Hike 20 : Rolling Hills and Ravines - Whitfield to Lavender

Dufferin Hi-Land End-to-End

We awoke this morning to beautiful weather and songbirds calling outside the tent.  We are camping in Albion Hills Conservation Area, a short distance from the Bruce Trail.  It was Day 2 of the Dufferin Hi-Land End-to-End weekend.  With only an hour to get to the trail, we were soon up, boiling water for coffee, and eating a breakfast of oatmeal and berries.  A short while later we had everything cleaned up, were dressed to hike, and had set off to the rally point.

With 20 minutes to spare we arrived at the intersection of HWY 17 and Centre Rd noted on maps as Whitfield.  The quaint red brick church served as both the midpoint of the Dufferin Hi-Land Section, and our rally point for the weekend.  Today’s trek would see us hike the final 26 kilometers of this section of the Bruce Trail, from the country intersection of Whitefield to another intersection by the name of Lavender.  As Sean commented “it was a hike from nowhere to nowhere.”   This might be the case, but in reality, completing this part would mean that we had arrived at the boundary of the Blue Mountain Section of the Bruce Trail.

End-to-End Continues

As we had ended our excursion at Whitefield yesterday, today we continued from the same point.  Waving our goodbyes to the volunteers, we set off for a short venture up Centre Rd, weaving downhill amid the densely wooded escarpment toward the village of Kilgorie.  Following the course of the Pine River, we were amazed by our continued luck, having yet another day of great weather to enjoy the Bruce Trail on.  

Today was sunny with a nice breeze, meaning that it never got too hot.  Perfect hiking weather!  As we trekked northward, we notice that the spring foliage was just beginning to emerge, with the surrounding understory being covered in blooming wildflowers.  Looking around, the entire landscape was dotted with dashes of pinks, yellows, and purples. Walking past the old Kilgorie School, we turned onto River Rd, where we entered an area noted by the BTC maps as the Mulmer Hills.  Here we climbed steeply out of the valley and entered into the Pine River Fishing Area.

Pine River Provincial Fishing Area

Pine River Provincial Fishing Area is a conservation region situated along the Pine River, the largest tributary of the Nottawasaga River.  This waterway is popular and known for its steelhead, salmon, and trout fishing because of the availability of running streams and clean cold water in the lake.

In terms of the Bruce Trail, this region is also known as the Bell Section, being named after Grant and Grace Bell who were founding members of the Dufferin Hi-Land Club.   This short stretch took us along a peaceful stream and around the shores of a clear blue lake which was a millpond resulting from the damming of the area.  En route, the trail passed by the ruins of a historical powerhouse, which were the remains of the Dufferin Light and Power Company.  According the Bruce Trail Guide, this site was established by Tom Huxtable and was, in the early twentieth century, the largest power producer in Ontario.  It remained so until the creation of the Ontario Hydro Electric Power Commission, which eliminated many of the private power providers throughout the province. 

Beyond the shores of the lake, the trail took us up a steep climb to the Bell Lookout, which provided dramatic views of the region and allowed us to get a better look at the Pine River Valley and local wind farm.  Shortly afterward, we joined with an unimproved gravel road allowance and arrived at a BTC parking, where we took a water break and rested our legs after a few tough climbs and descents.

Country Roads, Cottages and Refreshments

After a few minutes rest we picked up our backpacks and continued northward, following Prince of Wales Rd past a beautiful abandoned barn and into the open farmlands of the area.   After a few quick turns onto a side road concession and a right of way, we trekked into a forest with cattle busily grazing.

Uncertain that we had not made a mistake, we stopped to check our maps, but it turned out that the property owners in this area had been nice enough to give hikers permission to cross their land!  Navigating the skittish cattle, we followed the blazed route along a treed property line which soon brought us to a pair of silos and back to Prince of Wales Rd..  There we turned southward, following split rail fences along the rough tract.

After only a short stretch back on the roadway, we again turned into the underbrush to venture between the concessions.   What followed was a series of stream crossings and both climbs and descents amid a wonderfully forested section of the Bruce Trail.  While beautiful, it was certainly one of those stretches of pathway that made us glad there were clear blazes to follow, as I do not think I could have found by own way navigating across the land in any sensible way without them.

Arriving at Centre Rd., we were delighted to discover the refreshment station set up by the BTC and the Dufferin-Hi Land section volunteers.  Here we slid our backpacks off, sat on the ground, chatted with other trekkers, and relaxed with glasses of a cool drink and cookies!  While stopped, we took our shoes off to rest our feet and stretch our toes, as the station volunteers came round to check our names off their list – noting what time we passed the check point.  

After 10 minutes, we tied our shoes up, strapped our backpacks on, and said our thanks before continuing on down Centre Rd to pick the Bruce Trail back up on the other side of the concession.  The trail then took us steeply downhill into a ravine – reminding our bodies and legs that it is always more challenging to descend than to climb on a pathway.

Black Bank

The trail soon crossed Black Bank Creek and (depressingly) just as steeply ascended up the other side of the valley, joining up with a property line and road allowance.  According to the BTC guidebook, this region is known as Black Bank – running along the eastern side of a creek of the same name, and near to Black Bank Hill.  Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we could find nothing on why this area has this name, with most online sources declaring instead to be Mulmer, or the community of Noisy River.

With yet another mystery along the Bruce Trail unsolved, we continued amid dense trees, and with thick forest canopy overhead.  Our trek onward followed a rough road allotment, which was a narrow and rarely used dirt track which took us 4 kilometers further to the Mulmer-Nottawasaga Townline.

Final Push for Dufferin Hi-Land

After almost an hour of walking along the dirt allotment, we turned west for the final kilometer of the day.   Back on a gravel road, we descended a huge hill as we approached Lavender – the boundary of the Dufferin Hi-Lands and Blue Mountain Sections, as well as our conclusion for this weekend’s End-to-End organized Hike.

Footsore, we reached Lavender, a small community which consisted of a scattering of houses at a country crossroads.  Here we checked in, and met up with 3 school buses who shuttled us back to Whitfield’s red brick church where our vehicles were parked.  Back at the beginning, we enjoyed a few refreshments and treats, received our E2E patches for the Dufferin Hi-Lands section, and rested.  Exhausted but elated, we mumbled our goodbyes to one another, loaded our tired bodies into our cars, and were soon en route home. 

Reflecting on Dufferin Hi-Lands

Dufferin Hi-Land End to End Patch, BTC Website

Overall, the scenery along the Dufferin Hi-Lands section of the trail was incredibly beautiful and diverse - including rolling hills with gorgeous views, river valleys with dense cedar stands and beautiful ponds, among many other delights.  The ups and downs of the rolling landscape made for a variable and at times challenging time throughout this section.  Regardless, we are thankful to have had the opportunity to complete our fifth section of the Bruce Trail, which also means that we have hiked more than 375 km and over 40% of the route!

I think it is fair to say that the terrain in the Dufferin section could be considered challenging to most, and the toll it took on our bodies came as a bit of a surprise to Sean and I. We had (perhaps naively) thought this End-to-End event would be a good opportunity to undertake an “easy trek” in preparation for our upcoming hike on the Via Podiensis which crosses France to the Spanish border.  We soon learned that each section of the Bruce Trail has its own topography and challenges.  In any event, we made it and are looking forward to what comes next!

If you have an interest in reading about our walk on the Via Podiensis across France in 2017 click here!