Reflecting on the Bruce Trail
Bruce Trail in the Bruce Peninsula
As noted in our last blog entry, Rolling Back the Clock, while we have shared our adventure along
the Bruce Trail in geographical order from south to north, the fact is that our
final thru-trek on the BTC was actually our first long-distance hike. From Aug 6-18th, 2014 we trekked from Owen
Sound to Tobermory through the Sydenham and Peninsula sections to the Northern
Terminus of the Bruce Trail. A family
thru-hike, it was also our first attempt at long-distance trekking. This meant that we carried our own gear and
certainly made a lot of mistakes en route.
With that said, despite the challenges, we were able to successfully
complete this little adventure of 241 kilometres. In the end, our time on the Bruce Trail served as the basis of our
future hikes along the BTC, in Spain along the Caminos Frances, Madrid, San
Salvador, Primitivo and Fisterra, across France on the Via Podiensis, the
length of Portugal on the Rota Vicentina, Caminho Portuguese Central, Coastal,
and Espiritual, as well as Newfoundland’s stunning East Coast Trail, and the
incomparable Trans Canada Trail from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Our first
trek on the Bruce Trail was a learning experience. It taught us a great deal that we have
carried with us as we have continued to explore nature.
The End is the Beginning
Setting out, we bought new backpacks that we neither
fitted nor tested before arriving on the trail.
We packed extra clothing for every
possible situation that we could imagine – no matter how
inconceivable. Not knowing what we
would need, or how much we would eat, we packed too much food and far too many
supplies. Beyond all of this, the tent
we had and took with us was a 4 person shelter that weighed a staggering 15
lbs. Walking out our door and onto the
Bruce Trail in 2014 would be an experience that would define almost everything
that has come since.
Given these circumstances, and our untested selves,
and unlike our subsequent adventures along the Bruce Trail detailed over the
course of the last 30 blog entries - we make no claim to have hiked every
kilometre. Given that we were in the
midst of learning, that we had a younger individual on the trail with us, that
there were trail reroutes at the time, and that we needed to leave the path to
get to campgrounds and grocery stores, we at times missed small portions or by
necessity chose a different route. In
the years that have followed, we have since gone back and completed many of
these missed areas, and would fully recommend them to anyone. The Bruce Peninsula is beautiful and
inspiring - though now often very full.
And so it was with this mindset and these goals that
one evening in August 2014 we stuffed our gear into three massive backpacks,
strapped on new hiking boots, took the Gameboy out of the back pocket of our
younger relative, and turned off the cell phone. For the next 10 or so days there would be no
need for updates, texts or video games.
We were heading into nature where the connection would be better.
The Bruce Trail
Thru-hiking
the Bruce Trail from Owen Sound to Tobermory left us with few options and lots
of questions. Even beyond the challenges
of the trail, we still had to deal with a number of logistical headaches. How to get to the region? Where to leave our car? How to get back to
our vehicle after our hike?
Ultimately,
we decided to drive from Toronto to Tobermory, park our car at a friend’s house,
and take a regional bus back south to Owen Sound. Our logic was that once we left Owen Sound,
we could only get our car back by walking to Tobermory. No matter what challenges lay in front of us,
we would have to find a way to make it work.
The
Greyhound bus dropped us off in Downtown Owen Sound, and for the first time, we
lifted our backpacks onto our bodies … and immediately began to wonder if we
had overdone it. My backpack was a hefty
65 lbs, thanks mostly to a 4 person car-camping tent. Sean’s backpack was 60 lbs, the result of a
week’s worth of food for 3 people. Our
younger relative carried his clothes and had a backpack of 15 lbs. Early on, we had sought to ensure that his
focus should be on enjoying the hike and time in nature rather than struggling
with a full backpack. He simply needed
to carry each day’s snacks, a couple extra bottles of water, and his clothes
for the week.
Dropped
off in downtown Owen Sound, we slowly made our way through town to the local
campground in Harrison Park for the night.
Our arrival at our camping space was one of the happiest moments of the
day, as we were able to take off our backpacks after a mere 3-kilometre
walk. Worried about the weight of our packs,
we began to strip out clothing, an extra tarp, and 3 leather books that we had
romantically brought with the idea of blissfully writing nightly trail
journals. The clothes and tarp were soon
taken back into town and put into a Goodwill bin. The journals, which the youngest member or
our group had only ever seen as “summer homework” were blissfully used as fire
starters for the night’s campfire.
