Date – February 15, 2015
Location – Maps 26 Kimberley and 27 Epping
Distance – 10.7
Total Trail Distance – 746.8 (147.2 to go)
Hikers – Dean, Marlene, Benjamin, Simon, and Jacob
Start – 74.6 Regional Road 30, Beaver Valley
End – 85.3 Sideroad 13A
Direction – North
Weather – Cold and sunny
The dreadful hike on November 24, 2013, when we were shocked to
find knee-deep snow in the Dufferin Hi-Lands and ended up slogging through
knee-high drifts, has us thinking that we should do a hike where we are actually
properly prepared for snow: on snowshoes!
Several of us own snowshoes and, for the others, Whitney and
Janette kindly help implement the rental for us by picking up the gear at MEC
in downtown Toronto. We tried sourcing the rentals at Outdoors Oriented in St.
Catharines and MEC in Burlington but because this is the Family Day weekend in
Ontario, there aren’t enough pairs available.
It is a bitterly cold day, with temperatures at -22 C and a
windchill much colder than that. The forecast convinces Steve not to join us, but
we have bundled up well and expect that, because we will be moving, we will be
fine.
We leave the parking area and head up the road, but the boys, who
are in the lead, miss the mark for the turn-off to the trail, meaning that we
have to turn around and go back down the hill we just ascended. We are cheery
and fresh so we think “no big deal.” Little do we know that the gruelling
exertion that awaits us means we will end up regretting every extra step.
As we leave the road and join the trail under a hydro line I am
disappointed to see that someone else has already hiked this in snowshoes
before us. I was expecting that we would be hiking through trackless wilderness:
This is supposed to be an adventure and I don’t want to walk where someone has
gone before! Little do I know that the gruelling exertion that awaits us means
I will soon be VERY grateful that someone is ahead of me.
Yes, it is cold but it is also mostly clear and sunny and we are
enjoying the experience. The snow is very deep and there is no way this terrain
could be covered without snowshoes. We also realize that the snow has obscured
all the rocks, roots and crevices that are normally a part of a Bruce Trail
hike. In some cases it has also obscured the blazes.
When we get to a steep descent of the escarpment where there is a
wood ladder to assist us, we will need to remove our snowshoes in order to safely
navigate the steps. None of us wants to take the time to do that, or to remove
our mittens to undo the straps, so Jacob decides to jump and slide down the
escarpment. The snow is so deep and powdery that we all follow his example. It’s
weird to feel the snow sliding beneath my snowshoes and to realize that I couldn’t
stop if I wanted to. This is a small feeling of what an avalanche must be like –
the moving snow feels like liquid.
When we hike through an open field and the wind blasts us with
full force, our eyelashes freeze and Dean gets frost-nip on the tiny bit of his
exposed ear.
For almost all of this hike Ben, Simon and Jacob are in the lead
and we are very grateful for their strength and youth. About half of this hike
is through my desired unbroken snow but I will not wish for that again – much too
difficult!
However, having snowshoes allows you to experience a true taste of
Canadian winter and we are glad to be alive and outdoors. It’s wonderful!
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