Caledon Hills Section - Airport Road/7th Line (43.4 km) to Innis Lake Road (31.7 km) - May 11, 2023.

 Caledon Hills Section - Airport Road/7th Line (43.4 km) to Innis Lake Road (31.7 km) - May 11, 2023.

Our Hiking With Friends group was back on the Bruce Trail this past week in the Caledon Hills Section for a walk of 12 km that began at the parking lot at Airport Road and 7th Line and took us southward (new direction!) to the roadside parking on Innis Lake Road...the central portion of this hike passes through the Glen Haffy Conservation Area...

After a couple of lengthy (18-20 km) hikes the past two weeks, we had a bit more of a shorter trek on our hands (feet?) today that would take us roughly 4 hours to complete and would involve 340 meters of ascension...a pretty average day with a few ups and downs along the way...

After dropping some cars at the end line on Innis Lake Road and shuttling over to the start, and under a slightly overcast but welcoming morning sky, 16 of us gather by the easily recognisable Inukshuk landmark near the parking lot at Airport Road and 7th Line...myself, Annette (today's Hike Coordinator), Michael, Peter, Josie, Rita, Laura, Nancy, Frank, Andrea, Steve R, Ron J, Lesley, Barbara, Sandra, and Brian are ready to enjoy some time on the trail together, in what is anticipated to be beautiful spring conditions...

It's a short walk up the hill and we are quickly blessed with an early glimpse of the rural countryside to the east...apparently, all the water that falls on people's heads around here collects and becomes the Humber River...who knew?..

...well, apparently the people who made this informative info board...and this has been going on for a while!..

It isn't long after that, that we enter the forest...although the canopy is starting to fill in gradually, sunlight still filters through the early growth and dapples the floor of the woods...temperatures are warming as well...it won't be too much further before some hikers start making some clothing adjustments...

There are some large and interesting trees in "this neck of the woods"...alive and dead...even the dying ones play an essential role in the life cycle of the forest...

Trail conditions in this area are pretty much ideal...smooth underfoot with minimal muddy spots to traverse...everyone is enjoying a wonderful morning out walking with some friends...

A wide swath of trail is cut out beside a grove of newly planted pine trees...it will be interesting to  return here in the future and see it enter "forest-hood"...

The trail descends into a small valley and we approach a shallow lake (pond?) populated with numerous geese and ducks...a quite idyllic spot with the sunlight glistening off the water's surface...

A little further upstream, we have the opportunity for a stellar bridge photo...before the inevitable climb out of the valley...

That climb eventually leads us up to a busy Hwy 9...and a sign with instructions on how we should proceed...

...which is promptly ignored by the majority of us who cross directly over to the other side (doesn't that huge yellow hiker sign protect us from any consequences?)...my father used to have an expression when I would ask him where he'd been..."there and back to see how far it was"...in this case, 4 hikers elected to walk down to the intersection and cross at Airport Road while the rest waited by the noisy thoroughfare...keeping true to the trail, but I doubt there was much to enjoy about this dusty, chaotic stretch...

We are entering the Glen Haffy Conservation Area near Mono Mills...located at the junction of two of Ontario's most dominant geological features, the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine, this 189 hectare property located within the Humber River watershed is popular with hikers (like us), fishermen, and picnickers...

Time for a refreshment break?..why not spend it in glorious spring sunshine on a grassy knoll, overlooking a pastoral countryside?..well, o.k then...

It's back to the trail and a sure sign of spring in Ontario..."trilliums" of trilliums...

It's been a bit of a "start-stop" day, but hey, what's the rush?..the entrance to the picnic area provides another great spot to catch a breather...it has gotten quite warm (and we are not quite acclimatised to these conditions), so best to pause and re-hydrate where possible, right?..

I think this was our only stile of the day...

We cross another of the many small tributaries that form the headwaters of the Humber River...some have these nice boardwalks built across...

Others required a little bit of "rock hop-scotch" to negotiate...I totally missed my last step on this effort...

A long uphill climb leads us out of the conservation area at Coolihan's Sideroad...

Our last stretch of trail for the day takes us through an area called "The Dingle"...from the Irish word for a deep wooded valley or dell...this one having been cut out by an ancient glacier that once covered southern Ontario...

The trail emerges at the dead end of Innis Lake Road and we complete the few hundred meters to the dropped cars...we have had another very enjoyable day on the Bruce Trail...not to the level of exhaustion as our 2 previous hikes, but we deserve a break prior to our eagerly anticipated first trip up north to Collingwood next week for a three consecutive day outing in the Beaver Valley Section...we'll have more tales of adventure then, but I trust you had fun travelling along with us today and hope you will again!..see you soon...

The End