Meeting up with Bruce



Meeting up with Bruce

I’ve always wanted to hike along the renowned Bruce Trail that stretches a over 800 km from Tobermory to Niagara.  The most daunting part of hiking the Bruce Trail is not the hike itself but that getting to the trail would mean driving across town on the busiest stretch of highway in Canada – the Toronto stretch of the 401 – and trying to avert traffic.  My hiker buddy and I left our homes east of the city at 9:00 a.m., after rush hour, to arrive west of the city at the Rattlesnake Conservation area at 10:00 a.m.  This would leave us about 4.5 hrs of hiking time before the homeward bound rush hour started.  Planning a hike around Toronto rush hour is not fun.

From Rattlesnake Conservation Area we decided to hike to Crawford Lake Conservation Area – the Bruce Trail runs through many conservation areas in this part of town.  This would mean a 14.4 km return hike in some moderate to difficult terrain.  Not bad for 2 mommas with 20-lb toddlers on their backs.



Breathtaking Views of the Canyon form the top of the Escarpment

Take the Blue Trail!

On the first leg, things were easy enough.  Nice fresh legs following the blue markers to the lake.  We met a woman along the way who seemed to know her way around, so we clarified that we were going the right way.  She took one look at our babes on board and assured us that we should not hike the blue – “Follow the orange trail. The blue is going to be too tough with those babies on your backs.”  Hah!  We both gave two internal scoffs at that vote of non-confidence and decided that when we saw the orange trail, we would ignore it.  We needed no more encouragement than someone else's doubt as our extra challenge.  Not too far on we came across the first main intersection ... hmm... blue or orange?  We took the blue.  It was well worth it.  What breathtaking views we got at the lookout points.  The blue trail followed the edge of the escarpment (which we had to climb) so we got great views into the Nassagaweya Canyon -- well worth the detour. 
                                                                                                                                                                                         

Hiker Buddy and L'il O at the Lunch Spot

L'il Chica and Hiker Marie at the Lunch Spot

The whole thing, though, about not following instructions, it that the road to the finish line is not as one might have planned. As we trudged along with high spirits, we realized that our maps stopped making sense. We were well off the planned trail and the blazes did not help much. Confused as we were, we ended up hiking an extra 3.5 km and delaying our arrival to Crawford Lake for a lovely lakeside lunch. In fact, we never did make it to the lake and ended up only at the Crawford Lake visitors centre. We lunched instead along the trail where there are benches built into a boardwalk that crosses Limestone Creek.

At the Visitor Centre before the 7 km walk back to Rattlesnake

Not to worry though, we will return to the trail in the fall when the view into the canyon is a mix of brilliant oranges, yellows and gold.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next meeting with Bruce.