February 20, 2017
This year, we had some unbelievably mild weather in February. It was so amazing, we decided to go visit some friends of ours in Niagara Falls and stay overnight with them and go hiking from there the next day. Our wonderful friends helped us to drop our car off at the 9 kilometer mark and then drove us to the Southern Terminus of the Bruce Trail. This meant we only had to walk one way! Thank you Chris and Amanda!
And so, we started in the 15°C weather and the southern point of the Bruce Trail and headed west.
It was actually a little confusing trying to find where the trail went from the terminus around the parking lot, but soon we were on our way. It was quite exciting to think we were at one of the "end" points of the trail.
One main advantage of hiking in February is that there are no leaves on the trees and the views of the escarpment are unobstructed.
But, of course, a disadvantage is all of the mud!
As we were hiking along, we found this interesting contraption. We still have no idea what it is for!
It was very striking to walk the trail in the winter as there was no vegetation. It made finding the trail quite easy, but the mud definitely made it more slippery.
As we were following the trail, part of it was shared by the Niagara Falls Nature Club. This group was formed in 1966 as an effort to share "a common bond, and that is an interest in the natural world around us." Their history is quite interesting and can be found on their website, http://niagarafallsnatureclub.org/.
This was also the site of my first big fall while hiking. I ended up slipping on some of that mud! Thankfully it didn't hurt too bad and we were soon on our way (ok, maybe my pride was wounded a bit ;) ).
And, in spite of the very warm temperatures, we still found some snow.
As we neared somewhere around kilometer three, we found ourselves walking beside what had once been the Queenston Quarries (maybe that earlier contraption had to do with this?).
After this, we found the trail once again sharing its path with another trail, this time the Laura Secord Legacy Trail. According to Wikipedia, "Laura Secord (née Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked 20 miles (32 km) out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada." The trail is "a modern-day approximation of the route that can be negotiated safely by hikers of average abilities" (according to the trail's website).
After circling around the old quarry, the trail followed the Niagara Townline Road.
By this time, the weather was warm enough to take our jackets off and hike in t-shirts (let's remember that this is February in Canada!).
We followed the road under highway 405 and at kilometer 5.8 we turned back onto the trail heading west again.
Eventually we passed a double railway (this picture reminds me of learning about perspective in art classes :) ).
A little pond:
And finally our car right where we had left it on Mewburn Road.
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