Niagara Section of the Bruce Trail
We had originally planned to make
Woolverton Rd the end of today's segment and thereby cover another 20km of the Bruce Trail. However, when the day began with cold winds, low
temperatures, and heavy rains our plans changed accordingly.
We met at 8:30am and decided that in order
to make allowances for our likely slower progress along the muddy, slippery
trail we would stop at the border between the Niagara and Iroquoia sections
instead. To this end, we headed for the
little "P" symbol marked on the trail map at the end of Gibson Rd,
right along the border. Gibson Rd turned
out to be a very narrow street with residents' vehicles parked along both sides
of the street and multiple 'No Parking' signs posted along the length. When we parked one car, a lady came out of a
nearby house and we were soon told to move the car since parking was no longer
allowed on the street for people walking the trail.
As a result, unable to figure out where the
designated parking for the trail was, we decided to leave one of the cars at
the back of the deserted parking lot for the Grimsby Lion's Community Pool on
Elm St. instead. From there we headed
back to Quarry Rd. where we left off last month.
For some reason, the drive back along the
base of the escarpment seemed to be much longer than any section we had
previously covered, even though it was in fact shorter! Sometimes it is amazing to see how our
perspectives of the world change based on how we travel – whether by car, bus,
on foot, or bike.
Resuming our trek amid a steady rainfall,
along Bruce on Quarry Rd., we could see the old foundations of the Quarry
building nearby. From Quarry Rd to
Mountain Rd, the trail essentially followed along the top of the escarpment,
through open maple-oak forest. Despite being December and almost Christmas the fall colours - now on the ground - were still vibrant around us. Looking
north through the trees our view was cut short by clouds and fairly heavy rain,
leaving us to wonder if we would have seen the lake from here on a clear day? At the base of the escarpment we first passed
the vineyards associated with the Crown Bench Estates Winery. We then crossed
a small footbridge over a picturesque stream and then progressed into Kinsman
Park. As we approached Mountain Rd a
rather affluent sub-division was visible below us through the trees, on the
outskirts of Beamsville. Given the amount
of development around the Great Lakes we were once again grateful for the work
of so many throughout the decades in protecting much of the green space on and
around the Niagara Escarpment.
Fall Colours and Rain Showers
On the west side of Mountain Rd, the trail
continued along Leonard Crescent, a narrow laneway bordered by several houses
nestled back in the trees. The end of
the roadway where the trail picked up again was full of garbage of the sort
that suggested this might be a lover's lane for local residents. As the trail threaded its way through the
trees again, large yellow signs were posted every few meters reminding trail
users that this was private property, that there were cameras monitoring the
trail, and that any trespassers would be prosecuted. Regardless, we stuck to the trail and quietly
meandered between the postings and continued on.
By noon the rain had picked up, and the sky
was getting darker by the moment, giving this particular stretch a rather
unfriendly feeling. Given the amount of rain, there would be few pictures from today's trek. As we slipped and
slithered along, the pathway suddenly took a hard turn to the east, causing us to
re-trace our exact route, only a few meters farther down the escarpment from
where we had previously been. Soaked
through and standing in cold rain was not the ideal time for the trail to
encourage us to take the slowest way onward. Sigh.
Given our pace, we had more time to look
around as we sought to keep our footing.
Interestingly the Escarpment rocks along the forest floor throughout
this stretch were clearly heavily pock-marked, likely the result of years of
exposure to acid rain. Even the rocky
pathway itself was heavily worn from decades of hikers treading the route. It was stunning to realize that despite the
Escarpment being centuries old it took people so little time to radically
transform the geology and ecology of a region.Continuing on the rain decided to stop
drizzling and commence with a full deluge of the region. The result was that those moments earlier
spent avoiding puddles and slipping down slopes were soon looked on
fondly. Our trek quickly transformed
into an obstacle course on which we merely sought to avoid twisting our ankles
or falling too badly. At the same time
pathway weaved and switchbacked a great deal which meant that we essentially hiked
a km or two west and then followed the trail at the bottom of the escarpment
back east. Sadly, though the view at the
base of the escarpment was beautiful, there was once again a great deal of
evidence of people having campfires and parties under the ledge of the
escarpment.
Persevering on we soon emerged at the edge
of a vineyard. Here the trail became a
grassy track, and as it emerged into the field the tree with the blaze on it
also had a small lamp attached to it. At
the opposite edge of the vineyard, the tree with the trail blaze also had a lamp
attached. We got a kick out of the idea
that this section of the BTC provides trail-side lighting! At this point, the trail turned and climbed
into the parking lot for vast the Mike
Weir Winery. The visitor centre was
all decorated for Christmas and looked quite lovely, but unsurprisingly the estate
and winery were not open on a Monday morning, even during the week before
Christmas. Though whether they would
have allowed 3 sodden and muddy hikers inside for a tasting would have been
doubtful anyway.
