Date – May 19, 2013
Location – Map 34 Lindenwood, Sydenham
Section
Distance – 22.4 km
Total Trail Distance – 428.3 (465.7 to go)
Hikers – Steve, Simon, Dean, Marlene, Benjamin,
Harold and Janette
Start –123.3 The Gap Access Trail, Sydenham
Section
End – 145.7, Dodd's Hill Side Trail,
Sydenham Section
Direction – North
Weather – Warm and sunny.
This is the first hike of two days of the
Victoria Day long weekend spent in Owen Sound. We drive up to Owen Sound on
Saturday, after Ben gets off work, with the intention to hike Sunday and
Monday. Elza and Robyn are along for the excursion, but are electing to hike
only one day.
In the commotion to shuffle vehicles and
get to our starting point, Dean forgets his pack in our van. Between all of us
we have enough food and water to spare, and Dean gets to hike with just a water
bottle in his hand. He doesn't like it. He'd much rather have a pack.
We are picking up where we left off last
spring on our Wiarton weekend, so we are taking an unusual tack and electing to
hike north the first day and south the second day, to avoid leaving a gap.
Speaking of gaps, our starting point is The
Gap Access trail, which is, indeed, a gap. After crossing a stream next to a beaver pond, we
climb to our starting point through a rocky gap in the escarpment.
In the section in the Kemble Mountain
Management Area there are many lovely overlooks to the south, where we can see
farms and cattle and the many shades of green in a spring landscape. In the
distance, we can see the water of Georgian Bay.
Trilliums and other wildflowers are in
bloom and the forest is green and welcoming. There are many areas where we are
hiking along the top of the cliff, and sections of the escarpment have broken
away from the mass, leaving crevasses, fissures and gaps -- some scary. It's
cool to think about the geological time period and all the freezing and thawing
that these formations represent.
Ben and Simon rustle up a grouse near where
we stop for lunch and we find the beautiful coffee-coloured eggs under a rock.
This is a difficult entry to write, because
although the hike was great, what came after has touched all of our lives, but
especially that of Harold and Janette. We were back at our hotels getting ready
for dinner when Harold and Janette learned that their beloved Jenny had been
seriously hurt in a car crash and was being air-lifted to St. Mike's Hospital
in Toronto. Jenny's long and perilous journey to healing is the subject of
another blog and while we are grateful that her life was spared, our hearts
ache for her and her loved ones, and we long to see her restored.
A few more photos:
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