Friday 18 October 2013

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


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