Having completed the first section of the Bruce Trail, it was time to carry on heading north. I again dropped off by my friend Nathan, who met me at my end point and dropped me off where I had last finished in Grimsby. I find it way better to hike back to my truck, rather than try to “time” a pick up.
The continued rains once again produced a generally muddy trail, but there is some real beauty to be found if you look out from under your hood :). I have a great rain jacket for hiking, but the humidity forced me to choose between staying dry from the rain, but overheating and sweating, or to simply take the jacket off, embrace the wet, but stay cool. I stayed cool.
With the seasons changing, the once open vistas, and lack of ground cover gave way to full leaves, and in some cases, a barely distinguishable trail. In some cases even the trail blazes were hard to see as they would be obstructed by the foliage. Taking your time, and trusting your gut was the key.
Today was not only the start of my Iroquoia section (spoiler, I did about 8 k of this section earlier in the season), but it was also going to be my first attempt at 30km. When I originally planned to hike the trail, I was banking on 30 days of 30km and be finished. This may have been possible if I was sleeping on the trail, as driving up to 3.5 hours a day eats into hiking time, but also if my body was a bit more cooperative. A healthy issue I’m managing means that long hikes are not as easy as they should be :).
I didn’t take as many photos this day, because of the constant rain, and also after about 15km my sole goal was to keep moving at any pace possible. It was a challenging section of the hike, with many ups and downs, slippery rocks, and narrow trail. The good news is the rain was making the various waterfalls to show their full glory, such as this shot above of what is known as The Devils Punchbowl.
With 30km of this section done, I’m still in search of my distance sweet spot, but the progress I’ve made so far has made my commute time shorter by 45 minutes each way :).