Spencer's Gorge - Hike 10

Another beautiful day for hiking as I headed out for Hike 10 on the Bruce Trail.

I parked my car at the small parking lot at the 51.8km mark on the trail and headed out north beside a horse farm and through woods and orchards.

At about the 53km mark the trail turns east and parallels a main railway track traversing down the escarpment towards Hamilton - I would pass over and under this railway track a few times during my hike this day.

Continuing east I passed the Dundas Golf and Country Club after which the trail passes the railway tracks again and heads down into Dundas through neighbourhoods including some very old parts of the town.

From Dundas you could look up at the escarpment including the Dundas Lookout. Here is a picture of the outlook, with someone sitting on the edge a few hundred feet up.

The trail leaves Dundas and starts up the escarpment via Sydenham Street and at the 57.6km mark I veered west and headed off on the Webster's Falls Side Trail. The side trail zig zags steeply up to the top of the escarpment, passing under the railway tracks again, along paths that were clearly very old railway lines.

 

The trail continues west to another small side trail to the Dundas Lookout - what a view! Note the shot with the very small train on the tracks below!

 

From the lookout the trail follows the Spencer Gorge around to Tews Falls. At 41 meters, Tews Falls is the highest water fall in the Hamilton area and is only about 20 feet shorter than Niagara Falls - very spectacular from the viewing platform above the falls.

The trail continues on towards Webster's Falls passing a couple of interesting sites. First was a beautiful modern home, floor to ceiling windows with a view looking back out the Spencer Gorge - what a view from your living room!

The trail also passes the grave stones of the Webster family members and others.

Dr. James Hamilton settled the area in 1818 and Joseph Webster purchased it in 1820. Various flour and grist mills were built at the falls but burned in 1898. One of the first hydro electric generators in the province was built below Webster's Falls. The falls and area was bequest to the Town of Dundas in 1933. Webster's Falls is 22 meters high with a large water volume and is one of the most photographed falls in the area.

From here I back-tracked along the whole Webster's Falls Side Trail back to the Bruce Trail just north of Dundas and then continued east along the escarpment. The trail meets another escarpment water fall, Borer's Falls which is 15 meters high.

I finished up at the 62.6km mark on the trail and walked down Valley Road and York Road to the first bus stop and picked up a bus back out through Dundas to where I parked my car. Total hike for the day, with all the side trails and walks to get buses added up to 24km - a long day!

Completed: 142.6km

Tiffany and Sherman - Hike 9

I headed out Sunday September 22nd for my 9th hike on the Bruce Trail. Again, a beautiful late summer day. I picked up where I left off on the previous hike at the Scenic Drive parking lot at the 40.6km mark on the trail.

The trail heads west and into the Iroquois Heights Conservation Area following larger, packed hiking trails and smaller paths through the woods on the escarpment and through open meadows. Here are a few pictures of this area.

At approximately the 43km mark on the trail I arrived at Highway 403 or the Chedoke Parkway as it crests the escarpment. There is a large pedestrian walkway over the parkway.

The trail takes a sharp right after the parkway and descends and ascends the escarpment a few times. Here are some shots of this area.

At the 45km mark, the trail meets Wilson Street East. Just west of the Wilson Street crossing, a side trail takes you into the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area. I arrived there mid morning with the sun out and some heat and humidity and no one else around. As I walked the 200m back up the Tiffany Falls trail I couldn't help but feel like I was in some kind of paradise or Jurassic Park setting. The ravine was very steep on either side and narrowed with lots of vegetation. The 21 meter high falls were spectacular. Very hard to imagine that at this point you are in the middle of a bustling city of 600,000! The falls were named after Dr. Oliver Tiffany who was one of the first doctors to settle the area in 1796. He would stable horses at farms throughout the area so he could make his rounds on fresh horses. Dr. Oliver died in 1835. Here are some shots from the Tiffany Falls area.

 

The trail continues until you cross Old Dundas Road at the 44km mark on the trail. Here the Bruce Trail takes you up to Sherman Falls. The falls were 17 meters high. Sherman Falls is named after Clifton Sherman who settled the area arriving from the US with foundry experience. He started the Dominion Foundry & Steel Company in 1912 which went on to be called DOFASCO. Here are some shots of Sherman Falls.

At about the 47km mark on the trail you arrive at Canterbury Falls at 9.5 meters high.

The Bruce Trail continues through the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. The trails are wide and hard packed with wonderful scenery.

At the 49.4km mark on the trail you arrive at the Hermitage. In 1855 George Leith built a large stone mansion from locally quarried stone on a 100 hectare estate. The Leith's daughter, Alma Lauder, bought the estate and house and lived there until it was destroyed by fire in 1934. She built a small house inside the burned ruins and lived there until she died in 1942. Its a beautiful place but also a bit eerie (I later found out there are ghost tours at night to the mansion)!

The Bruce Trail continues through the Dundas Conservation Area and around the 51/52km mark on the trail I came across these 3 wonderful sights (see photos below). These scenes just seemed to pull you along pushing you to enter and explore the path ahead!

 

I finished the day's hike at the 51.8km mark where I got a ride from my wife back to my car.

Completed: 131.8km