Caledon Section - Innes Lake Road (31.7 km) to Willougby Road (16.1 km) - Nov. 10, 2022.

 Caledon Section - Innes Lake Road (31.7 km) to Willoughby Road (16.1 km) - Nov. 10, 2022.

Welcome everyone to the latest adventure of "Hiking with Friends" and a lesson in how to make what is perceived to be by many as one of the most uninspiring stretches of Bruce Trail out there, into a quite enjoyable stroll on a late autumn morning...some of the influences we had control over, and some we didn't...a 16.1 km distance (which, I think for the first time ever, I exactly matched on my Garmin!) that leans heavily upon road walking, but with several interesting "side trail" like areas to explore...

From a bird's eye view, the first characteristic that strikes you is the linear nature of this section...yeah, not a lot of curves in that path...my impression is that the landowners around here are uber rich, and passage through their property is just never going to happen...stick to the road you huddled masses!..it has the most wrought iron, camera spying, "Do Not Trespass" anointed gates per kilometer anywhere "between the cairns"...our blistering 3.6 km/hr pace was as a result of the the 9 km of road walking...we did climb over 350 meters so that helped keep the heart pumping...

This week's "H.W.F Elected Learned Leader", here-to-after referred to as "HELL"...as in "what the hell did I sign up for?", Barbara begins the day by organizing the shuttle cars...

We arrive at our origin point and...what have I done?..after an over-eager start to the hike by said leader, I duly cut her out of a hastily arranged and "blinded by early morning sun" group selfie...I also missed Liz, apologies to her...so there were in fact 10 of us...Liz (trust me here, and welcome back!), half-a-Barbara, Doug, Sandra (sweep), Laura, Peter, Lesley, Annette, Steve R, and myself...

It's mid November but we are blessed with an unusually warm, sunny day...this was something we didn't have control over, but for which we were very grateful...we take a quick right on Finnnerty Road and further down, start one of the "side trail" escapades...let's see what we can see...

 Hey, it's a downed tree (forgot to check for a blaze-darn)...that's...exciting...

After negotiating a "fun house" like, sloped section, we emerge back out onto Finnerty Road...and here really starts what makes even this least inspiring part of hiking worthwhile...the company!..we have lot to catch up on...news about family, friends, future vacations, and other random topics come spilling out as we walk abreast...it's like "hiking twitter" but live and real...

But that peaceful chatter will soon be severely curtailed for a couple of kilometers when this corner is reached...Airport Road along here is reminiscent of an airport runway...but for large trucks, roaring by, headed to and from the nearby quarries...if you want to experience the lovely smell of diesel, mixed with burning brake pads, mixed with clouds of stone dust, this is the place for you...

It seems ironic then that just steps off this commercial conduit of noise and chaos lies a Buddhist temple with some amazing statues...I take a quick peek and bond quickly with the goddess of napping to whom I pay homage...

At least, as Sandra pointed out sagely, it would be good to get this unpleasant stretch "done and dusted" early on...

The right turn onto Escarpment Side Road is a welcome sight...some serenity can return to our day and conversations are re-kindled...

Garden Waste of the Rich and Famous...I'm just going to leave that there...

We've found a forest that we are allowed into...let's investigate...

It turns out to be quite glorious...the now bared trees stand like sentinels among their fallen foliage and the sun is allowed to stream through...it is a quite exquisite morning...

It's a quick crossing of the road and over a stile and back into the woods...starting to feel like a real hike...

The trail comes upon a vast open harvested field...it's a great spot to regroup AND linger (you can do both)...we end up staying a few minutes enjoying the broad expanse...

Spot the old relic in this picture...as for the car, it's an Oldsmobile Cutlass...maybe a '69?

...and I think I found the Pathfinder who parked it here (from a blog in 2015)...must have had bad co-ordinates...

An equine welcome will brighten anyone's day...pretty sure these guys could subsist on hiker hand-outs alone...

It's a perfect spot to take a break and soak up the sunshine...

St. Andrews Stone Church - 1853.

There's a short bit of trail that bisects the corner at St. Andrews Road and re-emerges onto the now familiar Escarpment Side Road...

This will be the longest straightest piece of road walking you will find on the B.T...you can usually get some pretty spectacular views of the GTA along the way, but hazy cloud along the Lake Ontario shoreline obscured anything worth capturing...so we just breezed along and enjoyed the day...

Eventually, just past Kennedy Road, we are welcomed back into nature...

It's meadow time...better to enjoy the expansive fields of grasses and brush than try to peer over the rise at the mammoth earth destroying operation just across the way...

Uh, had some catching up to do after these shots...

The expanse of The Pulpit Club is our last vista before tunneling our way under Highway 10...

Doug leads us out of the woods one last time and the cars await around the corner on Willoughby Road...what was looking like, on paper, a rather mundane hike, has turned out, when you put your boots on the actual ground, to be a really great time on the B.T...we've reveled in what will likely be the last surprisingly warm fall day of the year, enjoyed each other's company (we put the "Friends" in H.W.F), and seen things that we wouldn't have, had we not made the effort...I hope this blog showed a little bit of that...thanks for viewing!

The End

Steve returns home after a hard day hiking...