Sat, May 23 2009 - Slowpoke hike: Hockley Valley (View Original Event Details)
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Rave reviews for Hockley Valley from all of our hikers today, including our canine participants, Ruby and Simba ("two paws up" from each!).
We hiked a total of 13.5 km along parts of the Bruce Trail and some sidetrails, with stops for lunch, photos, etc. The trails were well-maintained and well-marked. Yes, it is hilly, but just enough ups and downs to make it interesting and give us some exercise. There were mosquitos, but not enough to drive us crazy (although Matthew might disagree - they seemed to like him best). The variety of scenery was wonderful: cool forests with dappled sunlight falling on abundant trilliums and other wildflowers, sunny meadows, babbling brooks, quiet ponds, and remnants of old orchards with blooming apple trees. There were many natural and man-made items of interest. We saw tons of tent caterpillar nests decorating trees and bushes. There were many different birds, including one who didn't like our presence in a meadow near its nest as we stopped for lunch. Every once in a while, we were reminded that the forest had once been cleared; for example we found the remains of an old car deep in the trees, which Matthew dated to the 1930s. An old piece of farm equipment quietly rusted away in an overgrown meadow.
Other highlights: a nice lunch break in a meadow between two ponds; Ruby conquering her fear of plank bridges; great conversations along the trail with an interesting group of people; and Simba and Ruby becoming pals and walking along side-by-side at the end of the hike.
On the way back most of us stopped at the Tim's beside Hwy 10 in Orangeville for a cool drink. There was a small drama in the parking lot re. car keys lost and found, but all was resolved happily and we did not have to sit on each others' laps all the way back to the city (juicy details have been omitted to protect the innocent).
A truly enjoyable day! Many of us were heard to say that we'll be going back to Hockley Valley for future hikes. And a special welcome to Tara on her first TOC event!
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.