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Published: November 6th 2016
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Another early morning drive northward. I could have held off until tomorrow and driven north in the light. It was daylights saving time Sunday morning but I figured my body would be out of sync already. My parking spot would be near the Pretty River Provincial park. As I prepped near my car I heard a strange buzzing sound in the air and it took a minute to realize it was coming from the power lines. There was a power pole near the corner where I was parked that was giving off the buzzing sound. It was a bit disconcerting but I put it out my mind and started my hike.
I hiked north on the road as it went steadily downhill into a valley. It had rained a few days earlier and the trail was covered with leaves and mud. I have good hiking boots but I was having trouble keeping my footing. This was not a good sign because I was not on the back trail but an actual roadway. I approached an intersection which according to my GPS was Pretty River RD but before I got there the trail markers told me to go left into the
forest. I got my first glimpse of the Pretty River at this point. I will say it is a nice river but I am not sure if I missed where it got its name from. Anyway the trail winds along the river as you go into the provincial park. I had seen the provincial park and saw it was but on a high point on the Escarpment. The trail went steadily higher and for some time it was a steady incline and nothing too challenging. About halfway into the park the trail goes up towards the highest part of the park. It is not terribly steep but it goes on for awhile. The tough part was the mud and leaves makes it slippery and I kept losing my balance. The leaves obscured the trail so you can't see where you put your feet down. I was exhausted by the time I reached the top of the trail and looked down on the Collingwood area. The sunlight was shining down through the clouds and it was a heavenly site. The 2 pictures with the sunlight demonstrate it well. I have not seen a lot of people in the Blue Mountain section
of the Bruce Trail but I did run into a few people.
I exited the park on Side Rd 6. It is not really much of a road, more like a mud fill trail. I turned left onto Side Rd 6 and than turn right onto a trail that was next to a farm field. The trail than goes through the Petun Conservation Area. This part of the trail is already at the top of Escarpment so there is not a lot of incline changes. It is an interesting view looking right and seeing the drop off all the way down the Escarpment. After a few KM I exited onto 2 Line rd. I was at approximately 12KM at this point. I sat down and ate some of the snacks I brought and considered my next move. I did a rough calculation and I knew I had about 6km walk back to my car. I could have gone on a bit longer but I wasn't 100 percent certain where the blue mountain section ended. So after some thought I started walking back to my car. Walking back to my car took awhile as the roads I used were washed
out and filled with large mud puddles. Near the top of 2 Line Rd I looked down from the top of a hill and saw Georgian Bay in the distance and it was a nice feeling as I remembered I started hiking near Niagara Falls 7 months earlier.
Today's hike 18KM and 4 hours. I didn't realize it until I got home and looked up the endpoint for the Blue Mountain section that I was only about 7 KM away from the end point. Had I known that I would have just finished the 7km while I was up there. I have decided to finish Blue Mountain section and end my hike for this year there. That would leave Beaver Valley, Sydenham and Peninsula sections left to hike. Hiking so much this year has been great exercise but during winter I will hike closer to Brampton to avoid long drives to get to my head of trail.
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