Hike 26 : Piecing it Together - Vandeleur to Griersville Area

Bruce Trail Temptations and Trail Magic

This morning began with the fleeting thought of getting back on the trail and pushing hard to hike 40 kilometers to our rental car parked at Rocklyn Creek Management Area and the Ambrose Camp side.  This distance however would be in addition to the 6-7 kilometers required to get back to the Bruce Trail near Vandeleur – across Beaver Valley.  While 43 kilometers of trekking is challenging but possible, having to go almost 50 kilometers over the terrain of the BTC would likely be too much for us and our tired bodies.   

Overhearing us talk about the possibility of pushing for our car, our amazing hosts made the offer of transporting us to Vandelaur on the other side of Beaver Valley, and our point of departure from the main trail yesterday.  This would have saved us the first hour and a half of trekking before our day’s hike started.  While a very generous offer (that we were sorely tempted to take) we ultimately made the decision to do this hike on foot as much as possible, and so we had to decline.  The result was that we set out today knowing that, despite our best efforts, we would again be spending tonight wild camping on the Bruce Trail.  Where we would be able to do this we had no idea – and so we set out hoping to be able to “piece it together” on the fly.
 
With an amazing, high-energy breakfast of toast and eggs inside us we packed our gear and prepared to set out.  On the doorstep of our accommodations our hosts continued to surprise us when they provided us with more trail magic in the form of packed lunches and a few snacks!   Buoyed by their generosity and giving spirit, we said our thanks and goodbyes and began navigating our way back to the Bruce Trail.
 

Looping Back : The Westward Journey

 
After walking through the town of Eugenia we stepped back onto the Bruce Trail in the local Conservation Area and began trekking north along the BTC, making this the third time we had walked this section.  With the energy of just beginning a new day, we were soon back at the intersection of the Campbell’s / Graham’s Hill Side Trail and again re-ventured the 2-3 kilometers westward across the Beaver Valley to Vandeleur along its quiet gravel roads. 

Sonya Richmond Birding on Bruce Trail

While much of this stretch took us under a dense canopy of leafy trees, the long descent and steep switch backing ascent back up the valley were exhausting.  An hour and a half later we arrived back at the BTC parking lot near Vandeleur– yesterday’s point of departure to “begin” today’s hike.  There is no denying that there were many moments amid this morning’s walk that we doubted yesterday’s decision to loop back to Eugenia. 
 

Back on the Bruce Trail

 
Crossing over and stepping off the road, we took another quick break in the shade on the side of the trail.  Once rested we soon continued on, following the Bruce Trail as it wove through a pleasant forest, transitioned from a pine plantation to a stand of maple trees, and crossed an open field near local dairy farms. These meadows were filled with tons of colorful spring flowers, making the day all that much more beautiful.  Frustratingly, amid all of this we soon descended the same hill and valley that we had just ascended along the Graham’s Hill Side Trail.  The main trail then crossed Grey Rd 30 before entering into the Beaver Valley Ski Club property - a stretch that would continue this process of alternating long hard climbs and descents.
 

Beaver Valley Ski Club

 
Descending steeply down the valley, we entered the property of the Beaver Valley Ski Club.  There, having reached the midway point of the western side of Beaver Valley, our path headed toward a location noted on our BTC map as Bowles Hill.  In practical terms, this meant that we followed a hydro line before navigating along the first set of steep ski runways … before looping back, re-climbing the escarpment, and crossing at least half a dozen more ski runs.  While none of this section was hard trekking, we nonetheless were crossing an exposed area under the day’s increasingly hot sun, at an angle, and heading up hill. 
 
Thankfully, after our third or fourth or fifth ?!? ascent of the Beaver Valley today, the BTC eventually brought us within a relatively short distance of the closed ski chalet and bar – which blessedly had a patio and picnic tables.  The staff there was kind enough to let us sit down to catch our breath, and one young lady even refilled our water bottles for us – glorious trail magic!  Sitting there and taking deep drinks from our cold water bottles, we looked out over more than a dozen ski runs and the silent chair lifts suspended over the green hills of spring time.  From our vantage point at the top of the escarpment the valley looked tranquil and welcoming – then again everything looks pleasant when you aren’t climbing it.  Refreshed and ready to push on, we said our thanks to the staff and continued into the next forested area which lay ahead.
 

Wodehouse Karst Creek Management Area

           
Leaving the Beaver Valley Ski Club properties behind us, we were in store for a long stretch of flat walking along the rim of the valley.  This was a welcome change of pace that also provided us with opportunities for amazing views across the northern stretch of Beaver Valley. In addition, a straight run allowed us to pick up our pace and get back into the rhythm of hiking that we enjoy.
 
Crossing another gravel concession road we descended down the rocky valley on a wicked wooden ladder, which was tougher with a full backpack on than it necessarily should have been.  To make matters worse, we have always found that hiking downhill is much harder than climbing up.  Following the trail, we zigzagged down the side of the valley, weaving between huge rock formations and into a hardwood forest where swarms of biting bugs and mosquitoes feasted on us.  After applying some bug spray – something we don’t enjoy using – the trail turned, and in true BTC fashion, took us back up to the top of the valley.

 
Despite these intermittent challenges, we enjoyed this stretch of the Bruce Trail.  We have found that sometimes on the trail you hit a rhythm and cease to be caught up in the details of each section and just trek.  Amid these moments you pass signs, trail markers, and other indicators that you would typically watch for, photograph, and research.  However, such was our enjoyment of the moment that much in this stretch is a blur of indistinct memories.  We recall passing a number of stunning waterfalls, and being startled by several snakes basking on the trail, which moved too quickly for us to identify.   It was in this way that we passed through Wodehouse Karst Creek Management Area and almost seamlessly wove into Herman McConnell Memorial Forest.
 

