Bruce Trail Journey, thus far…

The start of my Bruce Trail journey. March 5, 2016.
The start of my Bruce Trail journey. March 5, 2016.

Three hikes under my belt now. I have come as far as Decew House, in Thorold from the start in Queenston Heights. Here are some snaps and data from the journey, to date:

Data from Garmin Forerunner 10 - 1st hike
Data from Garmin Forerunner 10 – 1st hike. This is going to become my trail log.
View from the Niagara Escarpment.
View from the Niagara Escarpment.
Data from second hike.
Data from second hike.
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Rushing waters
Exposed limestone
Exposed stone (limestone?)
Data from 3rd hike
Data from 3rd hike – forgot to turn Garmin on at start so first 15 minutes are missing. Damn.
Brilliant day.
Brilliant day.

My daughter, Mizz J, is on this journey with me. That is her right in front of me, in the last picture.

So three hikes in and here are some of my thoughts on the process (in no particular order):

  • the people you meet while hiking are wonderful – happy, friendly, caring and sharing types
  • trekking poles are a godsend. Where have they been all my (hiking) life?
  • nature really IS the best medicine – obviously for the body, but especially for the soul
  • it is an integral part of human nature to quest, journey and explore and we are built physiologically and psychologically to do this. This is why this hike challenge is so satisfying on so many levels for me.

Next week there is no “official” shorter end-to-end hike scheduled as it is Easter weekend. However, there is a 90 minute Bruce Trail meditation walk being organized for Easter Sunday morning that Mizz J and I plan to attend.

Rock on and walk on!

The WB

The Next Challenge…

IMG_1695

Well, that didn’t take long. It hasn’t even been a week since I finished school and I am undertaking my next challenge – to hike the Bruce Trail end-to-end!

This is something I have been dreaming of doing for many years, and this dream roared to life again while I was stuck indoors, working away on various assignments over the past couple of years since Jeff died. It was never a dream of my husband’s – his OCD made any kind of fun outdoor activities challenging to schedule and challenging to perform, to say the least – so onto the back burner it went, along with so many other things I wanted to do.

But all that is behind me now, and I am realizing MY dreams, for a change. I really didn’t plan to start this quest quite so soon. I was hoping to be build up my stamina and leg muscles a bit more with walks around the Village trails first. But the universe has other ideas, as usual!

My membership package from the Bruce Trail Club came in the mail a few weeks ago.

And in it was a newsletter from my chapter, the Iroquoian.

And in that newsletter was pages and pages listing planned hikes for the spring.

I was idly rereading it 2 mornings ago when it finally registered – this group is hosting a series of guided short (9-10 km) hikes for the first 8 sections of the trail, starting this Saturday at the trail head. Oh my. Shit became real all of a sudden, as they say these days.

I cannot NOT do this. The universe has spoken.

So, weakling status be damned – on Saturday morning you will find me at Queenston Heights with (hiking) boots on! Let the adventure begin…

Rock on,

The WB