Scotsdale Farm & Boardwalks - Hike 20

Another beautiful day for hiking!

One of my plans, as I get further away from home and north on the Bruce Trail, is to look for opportunities to hike 2 days or maybe more and camp overnight. To accomplish the overnight camping I went out and purchased a new 75L backpack, lightweight tent and sleeping bag, sleeping pad, solo cook set and a pocket rocket stove and fuel. I decided for this Hike 20, even though I wasn't staying over night camping, that I would carry the new pack for the day to get a feel for the weight and my ability to hike a distance. The pack weighed in about 25 lbs.

I parked my car where I left off on Hike 19 in Limehouse and started my hike north at the 21.3km mark of the Toronto section of the trail.

The trail headed north on Fifth Line before looping into the woods for about 2km before emerging back out on Fifth Line. Here are some shots from this section.

 

 

How about this tree for sheer size. Note the size of the trunk versus my walking sticks (which are about 44" long). The trunk diameter had to twice the length of my walking stick which, if my math is correct, means the trunk is about 24 feet in circumference - a BIG tree!

 

 

At the 24.6km mark the trail headed east into the woods again for about 2km. The trail travelled through dry woodland but also through marshy areas where there were some wonderfully built boardwalks.

 

 

At the 26.2km mark the trail met Sixth Line and followed the paved road north for 1.2km to a very busy Highway 7. Here is a picture of a farm with llamas (I think?).

 

 

The trail followed the north side of Highway 7 for 700m and then turned north again into the woods. This section through the woods was very low lying and marshy, wet with lots of mosquitoes. Again though, as earlier on the trail, there was lots of well built board walks over many of the wet areas. At the 29.1km mark the trail met and crossed Trafalgar Road. Again, the trail was back into the woods through some marshy wet areas, again over boardwalks before climbing up into drier woods.

 

 

The trail through this section skirted Scotsdale Farm. Scotsdale Farm is  530 acre farm of beautiful, pastoral fields, rolling hills and woods. At one point is was an internationally renowned farm for Arabian horses and shorthorn cattle. At the northeast end of the farm there is also an important archeological site of an Iroquoian village dating to the 1600's. Here are some pictures of this beautiful area.

 

 

Here is the bridge that crossed Snow's Creek, a May apple bloom and some wild Columbine.

 

 

The trail wound through the woods turning back towards the south and eventually met 27 Sideroad which is where my hike ended, or at least I intended to end the hike. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were thick so I decided to keep walking back west on 27 Sideroad towards Trafalgar Road where I met my ride back to my car.

 

A big shout out to the Bruce Trail staff and volunteers for the incredible work that went into building all the wood boardwalks through this section of the trail!

 

Completed: 233.6km



Limehouse - Hike 19

Headed out on a Sunday for my next hike from Speyside to Limehouse. It was another beautiful day!

The trail followed 15 Sideroad east past Speyside and turned north into the woods at the 11.9km mark of the Toronto section of the trail. The next 4 to 5km was through some very nice woodland areas as you can see in the following pictures.

 

From the 17.1km mark through to the 19.2km mark the trail followed edges of open farmers fields until the trail hits Fifth Line. After a short walk north on Fifth Line, the trail turned east into Limehouse Conservation Area. Initially the walk was through some nice wooded areas but at the 19.7km mark it followed the edge of the escarpment with some incredible rock formations and crevices as seen in the following pictures.

 

 

Here are pictures as you descend the escarpment through the famous "Hole in the Wall".

 

 



 

Research told me that this area was originally known as "The Rock" and then "Fountain Green" and eventually "Limehouse" due the abundance of limestone and the lime industry. In 1880 the lime production industry employed at least 100 men over 3 shifts producing 75,000 bushels of lime per year using 6 lime kilns. As you walk through the conservation area you see many relics of the lime production industry including various styles of lime kilns and storage facilities. The skilled "kilnsman" as they were known, were craftsman as far as what temperature, wood for fuel and atmosphere produced the best lime. The following picture are of some of these relics including the Powder Magazine (for explosives), a Set Kiln, a stone bridge and one of the "Draw Kilns" that is being restored. These draw kilns worked on the same principle as a blast furnace and were made of limestone, sandstone and steel and wood tie rods for stability.

 

 

 



Supporting the lime industry, the Toronto Suburban "Radial" Railway was opened in 1912 where the modern tracks are today. Once out of the Conservation Area, you arrive at the village of Limehouse with a very picturesque little church.

 

 

I finished my hike at the 21.3km mark on the trail. I called a taxi to pick me up and take me back to my car.

 

Another wonderful hike!

 

Completed: 223.0km