Having
spent the evening camping in Harrison Park we were up early amid the crowded campground. We made breakfast and slowly got ready for
what lay ahead. In the end, it took us
over an hour to pack up and get ready to make our way to our designated
starting point of Inglis Falls.
As we
stepped onto the trail the heavens opened, and having packed our rain gear at
the bottom of our backpacks, we and all of our gear was soon soaked
through. Even Sean’s attempt to hold our camping tarp over us as we emptied our
backpacks, dug out our rain jackets, and repacked our bags during a particularly
strong deluge did little to keep things in order or dry.
Frustrated
at our poor start, we nonetheless pushed forward – nervous that if we delayed
or stopped so early on it would give way to a flood of self-doubt. And so, soaked through and struggling under the
unreasonable weight of our backpacks, we walked through and out of Harrison
Park, following the BTC north from Inglis Falls through West Rocks and
Springmont Forest.
Two hours later we
arrived at HWY 21, where I had to step around a tree and cry after the effort
required to lower myself down the seven rungs of a wooden ladder. By the time we had covered this meagre 7
kilometres, I think we were all ready to walk back into town, get a motel room,
and go home.
My
only thought was “don’t think, just keep walking”. And so I stood back up, pulled my backpack on,
and crossed the busy 4-lane highway.
Owen Sound Ontario
The
city of Owen Sound is one of the few larger urban areas we've come to since we
hiked out of Hamilton and the GTA many hundreds of kilometres to the
south. It is also the geographical
starting point of the peninsula region which will eventually lead us to
Tobermory. The area around Owen Sound
was purportedly visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1616. He met the First Nations peoples who called
the region Wadineednon or “beautiful valley”.
Later, this region was the site of the Aboriginal village of Newash, but
by the mid-19th century, it had been taken over and settled by
Europeans, who referred to the area as Sydenham or Sydenham Bay. They named it after Charles Thomson, Baron of
Sydenham and governor-in-chief of British North America (1838-1841). In addition, sailors purportedly referred to
the region as Owen’s Sound after Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen who had
charted the nearby waters in 1815. At
present, the city of Owen Sound is home to the Tom Thompson Art Gallery which focuses on the works of Tommy
Thompson and the Group of Seven as well as the Billy Bishop Museum.
Pottawatomi Conservation Area
Pushing
northward out of town we entered into the Pottawatomi
Conservation Area. There the rainy weather of the morning let up some,
allowing us to enjoy our hike without our warm rain gear on. The Bruce Trail in Pottawatomi almost
immediately came to Jones Falls, which was a quaint stepped waterfall alongside
the pathway that looked as though it had carved its channel from the limestone
of the escarpment.
Worried that if we
stopped again I would not have the willpower to continue on, we crossed the
Potawatomi River over a long metal bridge and continued northward. There the geology and natural wonders of the
Niagara Escarpment were on full display.
At one point, while navigating around huge boulders amidst a gorgeous coniferous
forest, we passed a large separation in the escarpment through which we could
see the leafy deciduous trees below.
Neighbourhood Walking
Still
following the top ridge of the escarpment, we left Pottawatomi Conservation
Area, crossed the busy Derby-Sarawek Townline, and began what would be a 4-kilometer stretch of neighbourhood trekking. Still well within the bounds of
Owen Sound – even after 12 plus kilometres of hiking – we began boxing along
the edge of subdivisions, down load roadways, and through quiet
neighbourhoods. This long run of pavement
and housing gave way to quick and easy hiking, but certainly stood in stark
contrast to the forests that we had enjoyed throughout the morning.
Trekking
northward on Range Rd, we came to the end of the pavement and turned onto the Georgian Bluffs Rail Trail – a former
CN Rail Line that we would follow to the three-way intersection of
Benallen. This section was a very wide
gravel track which wove through the open farmland of the countryside for
several kilometres. Our only real
challenge throughout this area was that a group of local ATVers were racing up
and down the pathway, leaving little room for anyone (neither us, nor a family
cycling the trail). These motorized
vehicles and their operators never slowed down, gave no indication that they
had seen anyone on the trail, and gave no notice of passing – they simply
covered us in mud as they raced through the puddles beside us. All and all, this did not feel like a very
welcoming beginning to our trek. Now
covered in mud, we continued alongside cow pastures and passed a tall wooden
sign indicating the direction for Benallen Junction, Wiarton, and Shallow
Lake.
