Sun, Feb 1 2009 - Bruce Trail - Speyside and Vanderleck Side Trails (View Original Event Details)

Event Coordinator(s): Alison, Pia
Participants:KenH, Daniel Parker, Alison, Dima L, Pia, Gary Ataman, larry columbo


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Write Up:
A small but experienced group of members tackled the Bruce Trail and the Vanderleck Sidetrail on a beautifully sunny winter day. A lot of fresh snow had fallen just prior to the event but fortunately, the trail had been hiked by other people a couple of days before, so was clearly marked, and we were lucky to meet a group of snowshoers travelling in the opposite direction who had broken trail for us for part of the way.
We made excellent time, covering the 14km route in under 4 hours. The only downside of hiking in the winter is the need to keep your eyes on the trail all the time - watching the boots and gaiters in front of you gets a bit tiring after a while... However, kudos to the stalwarts, mainly Larry and Dima, who took turns to break trail - that's what you get for moving faster :-) Pia managed to find just about every hole, both on and off the trail - I can just image how she felt the following day from all the jarring.
Given the level of experience (100+ years of hiking collectively), and the fact that we had a current Bruce Trail Guide and a hand-held GPS unit between us, there really was no excuse but somehow, somewhere, at the end of the day, we missed the trail markers. As a result, we ended up bushwacking the last 1km back to the cars. We plodded along what appeared to be a cross-country ski track with Gary's GPS insisting that our route turned left 'in about 300m'... When we finally did turn left (after well more than 300m), we were following a deer trail through the bush, down a bank and out across a small lake, which was covered in deep snow (can you spell 'insulation'?). Needless to say, we had 3 wet feet by the time we got to the other side (no, I'm not going to name names), and a soggy hike for the last stretch to the parking lot...
A well-deserved stop for a pint and plate at the Ivy Arms in Milton wrapped up a great day of hiking (if one ignores the wet socks and boots), and that well-earned sense of all-over tiredness for all concerned.



Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.