Category: Travel posts

Just down the road from our current home, there is a spot on the road we pass, where, hikers park at the side of the road to access the Bruce.

So it seemed like a good idea to do a hike we could walk to instead of driving ….it was hard to find maps…Alltrails didn’t seem to have it listed….and the Bruce maps require a subscription to access them……fortunately tho…they often post them at the access points.

We actually accessed where the P for parking is….

There is a stile with a sign telling you not to disturb the farm animals……when we crossed the stile…we stepped into a meadow populated by a large number of very large black cows…..who immediately all turned to look at us……and then start walking towards us…….

This may have been slightly more alarming than the bear incident…!!!

……and of course they don’t look nearly as intimidating in the pictures….but they followed us across the field and watched us go off in to the forest…(yes…I know …they probs just thought we were there to feed them……it was still a bit unnerving…!!!

Off in to the forest we go…..to find some unexpected little delights in the trees….

Wildlife that was not listed in any of the guides……but I don’t think they were dangerous..!!!

This day….on the mysteriously labelled ‘un-named trail’…….it was a slightly foggy, kind of overcast day which made the forest feel just a little more ‘magical’…or maybe it was the tone set by the gnomes.

I’m realising as I look through the pictures that we did a lot less big scenery shots today….and many more little details………it’s such a beautiful place…..

I tried…and failed to get pictures of the strange little bugs we were up against today….as we walked through the trees…there were funny little caterpillars worm thingies…(and they were yucky) hanging from single strands of silk…as you walk through them…you feel the whispery creepy silk across your skin…and then there are all these little inchworm things on your shirt and hat………it required the acquisition of a stick to wave in front to catch most of them before they were on you….I’m pretty sure they were harmless….but creepy…!!!

More fungi…….apologies for the multiple pictures…but they were sooo cool….

The un-named trail now has a name…!!!

…and more fungi……

…..and then…in the middle of nowhere there is this MCM house….and the path was almost photoshopped fake looking…..

If someone has the story on this I’d love to hear it…!!!

……late in the afternoon now…the mosquitos were starting to gather…and all of a sudden we emerge from the forest…and we are back at the farm at Cape Chin….

This was a great one………this one was a recommendation from a local. We likely would not have found it without direction. The GPS was totally confused…couldn’t find it….but that may also be due to the seriously sketchy network connection (or lack thereof..) that exists up here.

Be warned this is going to be a long one with lots of pictures….it was a terrific day out..!!!

We set of on what promised to be a 10k+ hike with a couple of side trails thrown in to the mix….Nice little free parking lot ( bonus)…and the hike starts out on the road……..and then heads off in the direction of the coast….

Nice easy terrain…( or so we thought ) the first couple of kilometers were nice and flat…almost a groomed trail.

very different again…..

There are a couple of side trails on this section, The John Appleton and the Beth Gilhespy side trail that join together to make a more interesting loop.

Once we got in to the foresty bit, it became a lot more interesting….thankfully the local mosquito population seemed to be having a bit of a holiday today…..Either that or the new bug repellent lotion I bought at Can Tire works better than the old stuff…..!!!!

We had a couple of days of heavy rain so I was hoping to find some fungi about…

I was not to be disappointed.

And some interesting natural sights along the way……

………and then……..we get to the Beth Gilhespy side trail……which…on reviewing the description after the fact…….does say that it has a ‘challenging element’…………….

AAAAAaaaaargh…!! 47 steps down……( I counted them on the way back up.. .!!! )

….and then……

Well…..you just have to give it a go ….don’t you…!!!

Its definitely a bit of a challenge,,,,,,but great fun……our legs were definitely a bit on the wobbly side when we made it back up…!!!

And even after that there was still a bit of scrambling round cliff faces….not too many pictures…because by that time we were on tired legs and a bit more concerned about falling off…..

Oh boy we were tired at the end of this one…….and it looks sooooo unimpressive as a workout…!!!

So we trudged back in to Barrow Bay…..

…and then……we realised why Barrow Bay is so difficult to find………

St Margaret’s chapel, we drive by it every time we go into town, or go anywhere actually. Its just over 7km from our current location…so we decided to bike over to it for a closer look. ( St. Margaret’s Chapel (Cape Chin) – All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go – Updated 2021 (Cape Chin, Ontario) – Tripadvisor )

Pretty little church that is never locked apparently.

Lovely little place…..not necessarily the kind of place you would drive up here to see….but if you are in the area its most certainly worth the side trip to include it in your day. ( bonus…not just the church is open…but there is also an accessible washroom/outhouse onsite).

The stained glass windows all depict local flowers.

