Camino Preparation on Canada's Bruce Trail, Dufferin Section
This weekend Sean and I participated in an End-to-End hike through the Dufferin Hi-Land section of the Bruce Trail with our friend. The Bruce trail follows the Niagara Escarpment, which spans over 890 km from Niagara to Tobermory (Ontario, Canada) . For more information see http://brucetrail.org/. Over the past two years, the three of us have been spending one day a month hiking the trail on our own, and so far we have completed the majority of the three southern sections (approximately 250 km).
This weekend was our first experience of an organized End-to-End hike of a section, and we enjoyed it enormously! Each day we hiked approximately 28 km. We started as a group in the morning
and then spread out along the trail which varied from narrow winding footpaths, to boardwalks, to staircases, to muddy tracks, to wide flat stretches through provincial parks.
The spring foliage was just beginning to emerge, the forest floor was covered in spring wildflowers blooming white, pink, yellow, and purple on the forest floor, the temperature was perfect for hiking, and fortunately the spring rains missed us!
The scenery along the Dufferin section of the trail was incredibly beautiful and diverse - including rolling hills with gorgeous views
sections of hardwood forest
river valleys with dense cedar stands
and some beautiful lakes and ponds, among many other delights.
One of the highlights was our encounter with a large ambling porcupine!
Although I think it is fair to say that the terrain in the Dufferin section could be considered challenging to most, the toll it took on our bodies came as a bit of a surprise to Sean and I. We had (perhaps naively) thought this hike would be a good opportunity to train for our upcoming hike in France. We soon learned just how foolish this idea may have been, and are having serious concerns about our ability to survive the Via Podiensis in one piece. In any event, we survived it and are looking forward to opportunities for participate in future End-to-End hikes.
As Annie says in Six Ways to Santiago, "They say that a bad day for the Ego is a good day for the Soul, so today must have been very good for my Soul!"
This weekend was our first experience of an organized End-to-End hike of a section, and we enjoyed it enormously! Each day we hiked approximately 28 km. We started as a group in the morning
and then spread out along the trail which varied from narrow winding footpaths, to boardwalks, to staircases, to muddy tracks, to wide flat stretches through provincial parks.
The spring foliage was just beginning to emerge, the forest floor was covered in spring wildflowers blooming white, pink, yellow, and purple on the forest floor, the temperature was perfect for hiking, and fortunately the spring rains missed us!
The scenery along the Dufferin section of the trail was incredibly beautiful and diverse - including rolling hills with gorgeous views
river valleys with dense cedar stands
and some beautiful lakes and ponds, among many other delights.
One of the highlights was our encounter with a large ambling porcupine!
Although I think it is fair to say that the terrain in the Dufferin section could be considered challenging to most, the toll it took on our bodies came as a bit of a surprise to Sean and I. We had (perhaps naively) thought this hike would be a good opportunity to train for our upcoming hike in France. We soon learned just how foolish this idea may have been, and are having serious concerns about our ability to survive the Via Podiensis in one piece. In any event, we survived it and are looking forward to opportunities for participate in future End-to-End hikes.
As Annie says in Six Ways to Santiago, "They say that a bad day for the Ego is a good day for the Soul, so today must have been very good for my Soul!"
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