A few outings along the Niagara Escarpment

Mentor

Mentor

Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Messages
3,124
Hi All,

This past week, I spent a few days wandering along parts of the Bruce Trail and cleaning up parts of my own trails for the coming snowshoeing season. I thought I would share a few pictures from my outings.

First, the knife content! For trail clearing, I used my JK Hudson Bay. As always, it performed splendidly. It takes and holds a terrific edge, which helps with clearing thin brush, but it also has enough heft and front-forward balance to make it an excellent chopper. I attached a JK fire kit to my HB sheath a while back, and it comes in handy when I need to start a fire to heat up some water for trail coffee.

DSCF3551.jpg


DSCF3532.jpg


Onto the trails!

My first outing involved a hike along the main section of the Bruce Trail, with a detour to explore the Singhampton Caves (one of my favourite spots on the Bruce). The weather was rough, with black clouds and intermittent showers - which meant that I had the trail to myself.

Some views from the caves. The rain made scrambling a bit difficult, but I was happy to take a bit of extra time to enjoy the view. It is difficult to take a picture that captures the depth and size of the caves.

DSCF3497.jpg


DSCF3499.jpg


DSCF3501.jpg


DSCF3504.jpg


DSCF3510.jpg


DSCF3514.jpg


A few shots of the local foliage on the way out - the rain has definitely been good for the plants!

DSCF3518.jpg


DSCF3521.jpg


More pics to follow!

All the best,

- Mike
 
Beatiful area. Ok, I'm jealous now. Moose
 
My second outing took me to the Kolapore Uplands trails, which intersect with the Bruce Trail. Kolapore is a great hiking spot - it includes beginner and intermediate trails, hills, valleys, caves, rivers, streams, and large tracts of forest.

I noticed this sign posted at the trailhead. I would love to catch the person responsible for this. :mad: There is an amazing standing rock near the Singhampton Caves, which some idiots have tagged with red spray paint. As a criminologist, I would consider it a matter of professional interest to sit down with the folks who would do such a thing, and get a sense of how they came to see a stunning natural wonder as a canvas.

DSCF3523.jpg


Anyway, on to the Uplands:

DSCF3524.jpg


DSCF3528.jpg


DSCF3529.jpg


DSCF3530.jpg


DSCF3533.jpg


DSCF3542.jpg


DSCF3544.jpg


DSCF3547.jpg


DSCF3522.jpg


Thanks for looking! All for now, and all the best,

- Mike
 
sweet !! thanks for the pics, beautiful country.. I pictured my tent along side of the water in one of the pics..

day hike or did you (allowed) to stay overnight?

also like the knife, is it thicker then common machete?
 
TheLastDaze said:
sweet !! thanks for the pics, beautiful country.. I pictured my tent along side of the water in one of the pics..

day hike or did you (allowed) to stay overnight?

also like the knife, is it thicker then common machete?
Click to expand...

I didn't stay overnight on this trip, but there are definitely spots along the Bruce where you can. Technically, I don't think it's allowed in Kolapore or near the Singhampton caves, though. I prefer to day-hike (sometimes dawn to dusk!) along the Bruce, and save my camping for outings that involve lakes and seclusion. :D

My JK HB is 3/16" at the spine, but it has a convex grind that gives it a nice, thin edge.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Good pics. It looks like a place where it would be heavily lined with Skeeters. Was there many of them on the trail?
 
Freakin gorgeous Mike. I hope I can make it up to your neck of the woods someday.

Sucks about the vandalizing.... People can be idiots.
 
TheGame said:
Good pics. It looks like a place where it would be heavily lined with Skeeters. Was there many of them on the trail?
Click to expand...

Nope. It's getting down to 8 Celsius at night up in the Blue Mountains. The mosquitoes have mostly disappeared. There are a fair few bees kicking around, though, as some of the late-blooming wildflowers are in season.

All the best,

- Mike
 
thanks mentor i needed those pics --we just experienced the driest august in austin's history. it's been so dry i pass cotton balls on the toliet.
dennis
 
WOW, such lush greens! Those are some stunning pictures Mike! Great little mental vacation, thanks for sharing.
 
DennisStrickland said:
thanks mentor i needed those pics --we just experienced the driest august in austin's history. it's been so dry i pass cotton balls on the toliet.
dennis
Click to expand...

Aw, that's a drag! We have had a few torrential storms in the last few weeks, so the place is looking pretty lush. It's still too hot, though. We're expecting highs of 31 C next week. I could do with 15 C.

Here's hoping you get some rain soon,

- Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top