This past Sunday I got back on the trail where I left off in June, at the 9.2km mark of the Iroquois section of the trail. It was a nice day with sun and mid 20's temperatures, although a bit humid.
I parked at the top of the Fifty Road and walked down the road to pick up the trail.
The trail travelled the majority of the day below the top of the escarpment through the Stoney Creek area. The following are many photos of the woods, plant life and a few of many feathers I came across this day.
At one point you come up out of the beautiful woods and on top of someone house and backyard. I also hit a point where you knew you were getting close to Hamilton as you could see the steel mills in the background.
The trail continues parallel to a railway - tough to tell whether it was active or abandoned. At the 18.8km mark the trail meets the railway and you cross new Mountain Road on the railway bridge.
At the 19.4km mark the Bruce Trail meets the Devils Punch Bowl Side Trail. This side trail exits south and is a very steep climb up the escarpment (not recommended on a wet day as it would be very slippery). I decided to climb the side trail to see the water fall from the top. I wasn't disappointed as the view was spectacular.
A little research states that the Devils Punch Bowl, at 37 meters high, was formed 450 million years ago after the last Ice Age. It is rumoured to have gotten it's name either because there was a lot of bootlegged booze brewed in the surrounding forests or that God, having made this beautiful site, refused to name it in His Name and instead named if after the Devil. Accompanying the waterfall is a platform looking out over Stoney Creek and Hamilton and above the platform a 10 meter high steel cross. Apparently the cross was built by William Sinclair in 1966 for his late father George Sinclair. It was originally intended to be lit Christmas and Easter but due to the donations of the Stoney Creek Knights of Columbus, the 106 bulbs light up the cross every night since 1991.
Here is a shot of a point on the trail where the roots are so entwined that they make a wonderful set of stairs to ease the climb!
The trail continues down the escarpment and crosses under Centennial Parkway - colourful graffiti on the parkway overpass!
The trail climbs again until you reach Felkers Falls another high ribbon water fall that cascades 22 meters over the escarpment. This water fall is right inside an East Hamilton subdivision and again is very spectacular with a meandering creek above the waterfall and a very steep and deep gorge below the waterfall.
My wife met me at the 23.2km mark of the trail and drove me back to where I parked the car.
Good to be back on the trail and hiking again - today I covered 14km!
Completed: 103.2km
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