Roadway Trekking
Grateful
to be off the ATV racetrack, we turned off the rail trail and commenced with
our second stretch of roadway trekking for the day – along the Gordon
Sutherland Parkway. This narrow gravel
track wove us slowly into the countryside, past farms with iconic, large red
barns, and amid fields browning under the heat of the summer.
Not
paying much attention to our BTC map, only knowing that we had a long stretch
of roadway, we ventured on. As a result,
we walked right past a turn in the trail and only noticed our mistake when we
arrived at Indian Acres Rd, where we had to figure out where we went wrong and
relocate the trail. Thankfully, we were
only a few meters away from where the Bruce Trail also crossed the road, and we
were able to pick it back up. Following
a dirt or gravel roadway (that might well have been an unmaintained route, as
we could not see how anyone beyond ATVers could drive on it), we pushed on for
another two kilometres through exposed fields before coming to a densely wooded
area.
Glen Management Area
Walking
into the Glen Management Area we
were finally off the roadways and ATV racetracks, which we had navigated for
nearly 20 kilometres. Exhausted after
more than 6 hours of hiking, we collapsed for our first and only break of the
day. In truth, it had been a huge
mistake not to have taken a break earlier, yet with the long road walks through
neighbourhoods and along the Gordon Sutherland Parkway, we had no idea where to
stop.
Grateful
for the rest break, and sitting in a puddle of pain and self misery, with our
backpacks lying in a pile on the side of the pathway, we checked the
guidebook. While ostensibly we were
reading about the area, in reality, we were searching for reprieve. We all knew that our hope of getting to Bass
Lake and the campground there was no longer realistic. Heck, at this point it may not even have been
physically possible for the three of us to hike the remaining 15 kilometres to
Bass Lake. We needed to find another
option. Blessedly, a line of red text
stood out on our BTC guide maps noting “The Glen Camp”!!! This spot was an official camping area, it
was near a water source, and it was close!
With a mixture of relief and excitement, we decided to change tonight’s
destination. Our goal was now to stumble
the 3 or so kilometres between where we were and the official BTC Glen Camping
area for the night.
After
a 30-minute break and several Cliff Bars, we each slowly stood up, slipped our
heavy backpacks onto our shoulders, and resolutely marched toward the light at
the end of the tunnel – a place just 2 kilometres away. The Glen Management Area is a region in which
the Bruce Trail essentially loops around a large wetland along the top of the
escarpment, and so we stumbled along the relatively flat pathway. Blessedly, the canopy of the forest kept the
late afternoon sun off of us, aiding our weary bodies.
Grateful Camping, Tired Reflecting
A
short trek that seemed to stretch forever soon came to an end when we turned
off the main BTC pathway and followed the short Glen Side Trail to the
primitive campsite. Once there, we
again dropped our backpacks onto the ground and sat down. Hiking boots and wet shoes were soon stripped
off and sandals were taken out to give our feet a chance to dry off and air
out.
Sitting
there, knowing the day was at its end, none of us wanted to get up to do the
necessary chores. In the end, it was
only the mosquitoes in the area that prompted us to get up and set up our
tent. Once assembled, the youngest of
us collapsed and was soon asleep, despite it being mid-afternoon. Envious of him, Sean and I changed out of our
soaking wet hiking clothes, hung a line up to dry them out and put our shoes
into a puddle of sun in an attempt to burn some of the wetness out of
them. Next, one of us went to get and
purify water while the other inflated our thermarest mattresses and took out
the night’s camping meals.
An
hour later we had enough water collected and ready for dinner and tomorrow’s
breakfast. We boiled water, let our
meals rehydrate, and prompted our younger relative to change his clothes, which
were sweaty and smelling from the day’s efforts. Mechanically, we ate our dinners of Veggie
Lasagna and were soon headed for bed.
As
the day’s efforts came to a close, I admit to being uncertain as to how to
feel. We are certainly excited to have
set off on our family trek, we are definitely exhausted from the day’s
efforts, but I at least am a little depressed from our lack of progress. All in all, it was a tough day with hard
distances covered by a trio of people who were unused to the weight of
backpacks. It had taken us longer than
expected to get to this point, and we were all footsore and soaked from the
rain this morning, as well as the rising humidity throughout the rest of the
day - but we had gotten a decent part of the Bruce Trail completed and our
first day was over!
While
we should have figured out our destination and plans for tomorrow, we simply
didn’t have the energy to focus on more of the Bruce Trail tonight. Tomorrow’s problems would have to be dealt
with tomorrow.
I
have never been so grateful to lie down as I was on this night.
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