Peninsula Section - Series #1 - Bruce's Caves to Cape Croker Park - May 12 to 14, 2026




Spring Series #1 - Peninsula Section May 12 - 14, 2026

---------------------------------------------

Day One - Colpoy's Bay (km 6.60) to Bruce's Caves (km 163.70)





Was it foretold by a ground hog, when Wiarton Willie didn't see his shadow, on February 2, 2026? Or were the hiking gods just smiling on us.....who knows. But, Hiking with Friends returned to the Peninsula section, for the first of our four spring series hikes and Spring had Sprung! 


 

From left to right, Donna, Renu, Annette, Marion, Georgia, Faryde, Andrew (Asst HC, photos), Barbara (HC), Sandra (Sweep), Ivan (photos) Steve R (photos) 

(Note the small group of Daffodils at our feet) 

A cool but mainly sunny day with no bugs to speak of. 



Watch your head!





Trillions of Trilliums! 





And Trillions of Trout Lilles! 




Taking in the spring sunshine. 





The spiral staircase at the Spirit Rock Conservation Area. 



















The shores of Colpoy's Bay. 





A visit to the Corran ruins. 

Built in 1882 by Alexander and Hester McNeill , the 17 room mansion was the first home to have a telephone and electricity in Bruce County.  










Sir-hike-a-lot makes a new friend. 




Elevenses at the boundary of the Peninsula and the Sydenham sections of the trail.  




We pay homage to the rodent that may be responsible for the beautiful spring weather we are experiencing.   





As we finish hike #1 some hikers make a visit to Bruce's Caves. 





Our group dinner on Tuesday was at the Green Door Cafe in Wiarton. They received a big thumbs up for their excellent food and service....and their sign was cute. 


--------------------------------------------------------

 

Day Two - Coveney's Hill (km 22) to Park Road (km 35.80)







Different day, same group. Left to right, Faryde, Donna, Steve R, Renu, Marion, Georgia, Annette, Andrew, Sandra, Barbara, Ivan.   


A little cooler this morning, overcast and foggy but still great hiking weather and  again no bugs. 















The Great Egret side trail, a short 100 m trail in the Glassford Wetland. No Egrets sighted but the fog gave it a feel like the Scottish moors.  









Cape Croker water tower. 



The vistas are still spectacular despite the overcast day. 





The Marsh Marigolds in Cape Croker Park are in full colour.  










Our group dinner on Wednesday was at Dockside Willies. Many of us took advantage of the fact that it was "wing night",  Renu chose something lighter, a Cobb Salad, only to find that it was large enough to feed all of us. 






Dockside Willies also had a cute sign. 

--------------------------------------------


Day 3 - Colpoy's Bay (km 6.60) to Park Road (km 22) 











Hmm...if we stood in the same order, I could just cut and paste but no... Left to right, Andrew, Barbara, Renu, Annette, Marion, Donna, Steve R, Sandra, Ivan, Georgia, Faryde.  

A perfect hiking day. Full sun, warming as the day went on but enough breeze to keep the bugs at bay. 




A second group shot but this one including Kamal. While not hiking, Kamal has been a dedicated shuttler and has been taking our daily group picture at the start of each hike.  



















Elevenses with a view!

















A custom bench near the Purple Valley Access Trail. 























A little more technical today with lots of rock to rock steps. 





Somehow the pictures just can't capture how the Trilliums blanket the forest floor at this time of year.

NATURE NUGGET:  Each Trillium drops a single seed pod which have an outer coating that is highly attractive to worker ants. The ants carry the seed all the way back to their underground nests. They feed on the outer coating leaving the seed behind and thereby propagating the Trilliums.  






Ancient directional tree?? Ask Steve R to explain the next time you see him. 






















The End 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caledon Hills Section -Willoughby Road (15.9 km) to Innis Lake Road (30.8 km) - November 6, 2025

Image
Caledon Hills Section:  Willoughby Road (15.9 km) to Innis Lake Road (30.8 km) - Nov. 6, 2025. Sixteen of us and a goat (more on the goat later) hiked  15 km from Willoughby Road to Innis Lake Road.   It was a coldish day.  Mixed sun and cloud, with wind that mostly came from the north, sometimes from the east, not from the forecast northwest.  Winter is coming! From left to right, hiking were Doug (HC & photos), Grace, Frank, Marleen, Andrea, Frances (photos), Renu, Donna, Rita, Annette (photos), Barbara, Faryde, Ivan (photos), Andrew (photos), Sandra (sweep) and Ron B.  A cheerful group, full of beans! Off we go, leaving Willoughby Road immediately, climbing to the abandoned wind pump and the library in the bush ... . .. and into a glorious carpet of fallen leaves. Road walking on Escarpment Sideroad (lots more to come) and the Highway 10 pedestrian underpass. Back to the bush ... Back to the Escarpment Sideroad where we spot Toronto on the horiz...
Read more

Fall Series #3 - Sydenham Section - Oct. 7-9, 2025.

Image
  Fall Series #3 - Sydenham Section - October 7-9, 2025. --------------------------------- Day One - Lundy Road (132.5 km) to Graham's Hill Road (147.7 km) - Oct. 7, 2025. It was a dark and soggy day ... wait ... that was just the forecast. Actually, we lucked out with just a brief shower maybe half-an-hour into the hike.  Check out the 'start' photo - not a poncho among us ... From left to right, Steve R (photos), Donna (photos), Peter, Laura (photos), Nancy, Georgia, Frank C, Faryde, Annette, Ivan, Marion, Andrew (photos), Sandra, Lesley, Grace, Doug (HC, photos), and Frances. Off we go ... but first, at Concession Road 20, a group photo of the five who will complete their BT End-to-End tomorrow: Then  towards and into the Kemble Wetlands... ... and after an early costume adjustment, we pass several piles of what look like bear scat (or a very big dog) and then meet a sign confirming a bear in the area. Peter is not fazed. The expected rain arrives...Note Sir Hike-...
Read more

Toronto Section - Winston Churchill Road (42.9 km) to 8th Line (32.3 km) - October 30, 2025.

Image
  Toronto Section - W inston Churchill Road  (42.9 km) to 8th Line (32.3 km) - Oct. 30,2025. Hike #4 in the Toronto Section is 10.6k hike starting at Winston Churchill Blvd through Terra Cotta Conservation area, and finishing at 8th Line. Eleven hikers joined the hike Georgia, Diane, Frances, Frank, Marleen, Annette, Grace, Barbara (HC), Sandra, Rita, and Doug (photos). The trail was covered with fallen leaves but mostly dry which made for a good start to the hike.   We got our bridge picture taken early in anticipation of the forecasted rain. Off we headed along the leafy trail taking care to traverse the hidden rocks. Clothing adjustments shortly after we started kept us busy. It is a perfect start to the hike. Some stretches of the forest in Terra Cotta Conservation area the trees have dropped all their leaves and the trail was a mosaic of bright autumn colours. The forecasted rain moves in and we don our colourful raingear and carry on! We split up and some of th...
Read more