Date – September 22, 2012
Location – Map 26, Kimberley
Distance – 21.2 km
Total Trail Distance – 305.7 (588.3 to go)
Hikers – Steve, Simon, Dean, Marlene, Madeleine,
Benjamin, Harold and Janette
Start – 41.9, Old Baldy, Beaver Valley
Section
End – 63.1, Hogg's Falls, Beaver Valley Section
Direction – North (but actually South, as
we loop through the valley)
Weather – Cool and rainy, then sunny, then
rain, then sun – all day long
Details – This is hike No.1 of a two-day trip
to hike the Beaver Valley Section, a loop which travels along the escarpment on
one side of the Beaver River and then continues north on the other side. It's
known as the Falling Waters section, which becomes true in more than one sense
of the word.
We are camping at LutheRanch (thanks to Annette and Ron), where we all
arrived in the dark the night before, picking up Madeleine at the Aberfoyle GO
station on our way. Although we have been planning this weekend of hiking for
some time, the forecast is terrible and in the days leading up to our departure
we dither about whether we will follow through. Early in the week, Janette says
we're not real hikers unless we are prepared to hike rain or shine, but later
in the week she says she doesn't want to be responsible for the misery if she
makes us do it. In the end Dean says too much planning has gone into this and
we should just carry on. So we do.
Saturday morning we learn that Robyn has
been sick through the night so Elza and Robyn are staying back at camp. The
remaining hikers leave the camp shortly after 10 a.m. in two vehicles, dropping
Harold and Janette's car at the end point and then taking our van to the start.
It starts to rain almost as soon as we
leave the van, but the rain doesn't last. Then again, the sun doesn't last
either, and over the course of the day we are drenched many times. It's also a
gruelling hike, with many ascents and descents.
There are hints of fall colour beginning to
appear in the trees, and at times we have spectacular views across the valley.
Other times, we are trudging along with our heads down, in wet misery. Mostly,
though, we are surprised at how lush and green the forest vegetation still is.
There are sections of the trail, especially
in the area of the penstocks on the east side of the valley, that are very
overgrown. We enjoy thinking that there aren't many people who are travelling
this way, although late in the day we meet a group of three men who say they
are hiking the entire Beaver Valley section (we think they must be taking one
of the mid-valley cross-overs) in one day. We also meet a group of four women
who are heading towards Hogg's Falls, relying only on a GPS. They are very
confused about where they are and where they are headed.
Early in the afternoon we catch up to Ben
and Simon at Eugenia Falls, but only because they are finished a switchback section
which we have yet to do. We enjoy the story about the fool's gold found in the
stream, and think that maybe we have found some gold ourselves – unless someone is playing a trick on us with
a can of gold spraypaint!
At the end of the day we are all very tired
and our boots are caked with mud. Harold,
Janette and Dean leave to drop Dean off at the van while the rest of us
wait on the side of the road. It's starting to rain again just as Dean returns,
and on our trip back to camp we see a spectacular double rainbow.
After supper, we enjoy a lovely campfire.
 |
| Madeleine thinks the hike is too long! (And we've just started.) |
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