetime of feeling too fat to wear fitted clothes, it's so nice to be able to grab a bunch of medium-sized things and know that they'll fit, even if they highlight areas that I don't quite love (hello tiny belly!). I need to start moving away from the XL t-shirts in my closet. 

Stats:

starting near marker 16.1

ending near marker 35.2

total hiked today: 19.1 km

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 218.5 km

Hike #29 - March 21, 2021

 Another sunrise hike. I park where I left off the day before. The goal today is a total of 16.6 km. 

I am all layered up. Leggings under my pants. A quick dry shirt, a quick dry hoodie, a fleece and a down vest. Mittens and toque. The ground is frozen again, but I know it's going to be mud before long. 

It's taking a bit to readjust to hiking on ground instead of snow/ice. The rocks make things more technical. There is a lot of dodging and weaving to make sure I'm placing my feet in the right spots. This isn't an issue when the rocks are under hard-packed snow and ice. I feel more confident wearing spikes and navigating ice than I do navigating rocky trails but I will eventually adjust back to this mode. 

The birds are out again and I hear an interesting call that I record and a friend later identifies it as a red-bellied woodpecker. I'm tempting to invest in binoculars, but they're just too expensive. 

There are some great trees in this section: this giant stump (there's no other big pieces of this tree nearby...it looks like it was just plunked down here), the 'tout est possible' graffiti tree (I've seen so many photos of this), and some interesting 'what is nature doing to this' trees. 

I don't know what it is, but just getting to the turn-around point feels like a SLOG. Maybe it's because I know I'll be hiking back in mud? I stop just short of the turn-around to strip off my leggings; of course someone comes along just as I'm about to drop my pants. 

I manage to bend a hiking pole, as it gets wedged in between some rocks, but my body keeps moving. I eventually find a bridge where I'm able to wedge the pole instead the slats and push in the opposite direction. It's not perfect but it's less obvious. I also manage to trip and fall down on my knees. I'm a mess. 

I decide to stop and remove more layers so that I'm down to my bra. If it weren't for the fact that my boobs are so huge, this wouldn't be an issue, but as I pass people, they refuse to make eye contact. Of course, my pale white belly is also a sight to behold. 

The sun feels great! It also feels great to return to the access trail where I've left my car, knowing that it's downhill from that point. It's been over five months since I got a blue blaze tattooed on my leg and decided to start this journey. 

The mud. Well, it's heavy. I would rather be wearing icers. 

I return to the mall to return the back and decided to upgrade to a 40 L. It seems ridiculously big but I like the lower zippered compartment and lots of exterior pockets. It will be able to accommodate my 3 L water bladder without issue. And it's got a good frame that should help out the issues with my back that have had me in absolute pain and finally started physio. WFH is the worst. 

starting near marker  7.4

ending near marker 15.7

total hiked today: 8.3 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 199.4 km

Hike #28 - March 20, 2021

Up early! Who needs to sleep anymore? Who is sleeping well these days? I would like to know their secrets. 

I'm heading back to Iroquoia today. I finished the Niagara section on December 21st, the first day of winter and I'm picking up where I left off on the first day of spring. The bridge is still closed. 

I had forgotten that the clocks changed the previous weekend but this works out well as I hit the trail at sunrise and get to a gorgeous vantage point as the sun rises over the escarpment. 

Sunrise means birds! I'm not a birder but I can appreciate seeing the birds that I haven't seen for six months. This hike takes me through Beamer CA up to Ridge Road and it's actually a nice stretch for birding. I spot red winged blackbirds, dark-eyed juncos, a male cardinal, Canadian geese, chickadees, hairy woodpecker, blue jay and hear what I think is the call of a red-tailed hawk. 

This is my first hike without icers for some months and I feel so much lighter. The only issue is that the ground is starting to thaw and with that...mud season. It's not so bad when I start out because it's so early and somewhat chilly, but by the time I turn around, it's 10 C and the trails in Beamer are messy. They're also getting crowded so I'm glad to head out, after taking some time to do a side trail to the water and a good soak under the sun 

On my way home I stop and do some shopping. I'm in need of a better backpack, as the pack I'm using I originally bought for my then-9 year old. It doesn't have the back structure I need. I double mask and go into a mall for the first time in over a year. It is surreal. 

I finally pick out a 30 L pack, hiking pants and carabiners. With the changing room closed, I actually have to buy all the pants I want to try on and take them to the mall bathroom to try on. I go back and return the ones that don't fit. As I type this, I'm wishing I had bought a second pair of pants. Black pants seemed unpractical but they were only $12. Of course, they're not on the website so I cannot order them and there's no chance of returning to the mall at this point, as that area is returning to lockdown as of tomorrow. 

When I get the pack home, I'm disappointed that the interior is a lot smaller than I thought. With the back frame in place, I could only fit my water bladder in there, and not much else. I decided to return tomorrow and check out bigger options. 

starting near marker 0

ending near marker 7.4

total hiked today: 7.4 x 2 (14.4)

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 191.1 km

Hike #27 - March 13, 2021

Back to Caledon Hills! I've routed this section so that I have about 20 km of road to hike, and another hike that will take me into the next section of Dufferin Hi-lands, so this will be my last Caledon Hills hike for awhile. 

We start off from where I parked the day before, but head south. There's about 1.5 of pure road, heading uphill, to start off. It's a big of a brutal warm-up but we don't need icers until we hit the trailhead. 

From there, it gets interesting. I am super glad I invested the funds in the microspikes because they made all the difference. The trail is icy and there are hills and more hills. We actually skirt a golf course for a portion, and then climb up to the top of a ski hill. 

It's gorgeous once we get past the groomed lawn and hill. 

Things are starting to be green again.

This hike is bittersweet and I'm glad we moved slow, as it's the last shared hiked we've planned. We had a lot of laughs over the icy hills and I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. I'll head back to the Iroquoia section and he'll go on to hike another section well north of where I'll be. Back to texting. Back to solo hikes. 

starting near marker 51.9

ending near marker 60.9

total hiked today: 9 km x 2

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 182.1 km

Hike #26 - March 12, 2021

It's my birthday. I'm 42. I don't enjoy my birthday very much. I'm taking my heartbreak and loneliness to the forest.

A year ago I was emerging from the Amazon in Ecuador, with no clue that Canada was shutting down. It's been a long fucking year of heartbreak and healing. More heartbreak. Incremental healing. 

I've been working on the Caledon Hills winter badge. This hike will complete the requirements. 

I'm working my way through the Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve on this hike and it's fitting that I come across an owl pellet fairly early on. I haven't seen one since Niagara. 

There are green things emerging.

The Nottawasaga River passes through the park here and it really is flowing. So much so that I have to get creative to get through the water covered trail. 

The sun feels great. 

Super great. These hikes make it worth all the time I spend trapped at my kitchen table desk. 

I completely soak a foot on the return as I try and cross the trail at the river again. 

I decide to take another side trail on the return and try out some shirtless hiking. it's cold but it's sunny. I'm solo. It's my birthday. Fuck yes. 

Toronto entered a different version of lockdown on Monday, so on my way home I'm able to stop at Value Village and do some thrifting. It's time to start thinking about outfitting myself for spring hiking. I have one more hike of Caledon Hills and then I'm back to Iroquoia. I will have to return to Caledon for 2 hikes that are mostly road, plus one hike that will take me into Dufferin Highlands, the next section north of Caledon Hills. 

Stats:

starting near marker 61.3

ending near marker 68

total hiked today: 6.7 (15.08 total with side trail returns)

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 173.1