Caledon Hillls Section - 4th Line EHS (54.9 km) to End of Section/Mono Centre (72.4 km) - October 22, 2026.

 Caledon Hills Section - 4th Line EHS (54.9 km) to End of Section/Mono Centre (72.4 km) - October 22, 2026.



Hiking With Friends returned to the Caledon Hills (by choice!) this week to take on a long trek of close to 19 kms (with add on's) and a whole bunch of climbing (650 meters worth!) that ended up being a glorious 6 hours spent on the Bruce Trail (ya, tell my feet that)...


















The fall season has seen amazing weather in these parts and it's in evidence again this morning as we gather in the parking lot of Mono Centre for our pregame chat...



It hasn't been the smoothest of starts to our day, with missed alarms and nagging injuries precluding two signed up hikers to making the bell, and another whose bearings were off (and me, who forgot his sunglasses), but here we are, finally ready to set sail...myself, Donna, Steve R, Frank C, Faryde, Annette, Diane, Lesley (H.C), Renu, Barbara, Andrea, and Ivan are keen to get our feet moving...







































We occasionally need to remind ourselves (particularly with our age demographic), that we should try and enjoy our present hike as if it might be our last, because who knows what life changes lie ahead...and I for one, will adopt that mantra today (even if it may only apply to the Bruce Trail specifically)...in defiance of the many thousands of steps I will need to take, and endless hills that will need to be climbed, I will allow the beauty and peacefulness of these magnificent forests to dominate my senses...























The working part of hiking begins...with wave after wave of undulations... leaf strewn, swish-swishing heaven...















  Our first road crossing at 3rd Line goes well, while Sir Hike-a-Lot exhibits some sort of new found E2E strength, and clears the trail on the other side...(note the damaged blaze...is the forest 'against' them?)...































We're well into the hike, and the blog, and I haven't spoken of the gorgeous weather...because I don't have to, because you can see, for yourself, and for miles...The Hockley Valley resort property is pretty sweet...


























The women gather at the bench on the crest of a hill overlooking a beautiful swath of the valley on a warm, sunlit morning looking relaxed and happy...




 Some happy men sat there also...




There really is something going on here...












































Another really nice stretch of the legs through a large meadow and then a cool spruce forest leads us out onto 2nd Line...some great varied terrain, and excellent trail footing makes all the up and down part more bearable...







































It's down, down we go to the bridge over the Nottawasaga River (South Branch) and after traversing Hockley Road, we enter Hockley Valley Provincial Park...we'll spend the next 2 hours in the forests and it will be some of the nicest hiking I've ever enjoyed...

















































If, for example, this was going to be my last hike for a while on the BT, I am doing it in style with HWF...














































All I would have left is about ten thousand photos of the trail's beauty and its "passers-through" to look at...








































We're deep into our hike now, and it's time to dig deep for the energy to keep moving (2 snack stops was definitely the right call by our H.C)...but the trail is really showing its good side today...




















































A stretch of Dunby Road and then 3rd Line EHS eventually leads us back into the woods and, surprise, our first bit of technical work today...we've been spoiled, but have also done a whole lotta climbing...






















...and see...it's all worth it in the end.






























All that's left is for Frank to survive a laser beam attack while we trundle back along 3rd Line and then Highway 8 (a route lengthening detour necessitated by the hunting season closure of a trail portion through private land) and finally, to the end of the line...









But before we leave, as is often the case, we recognize the achievements of our members...Faryde and Ivan have had a lot of practice at these pole ceremonies lately...another section completed on their journey...Felicidades!


The End




Bye for now...and remember...
 "Thou shall not hike without friends"




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