Iroquoia Section - Mount Nemo (93.0 km) to Crawford Lake (106.3 km) - August 17th, 2023.

 Iroquoia Section - Mount Nemo (93.0 km) to Crawford Lake (106.3 km) - August 17, 2023.

Once upon a time, well just last Thursday actually,..a fine group of people who call themselves "Hiking With Friends" met at a magical place called Mount Nemo and decided to walk 15 km or so, all the way to a mysterious body of water from the Pleistocene Era, called Crawford Lake.

The view from the sky (obviously provided by some sort of wizardry), shows the streams and enchanted forests over which we traversed...this land was not flat, no sir...we were tricked into climbing 330 metres to reach the end, and we were lost in a hiking reverie for 4 and a half hours...

Who were these bewitched people who conjured up this divine form of "exorcise"?..well, I see myself, and Frank, and Doug (for whom the casting of lots has led to his being H.C), and Barbara, and Grace, and Andrea, and I see Nancy, and Annette, and Marleen, and Lesley, and Sandra, and Steve R, and finally, Josie...13 souls will sell their soles to make it safely to the magic kingdom (or at least the parking lot where our dropped cars are)...

Our progress out of Mount Nemo takes us across Guelph Line and then, having traversed a small bridge, to solemnly travel beside a land than has been ravaged in the past by the evil stone eaters, but which is slowly being reclaimed through the kindness of Mother Nature..

Our line of hikers turns blindly right onto...Blind Line...its surface having been  freshly paved with cauldrons of once hot asphalt...

We pass some beautiful equines obviously abandoned by their headless horsemen...at Britannia Road, there appears to be some hesitancy to enter the dark woods ahead...a sense of foreboding?..or just a general opportunity to stop and chat for a minute?..

But after entering the forest, any sense of diabolism is quickly dispelled by the distraction of a bridge picture...

Our trek continues with seemingly good fortune on our side...it's a bit warm, and the devilish mosquitoes are about, but all in all, the weather and trail conditions are harbingers of a good hike ahead...but can we be sure?..

The bridge over Bronte Creek was obviously built at such a height and in such a fashion as to prevent trolls from taking up residence underneath...but still not best to dwell too long, despite the enticement of the magical waters below...

I never get bored walking along wooden planks through tall grasses for a spell...but then the climb out of the valley quickly dispels our illusion of a stress free day...

We emerge from the woods and in a strange "Twiss" of fate, Sir Hike-a-Lot comes upon a devilish sign, and provides a grin to match...

What manner of creature would fabricate  such a structure in the middle of the woods?..fortunately, it appears abandoned and our conjured imaginations are not realised...

Or is this the remains of the boreal  creature that once roamed these parts?..

 Having eschewed the gates of hell for the more welcoming portcullis of a local Scout camp for a refreshment stop, the hike continues with a short technical climb up the escarpment face and into the Crawford Forestry Tract...

Having assessed our location through the fortune telling art of our digital rune, also called the Bruce Trail App, we know that our final destination is not far off...no amount of legerdemain (or "legerde-pied") can possibly stop us from reaching our destiny?..

This plaque confirms that there are many good souls in the hiking coterie...

And it's a happy group of hiking friends that rests at the end of a great walk on a magically carved bench near Crawford Lake...any prophecies of calamity or bad fortune have dissipated with the healing power of time spent on the trail together...

It's time to remove the boots and realise that maybe we are all just "hike-o-paths", caught up in the magnetism and enchantment of the bewitching attraction that is the Bruce Trail...thanks for falling under our spell for a while.

The End

Sir Hike-a Lot's new evil side gig..."Slay Rides"...