4th Hike - Lovin' This!

What an amazing place we live! Today we went once again to Hockley Valley. I am constantly amazed at how beautiful this place is. We found the parking lot on 5th Line EHS, just off the Hockley Road, followed the Hemlock Ridge Side Trail until it hooked up with the Bruce Trail again. From here we went south to where we ended at the 4th Line EHS on the 2nd hike. It was quite a rigorous trip this time around, a lot of elevation differences, made all the more difficult by the hot and humid weather here today.

 

If a tree falls in the forest....

Down....

....and back up!

Back to the 4th Line EHS.

      

The poor dogs were so overheated and tired, so we took a side trip down the other part of 5th Line so they could take a dip in the Nottawasaga River.

Till next time! God bless!

3rd Hike - Morning Sunlight

I decided to go for a hike today (without Clarence who has been working in Ottawa). It's been a busy week, and I needed some de-stressing.  Since I just wanted something small, I figured it would be a good idea to do the piece that we cut off on the first hike and do the loop with the Griffith Ravine Side Trail.

So, with Timmy's in hand (it was early morning after all), away the dogs and I went.

  

I parked on the 4th Line EHS, and found the Peter Beecham Side Trail. It takes you to the Bruce Trail, and around the loop which includes the Griffith Ravine Side Trail, which we already did on hike 1.

An icon of the Bruce Trail

Hooking on to the Bruce Trail

The leaves are starting to change!

The dogs love nothing more than to play in the water. I think their favourite words are "go swim", which means they have permission to go in.

On the last part of the Bruce Trail before you hit the side trail, there was a lovely stream babbling over the rocks on its way down.

I think early morning is my favourite time to hike. You can play a lot with the sunshine and a camera.

Also found a really interesting type of fungus. It looks like coral.

And a few parting shots:

'Till next time! God bless!

2nd Hike - A Good Accident

Our daughter, Rachael, received a pass from the Credit Valley Conservation Authority as a gift, so on Sunday afternoon, after church, we decided to go hiking in one of the parks that are covered by the pass. Since we wanted to do something we had never done before, we ended up going to the Limhouse Conservation Area. We were quite pleasantly surprised as we rounded the corner just before the conservation area, to see a sign telling us that this was part of the Bruce Trail! Thus, the happy accident. :)

Extra bonus was to have our daughter and grandson with us!

We started the walk with a side-trail in order to reach the actual Bruce Trail.


At approximately the 20.5 km mark of the Toronto Club (map 12 in the resource book), we found a surprising geological formation called "hole in the wall". It consisted of a bunch of crevices and rock fissures.

It is amazing to see how a tree root can split rock!

We had quite a bit of fun exploring this piece. From here, we followed the trail to a lovely little waterfall.

Then onwards to the lime kiln, powder house and ovens. There is a lot of local history in this place and they are doing a splendid job on restoring the damage done through the years. There were also a few nice signs explaining the history of the kilns and quarry.

After this piece, we walked through the woods along the Black Creek (a tributary of the Credit River), via the Black Creek Side Trail, and reconnected with the Bruce Trail to make a full loop.

It beginning to look a lot like....autumn.

I have never seen this plant before. If anyone can name it for me, please leave a comment. It has an orange berry with a spiked pink outside.

At the end of the trail, we had to de-burr our poor dog, Scruffy. He could not see because the burrs had tangled his face hair over his eyes. Needless to say, he is scheduled for a hair cut very soon!

Grandson, Judah....he slept through almost all of the hike in the Snuggli with his Opa.

God bless, until next time!