Dufferin Hi-Land Section - Hwy 89 & Hurontario Street (14.3 km) to Mono Centre Park (0.0 km) - Oct. 19, 2023.
Dufferin Hi-land Section - Hwy 89 & Hurontario St. (14.3 km) to Mono Centre Park (0.0 km) - Oct. 19, 2023.
Our Hiking With Friends adventure this week took place in the Dufferin Hi-land Section of the Bruce Trail where we plotted a course from the roadside parking on Hurontario Street just south of Hwy 89, southward to the Mono Centre Park (effectively the start of this section), a main trail distance of 14.3 km (with access and side trips, it amounted to about 15.5 km in total)...
This 4 hour and 40 minute journey, involving a modest 320 meters of climbing, through pastoral farmland and Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, will prove to be one of our most delightful hikes of the year...combining superb weather conditions, a mostly smooth trail underfoot, and all the terrific elements that come together and make a very memorable day...I hope my (new!) phone camera, along with other photo contributors, will do it justice...
...and how's this view for an opening scene?..we drop some cars at the Mono Community Centre as the sun rises on a crisp October morning...
A short drive northward takes us to the designated start at the top of Hurontario Street and we assemble across the road from a farmer tending to his horses...nothing can reign in this eager group of 17 hikers ready for an enjoyable walk in nature...myself (still working on handling the new phone for selfies obviously), Nancy, Steve R, Grace, Doug, Peter, Laura, Andrew, Catherine, Andrea, Frank, Marlene, Lesley (today's H.C.), Sandra, Annette, Ron B, and Liz...
The forest types vary, giving us a visual and olfactory sensory spectrum to appreciate...
There's a quick break for some clothing adjustments, and then it's back to some travelling alongside vast meadows and fields...
There will be minimal technical areas today, and with our early start and superb trail conditions, our group is moving along very well...there's an "autumnal spring" in our step...
If you haven't gleaned it by now, I really enjoy hiking photography...is it a bit of extra work on the trail?...sure, but the multitude of fantastic scenery and natural beauty you have at your disposal is some days seemingly endless...humans moving about the landscape...so simple and pure.
There's an amazing (Hawthorn?) tree rife with late season bright red berries...
We get to experience the "high" of the Dufferin Hi-lands before reaching 1st Line EHS and hitting the road for a couple of kilometres...
There's nary a vehicle to be seen on this stretch, but after crossing 25 Side Road, a lone figure approaches in the distance...
And as if our collective mood could not get any brighter, that figure is accompanied by these two gorgeous friendly dogs that lap up our attention...
We put the dogs, and the wide open spaces, behind us and look forward to spending the rest our hike passing through Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, established in 1985 and encompassing 732 square hectares...
The trail circumnavigates McCarston's Lake and we end up stopping at the pseudo "beach" area for our refreshment break...another beautiful spot to admire and appreciate...
Formed approximately 11,000 years ago (before hiking was a thing), as over 1 km of glacial ice melted slowly northward, a large chunk of ice was left behind (apparently there were no glacier "sweeps") and buried by gravel and debris to form a shallow circular depression known as a "kettle"...this type of lake has no source of water other than thaws and rainwater collection...
May its beauty have a ripple effect on your senses...
Ron and Steve accurately determine that we are "here" but need to get "there" by way of a posted map info board, but that's pretty much is the case in all hiking scenarios...
Our next stop is the area known as Scenic Rock Cliffs (or Jacob's Ladder), a natural cleft in the escarpment...a set of metal stairs takes us down to a wooden viewing platform where you can see rare ferns and old cedars clinging to the cool dark rock...
...and why not take a great "bridge" picture while we're at it!..
Just a bit further along is the viewing platform with a spectacular vista to the east...
It's been an ideal day on the trail so far and with just a few more kilometres remaining, it seems a shame that it will end so soon...the pace slows a bit but that is likely an unconscious response to a desire to linger just a little longer in this comforting environment...
Even the appearance of "death by blaze" won't damper our spirits...then, a "fork in the road" requires our collective attention to make sure we don't miss the parking lot access trail...
There's one more pretty pond to pass by and our day is nearly done...
We arrive back at Mono Centre Park and we have drone footage of the last hikers making their way to the parking area...well, maybe I climbed the grassy knoll to be the shooter...
And a fantastic hiking day is capped off with the celebration of Ron having completed the Dufferin Hi-land Section!..congratulations to a long time hiking friend.
If there was ever a need to provide promotional material to encourage people to enjoy hiking, you could have easily interviewed any of the 17 people right after this wonderful walk, and we all would have effused enthusiastically about how good the experience was...there was a genuine, palpable sense of communal satisfaction that comes from spending such a great day on the Bruce Trail...and it was a pleasure to share it with you!
Sir "Hike-a-Lot" pontificates from his pulpit..
"THOU SHALT NOT HIKE WITHOUT FRIENDS!"...
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