What a Father's Day gift it was as my wife and two sons came with me for what was planned as a somewhat short hike.
The hike was starting at the 0.0km mark of the Iroquois Section of the Bruce Trail.
It was a beautiful day again - bright sunshine and low-mid 20's.
We drove two cars down, leaving one at a parking lot just up the escarpment from marker 9.2km on Fifty Road. Then we drove to Grimsby and parked the other car on Gibson just near the Forty Mile Creek bridge.
The climb up through the Forty Mile Creek ravine was steep and especially muddy and slippery with all the recent rain. Following are a few shots of Forty Mile Creek as we climbed.
At the top of the escarpment we took the Beamers Falls Side Trail to see Beamers Falls. The first picture is Forty Mile Creek just before it goes over the falls and the second picture is Beamers Falls.
We hiked back towards the main Bruce Trail which hugged the escarpment cliff above Grimsby offering up some beautiful shots out over the city and Lake Ontario.
Another wonderful shot of Lake Ontario and Toronto in the distance!
It was at this point we realized that we had a problem! It dawned on me, for some reason, to ask my wife if she had the keys to her car which was parked at the end of the days hike. Turns out when we parked my car at the beginning of the days hike, we locked my wife's purse - and the keys to her car - in my car at the start of the hike. If we hadn't thought of it at this point we would have arrived at the end with no keys for the car. My wife was the good sport and hiked back to the start while my sons and I hiked on the rest of the planned hike.
After turning inland from the escarpment at the 2.2km mark of the trail we came on Beamer Falls Conservation Area and a renowned viewing spot for hawk and raptor migration. Once Spring arrives each year, many varieties of hawks and raptors amass at this area along their migration from Central America and Southern US to Ontario, Northern Ontario and the Tundra. The birds amass at this area due to the significant thermal updrafts caused by the lake and warm air rising along the escarpment. It's said on a good day you can see as many as 1500 birds!
At the 2.7km mark the trail follows Ridge Road for 2km - make sure to walk on the road facing traffic as the road is narrow and busy.
Back into the bush at the 5km mark and we walked for about 1.5km before descending steeply down to below the escarpment. For the next 3km or so, we hiked below the escarpment on very muddy and slippery paths. In addition to the mud and slickness, it was warm, humid and there were lots of mosquitoes. On a drier, cooler day the trail section would have been beautiful but today my sons and I trucked along as quickly as we could to get through to the end before being eaten alive by the bugs.
Finally we came out onto Fifty Road, half way down the escarpment. This meant we had a steep climb up Fifty Road to get to the parking lot and our car. My wife was waiting and we drove back to the other car at the start.
It was an eventful but enjoyable day with my sons and wife (at least for part of the hike) joining me on Fathers Day.
9.2km in total for today.
Looking forward to the next hike although I will likely be selective as far as drier and cooler days to hike as we get into the warmer and more humid days of summer.
Completed: 89.2km
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