My wife and son and his girlfriend travelled with me north in early December to hike this next section of the trail.
That day was supposed to have been a high of 10 degrees and sunny but we woke early and travelled through wet, foggy and cool conditions. As we drove north towards the Owen Sound area we went through nicer, sunny weather and then back into foggy and cool weather.
We met my brother at our end point near the corner village of Wolseley, parked our car and then had him drive us down to our starting point, The Gap Sidetrail, at the 121.6km mark of the Sydenham section.
As we started our hike in the cool and very damp weather, I realized, for the first time over the few years doing this end to end hike, that I had forgotten my trusty Olympus Weatherproof camera in my car at the end point. I used my mobile phone camera but it just doesn't take the greatest pictures. So, I didn't end up taking too many pictures from this hike, although with the dreary and foggy weather there weren't too many good opportunities for photos anyways!
We climbed the escarpment via The Gap Sidetrail - a steep climb through a crevice in the escarpment edge!
Once on top of the escarpment, the trail headed north and then west and descended to a valley and stream around the 123km mark. The trail continued west through BT owned property, following a fence line for a kilometer or so.
The trail then turned north along another fence line through a nice hardwood forest. The escarpment emerged again and we climbed back along the top, coming out on Lindenwood Road at the 125.4km mark. Here photos along this section.
The trail continued north along the top of the escarpment with many crevices and what would have been wonderful views to the east off the escarpment (if it hadn't been so foggy!).
At about the 129km mark the trail turned and headed west through a nice wooded area following an old logging road. We came across this little "work of art" that someone had built along the trail! Not sure if it's acceptable for a "family rated" post given the strategically placed hatchet marks - but I'll post it anyways!
At the 130.2km mark the trail turned north east again along the escarpment, looking down on the low lying marsh on the eastern end of Bass Lake. We didn't see Bass Lake itself but from what I see from an on line search, it's a beautiful small, spring fed lake with nice fishing and a family campground.
The trail dropped down off the escarpment around the 131km mark, through some fields and then east along a path to the farm house and shed where we parked at about the 132km mark.
Everyone was fairly muddy and cold at this point but happy to have hiked this section.
As I write this post in late December, the weather continues to be fairly mild with no snow but things may now change going into January. Definitely my last hike for 2015 but maybe not my last hike before spring 2016 - we will see!
Completed: 690.4km