Mountainview Conservation Area
We followed the trail along Locus Lane,
which ran between rows of grapes, and then turned right onto Mountainview
Rd. On one side were more houses, and on
the other were vineyards for the Mike Weir and Organized Crime Wineries. Though we are no fans of road walking, especially
when such roads have no shoulders for safe trekking, there is no denying that
this stretch made for a nice break from slithering through the mud and climbing
up and down the escarpment. Feeling as though we were the only ones dumb enough
to be out in such weather we nonetheless passed a young lady jogging through
the December rain in shorts and a tank-top.
A few hundred meters down the road the trail turned into the parking lot
for the Mountainview Conservation Area,
which somewhat resembled a very large mud puddle.
Here we took refuge under a particularly dense conifer tree and stopped
for a drink of water and a snack, before continuing up the rather steep and
rocky slope into the Conservation Area.
When we made it to the top, we found ourselves in the middle of a large
blow-down. It looked like sometime
during the past year or two an extremely violent wind storm had ripped through
the area, snapping off and uprooting nearly all of the large trees. Surprisingly, the wind seemed to have been
coming from inland and blowing towards the lake, instead of coming in off the
lake. The trail maintenance crews had
done a fabulous job of clearing all the downed woody debris off the trail, so
for some time, we were able to hike through the devastation without much
trouble. Yet no gift is given without cost. Soon the trails narrowed out and were more
akin to troughs of red clay mud than pathways which in turn led to sections
where wet and slippery leaves filled the gaps between rocks making much of this
region very difficult to navigate. Soaked
through we again stopped to enjoy a quick snack and lunch beside a waterfall
where three logs had been made into a U-shaped section to enjoy.
Venturing on Bruce Trail emerged from the
conservation area through the side yard of someone's house, and turned north to
follow Walker Rd. Here again, we had a
short walk along a paved roadway and a too-short reprieve from the drenched
pathways.
We had an orchard on one side for a bit and a row of rural houses on the other.
At this point ,the rain had picked up again, but just as we began to feel
sorry for ourselves we were again passed a teenage girl jogging along the road
in a sleeveless shirt and short shorts!
Burr. Oh to have the strength and
fortitude of youth again!
Niagara Escarpment
The trail soon left the road ducking into
the trees and tracing the Niagara Escarpment again. Here our route was more direct including lots
of hiking past backyards, pools, and roadways once in the city of Grimsby. At one
point sections of the Bruce Trail literally passed through some people's
backyards and between residential houses.
While we were grateful for the right to pass through and their support of
the Bruce trail system, these parts of the pathway felt somehow awkward to hike
on for us. Regardless, as the BTC hiking
guide notes, while this trail passes along and through a number of densely
populated regions, in general hikers remain on a woodland path – which is quite
impressive given the urban sprawl and growth of the Greater Hamilton region in
recent years! Very true. While the Niagara Escarpment is protected as
a green way and by its UNESCO designation there is no denying that one of the
reasons that it has remained largely intact is the fact that it is precarious
to build on, heavily log or develop. The
truth of it is that its own fascinating geology has thankfully made it
impractical to “modernize”.
After crossing yet another Mountain Rd.
we began our descent of Grimsby Mountain where we found a unique structure near the end of the trail in Grimsby – a small temple-like building. While there was no explanation onsite as to
what this unique building was, after some research later on Lenora identified
that the structure was set on the top of a historical water reservoir. After exploring the odd little building for
some time we then rejoined the trail and continued our descent. We soon came out of the woods and followed
the sidewalk into Grimsby towards Elm St. and the day’s end.
Moments later we arrived at a pedestrian
footbridge crossing a rushing stream at the base of the escarpment. While nondescript in almost every way this
bridge serves as the boundary between the Niagara and Iroquoia Sections of the
Bruce Trail.
Excited that we had completed the first of
nine Bruce Trail sections we returned to our car. As of today, we have now finished
approximately 80 km of the 800-900 km which comprise the main Bruce Trail! Given the mud of the day and troubles
navigating the pathway, we spent much of our drive home discussing the merits of
getting hiking poles for future walks. While Sean remained convinced that they
would serve as a headache and make him trip both Lenora and I were sure that
their aid would have been invaluable today.
With our first section completed, we were
now off back home to order our Niagara patches!
See you on the Trail!
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Date: Dec. 21, 2015
Distance: 65.0 - 80.0km
Duration: 9:40am - 2:30 pm (5 hours)
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