Toronto/Caledon Hills Sections - Winston Churchill Blvd. (42.8 km) to Chinguacousy Road (2.8 km)- May 7, 2026

 Toronto/Caledon Hills Sections- Winston Churchill Blvd. (42.8 km) to Chinguacousy Road (2.8 km) - May 7, 2026



May 7, 2026 found the Hiking with Friends group braving the pleasant temperature and sunny skies to hike parts of 2 sections of the Bruce Trail, 7.5 km at the end of the Toronto Section and 2.8 km at the start of the Caledon Section for a total of 10.3 km (officially - since we side-tracked to the Badlands Area for an additional 0.5 km or so)



You could feel the excitement in the air as the group gathered before shuttling off to the Chinguacousy Road start as we welcomed back Marleen and Liz! 



Our HWF group today was Ken (Pics), Catherine C., Marleen, Georgia, Annette, Faryde, Ivan, Donna, Steve R. (HC), Laura, Peter, Liz T.C. and Frank L.



Alone and heading into the wild blue yonder is Marleen (or is it Mary-Anne?) - keen to get started after a long absence from HWF.


The group finally caught up with Marleen, and headed down the road towards the Cheltenham Badlands area.


Good thing it was open....


OHT keeps a very well maintained area for preservation of this unique formation and to minimize human impact. Learn more about the Badlands by clicking here. (or by listening to Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" song which reflects his impressions after visiting the area.. here)

Sir Hike-a-Lot trying to get rejuvenated by the natural magic coming from the Natural Regeneration Area.

Catherine looking over the Badlands



Is this Mars or Cheltenham ?


The full cast squeezed in for the remake of the famous Richard Attenborough movie "A Bridge Too Small "
 

Plenty of road walking past the lovely farms and fields....


 


Passing the Spirit Tree Cidery - we were driven by the spirits to return later in the day..




Back into the Forest .....


Marleen enjoying a quick rest on this stunning pink bench...

A technical bit along the trail that required some careful navigation.


     11'sies dans la forêt - reservations not required


Stay on the path - do not step off or it will turn out very bad (as it did in the short story by Ray Bradbury "A Sound of Thunder " link here )


One more river to cross, one more mountain to climb...


Back up to Heritage Road following Frank L. (doing a Fred Astaire impression here....)


         The salamander symbol on this sign was reserved for Francis I of France... so....what's it doing on Heritage Road? Are there really salamanders scooting through the tunnels under the road? Learn more here




Leaving the road and back into the forest for some proper hiking.


Up we go along the well maintained steps towards the Terra Cotta Forest.


Laura, striding ahead along this fine forest path.


 Frank L. gives a helping hand to Laura across the water....


      Marleen braving loose rocks - gets a hand to cross the creek and avoid getting her toes wet.....


 We all made it back to Winston Churchill Blvd. safely & well before the clouds closed in, and the rains came.  

Some of the group - driven by the mysterious spirits in the area  - headed back to the Spirit Tree Cidery to enjoy an apres hike snack.





And Finally, the most important picture in this blog - of my first granddaughter (Maris) - born May 5 and already showing some cheek. 

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