Sentier National

 
A particular highlight for us was finding, at one point, an old friend – the markers for the Sentier National.  From the limited information about this pathway that we could find - the Sentier National, or National Trail, was conceptualized in 1971 by Douglas Campbell of Alberta as a national trail that would run coast to coast facilitating hiking, cycling and skiing.  In 1977, the Canadian Hiking Association was founded to help him promote the idea across the nation.  However, despite growing in various provinces across Canada, from the late 1980s onward the focus of the pathway seemed to be in developing the Quebec portion of the trail.  In short order Rando Quebec, the organization now managing the Sentier National, renamed it the Quebec National Trail or Le Sentier National au Quebec.  As such, while there are links to the Sentier National spread across Canada, the 1650 km long stretch in Quebec is the longest portion of it.

 
We frequently saw and crossed the Sentier National as we hiked on the Trans Canada Trail between 2018 and 2022 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Across Canada we found signs for the Sentier National in Fundy National Park in NB, across Quebec, and again in Banff, Alberta.  However, we never expected to find it again on the Bruce Trail!
 

Herman McConnell Memorial Forest

 
Transitioning out of the Wodehouse Karst Creek Management Area we entered into Herman McConnell Memorial Forest.  There, to our surprise, we discovered a pair of thru-hikers camping on the Bruce Trail – the first that we had seen in the past few outings.  Despite being after 11 am, a time well past when those stealth camping would normally be on the move, these two young ladies were still at their site and clearly not in any rush.  The Herman McConnell Forest was one of those sections which online resources and previous thru-hikers had suggested was a great place for stealth camping.  Seeing these two trekkers, and knowing that we too could have easily camped here last night, made us again momentarily doubt yesterday’s decision not to push on.  But what is in the past is in the past and cannot be changed. We waved our hellos and not wishing to interrupt them continued northward.

 We seemed to leave the dirt pathways behind and the BTC began to follow the more established dirt roadways (or unmaintained road allowances?) around property lines.  Much of this route was clearly used by vehicles as ruts and tracks marred the land and trail that we followed.
 
Around noon the skies turned grey, and we worried that we were in for a rain storm. This is nothing we haven’t experienced in the past, but we have found that rain often gives way to harder hiking on the terrain of the Bruce Trail.  Thankfully, while it did begin to drizzle at one point it was never that bad, and with our rain jackets on neither us nor our gear got wet. 
 

Epping Point and the John Muir Lookout

 
The Bruce Trail next entered a section noted as Epping Point, where, after more than 25 kilometers of hiking, we followed a small side trail and took a break.  There, with our backpacks and rain gear off, we located a plaque to the conservationist John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club.  According to local historical information, John Muir, the renowned naturalist and conservationist, lived in the Meaford, Ontario region from 1864-1866.  

Setting out on a walking tour of Canada West in 1864, his travels were likely inspired by his pacifism and repulsion at the ongoing American Civil War – though there is little actual information about his reasons. His letters do indicate that he travelled around Ontario, visiting Niagara Falls, Burlington Bay, Hamilton, and Holland Marsh before taking a job in an rake factory near Meaford and living at Trout Hollow.  

His writings to friends highlight the natural beauty of the region and his appreciation for the outdoors. In the years that followed John Muir’s time in Meaford, countless pathways and nature conservation initiatives across North America would begin, and a renewed appreciation for nature would arise as a result of his ideas, articles, and ethos.
 

Concession Trekking Resumes

 
Walking out of Epping Point with tired bodies and sore legs, we were happy to discover that the Bruce Trail ceased it’s hard climbing and followed concessions for the next 10 kilometers, making for easy progress.  Unfortunately, nothing is given without a cost, and so it was also in this stretch that the BTC literally took us around 3 sides of a concession. 

This created a mental challenge arising from the knowledge that the 7 kilometers of road trekking could have been cut down to 2 kilometers of trail hiking had we simply followed the Fairmont Side Trail instead of the main route.  The largest blessing of this region was the fact that Sideroad 22 is well shaded by trees.
 

Green Corridors Beyond Fairmont

 
Two hours and 10 kilometers later we were grateful to return to the corridors of green and trails of dirt.  Off the road and north of the Fairmont property, we wove though a small stretch of lush, shady forests amid the clear cut agricultural farmlands around us. In particular, we were thankful for the wooden bench installed en route, which we relaxed on for over an hour – trying to rest our feet as well as burn some of the day light hours away.  It was now 5pm and we knew that we would be physically unable to venture another 15 kilometers to get back to our rental car.  As such, we were caught between the urge to progress, the soreness of our bodies, and the realities of waiting for dusk to set up camp.
 

Griersville Management Area 

 
At 6 pm, as we approached the Griersville Management Area, which was another puddle of green space that we were venturing through, we realized we had only two options. Either we could find a quiet place to unobtrusively settle down, which was appealing as we were both exhausted from the heat and climbs of the day, or we could commit to 2-3 more hours and 8 kilometers of hiking to get to the official Ambrose Camp site.  We soon realized that we were unable to push on to the official campsite, and that the remaining options presented a challenge for us.  In particular, the difficulty was being able to set up a stealth campsite and avoid attracting attention amid a region surrounded by private property. 

Doing our best to waste day light by taking increasingly frequent breaks and finding a corridor of trees with little evident foot traffic, we eventually called it a day.  By this point we had ventured around 35 + kilometers since setting out this morning and had no energy left.  Accordingly, as the light of the day faded we set up our tent, hunkered down, ate a cold meal, and promptly fell asleep.