Hike #34 - June 20, 2021

Back to Blue Mountains! A shuttle hike! The first since October of last year. Which is 12 years in pandemic time. 

I continue to plot these hikes out on AllTrails, so I can easily look at the elevation. I'm not sure this is a good thing, because hills are not my friend. I'm having issues with my toenails and the declines really suck when your painful toes are being shoved into the toe of your boot. 

I'm in the area of the Mad and Noisy Rivers, where my nephew's ashes were spread. My sister tells me to say hi to Dan and I think of him growing up splashing in these waters. 

A year ago I was in Tobermory and I'm seeing a lot of the same plants as I did up there. I appreciate the time I had there. I learned a lot about nature. I learned that I need to check in with someone other than myself when I sense red flags. I know I stayed longer than I should have because I enjoyed the nature. I hope he didn't destroy the garden I created under the cedars. 

I loved walking across this field because it's a good reminder that the trail just isn't woods and rocks and roots. I have walked adjacent to many golf courses, and fields growing food, and stretches of road. We stopped at this crossroads to admire the view (so high!) but also because there was a blaze vs map issue here. We took the blazed route since the map route would have kept us on the road. 

There were lots of pretty winged insects. Plus, the advantage of hiking with a birder is that he can pick out bird songs and tell me what birds are flying around us. So many! Living in the city, I really only see a handful of bird types. 

We reached a crest and realized we were looking at Georgian Bay. We are now so far north that Lake Ontario is not the closest body of water. 

After 20 km, we were back to the end car, but decided to go back in and check out the Standing Rock and Caves side trail. 1000% worth it! 

I'm glad JC grabbed this photo of me to show scale. It was COLD down there but magical. 

It was a long day. Up at 5 am, on the road for 6 am. I didn't get home until almost 8 pm. But a 20 km stretch done and more plans for shuttle hikes, since we're both vaxxed and we mask up in the cars. 

Stats:

starting near marker 21.9

ending near marker 42.5

total hiked today: 20.6 km + the side trail

total Bruce Trail hiked since starting: 261.8 km