We stopped in at a local artists gallery on East Road just for a look….quite lovely prints and cards….lovely spot…

Since one of the themes of this part of the trip seems to be the varied terrains of this part of the country…I could not resist taking some pictures of the rock formations along the road on the way home. Some of them look (I think) like manmade brick walls…..(plus it gave me the excuse to stop for a couple of rests on the road home….don’t tell Scott….!!!!)

Canada Day, July first was a recovery day from the slightly challenging bike ride……..but the 2nd …we decided to drive back over to Dyers Bay ( with lots of oooooo’s and aaaaaahhh’s at the “undulations” in the road along the way.)

We had spotted another couple of side trails off the Bruce trail….so the mission for the day was Juniper Flats. The variation in terrains from one section to the next is both fascinating, and quite exciting…….it might take a very long time to get bored of the various walks and hikes in this area.

Warning……there will be lots of pictures in this post…..both because of the encouragement I have been receiving with some very positive feedback (thank you..)..and how fantastically beautiful the landscape is.

Bruce leads onto the side trail. Another interesting aspect of these trails….aside from the challenging surface underfoot……is how winding the trail often is…..you cant see the next bit til you walk forward another 5 feet……and very often you stop and look up….momentarily convinced you have strayed from the path…..and see another ..very well placed blue or white flash ahead of you.

Bugs were not as bad today….either we figured out the frequency of re-application of the bug repellent….or it was just a bit windier today…!!

Yes….he found some sweet peas………!!!!

….and …of course….an abundance of juniper berries………

Finale to the day was another bit of a first with the airstream….

Just have to say….this is pretty cool……….just one more thing to love about our new home.

We thought it would fun (!!!) to ride the bikes from here at Cape Chin down to Dyers Bay…..where the public boat launch is. Google maps said the route was fairly flat……let me just say…..google maps lied. The overall result may have been that we finished at the approximate elevation we started at……but flat……..it was NOT…!!! (LOL)

At least my phone was impressed…ie multiple trophies….what ever that means !!!

Dyers Bay boat launch…its hard to really see how blue the water is….

I’m realising that we did not actually take any pictures along the route today……but take my word for it…….the undulation (!) of the road was …..well it was challenging……

We are planning a return trip ( in a motor vehicle next time to hit a couple of the side trails of the ruce from Dyers Bay……watch this space….

So the walk today was to the other side of the road. Otter Lake side trail promised a 6.5 km walk. It was quite a bit flatter than the other side (Bard side trail) and about half the walk is exposed…through meadow and marsh, while the other half is in cover through birch and cedar.

Beautiful……..but the past couple of days we have had some pretty heavy rain……and while it is not nearly as warm as southern Ontario….the humidity is definitely quite high.

The moisture in the air contributes to the North Bruce extreme weight loss program…!!!!1. You are walking….which is burning some calories……2. I am quite sure none of the exercise apps have a measurement for how many calories you burn as you constantly brush your arms and head, swat your legs and generally flail your arms around to combat the seemingly coordinated attacks of first the deerflies which attack in the open terrain….mercilessly…….second…as soon as you enter shade….the deerflies stop (probably fly over the trees to wait for you on the other side..!!!)..and their best mates…the helicopter sized mosquitos take their turn….

The third part of the weight loss being the chunks of flesh and blood the aforementioned beasties butcher out of your arms, head, neck….or heck…they just plain bite you through your jeans…..

I was astonished there were not a million little holes incised out of the fabric of our clothing when we got back…!!!

These little electric blue dragonflies were everywhere…….apparently they prey on deerflies….I knew I loved these things…!!!

I had seen these on the websites as I was trying to identify the hedgehog mushrooms that we found on the Bard side trail…….it looked just like someone had peeled a clementine and left it sitting on the log….

Next post will be biking to Dyers Bay

Thursday 24th was a loooooong day. It was our second vax day (yay..we are both now fully vaccinated..!!) which meant a return to civilisation……for a day…!!!

After our foray onto the Georgian Bluffs last week , one of the necessary side trips in Brantford was to Al’s Shoes to purchase proper hiking boots…(Many thanks Al’s Shoes….good job well done…we are both super happy with our new footwear).

Friday was the next move…….

The new set up at Cape Chin.

I discovered that we are not actually a half mile from the Bruce trail….we are actually right on the Bruce trail.

About a 200 meter walk down the road gives us the option of a couple of side trail also. One is the Bard trail and the other is the Otter Lake side trail.

Another box ticked today when Scott came across this little buddy…

It (he/she/they) is a Massasauga rattlesnake, Ontario’s only venomous snake and an endangered species so we were very lucky to see one.

No coiling up or threatening to strike….but lots of impressive rattling…!!!