Nottawasaga Bluffs Conservation Area
Km 16 to 25
The day started early on Saturday, August 15th as we departed Niagara-on-the-lake under clear blue skies. We arrived in the Blue Mountains section of the Bruce Trail where I left off last weekend at km 16 which was a beat-up old logging road called Nottawasaga 12 / 13 Sideroad. The trail headed North for 800m to the Nottawasaga Bluffs conservation area. I noticed on the map that this region had a rare occurrence on the Bruce Trail – it had the ability to be hiked in a loop.
Taking the opportunity to hike with someone else, me mum joined us as we parked at the Nottawasaga Bluffs Conservation area and set out on the trail.
We went up some small hills to enter a beautiful cedar forest. There were a lot of bugs here, but we pressed on to open fields of baby's breath which were an amasing sight to see. Hectares and hectares of rolling hills covered in white baby's breath flowers as far as the eye could see. As we passed through the tall wildflowers we then entered some pine forests which smelled so beautiful this time of year, not unlike an air freshener for a car.
Passing through the forests we came to some beautiful cliffs or “bluffs” which had great craggy areas which were a pleasure to explore. Giant crevices filled with moss covered rocks were spectacular. The temperature on the bottom of the crags was quite cool bordering on cold. The smooth cold rocks felt nice under my bare feet.
We stopped for lunch at a rare Bruce Trail campsite where there was a young couple preparing to camp for the night and explore the area. They had a very large tent which must have been quite heavy.
Continuing along the Bruce Trail, it's always fascinating to have more feedback than the average hiker. Hiking barefoot, I get to feel the texture of the ground and feel how it changes temperature in the sunny areas as well as the shady areas. Over 600km barefoot on the Bruce Trail without injury! How's that for evidence that going barefoot isn't bad for you. The most amasing part is how the trail changes from kilometre to kilometre. Heading through dense forest gives way to open overgrown fields of tall grasses, then into different types of forests such as thin hardwood, then into pine and cedar. This has always been a great part of hiking the trail.
The CadPat military issue backpack is so much more pleasurable to hike in than my expedition pack. It's light weight and size makes for a quicker pace on the trails. Arriving a very beat-up section of Kings Highway 124 we made the short westbound hike back to the car. It was an enjoyable hike for both me mum and Luka.
En-route home we stopped in a shop and found an old WWI propaganda poster that said "Keep Calm and Carry On" I bought the poster as that's truly how I live my life. I think that will be my new motto.
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