Sat, Sep 10 2011 - Mono Cliffs Provincial Park (15 KM) (View Original Event Details)
|  |
What a great day for a hike to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park! It was a picture perfect day – lots of sun and no mosquitoes to pester us as we made our way along the trails. There were fourteen TOC members and three honourary mascots (Kelli, Shadow and Rusty) on the hike today. The great thing about this park is the variety of terrain. We climbed over rocks, strolled through meadows and walked between tall trees that provided lots of shade from the warm sun overhead. The goal for the hike was 15km and we made our ½ way point in no time….this was fast bunch of hikers, we were averaging a 5km pace. Maybe it was the fact that Shadow, Kelli and Rusty were constantly running ahead and then coming back as if to say “hurry up you guys!” Lunch time was upon us and it seemed perfectly timed that we had arrived at Lookout Point. On my last visit to this site in March, the rain and fog prevented any view at all. As proof to the group, I pulled up the shot from my camera’s memory card. The first time it was deserted, but this time we arrived to find another hiking group finishing their lunch. Someone from the first group asked if we had a ‘reservation’ and I replied with a smile that “yes, we had ‘called ahead’…” The view was wonderful and made it a perfect lunch time spot to enjoy the scenery while having a bite to eat. Once everyone was nourished and rested up, we headed out for the second part of our hike. As we entered our second leg, it wasn't very long until we intercepted a porcupine crossing the path. Luckily for us, neither Kelli, Shadow or Rusty saw it first! Porcupines are not very fast creatures! Many of the group got an up close and personal look while they snapped a few photos… My main concern was to get the dogs out of smelling distance as my first aid kit wasn’t equipped to deal with pulling out porcupine quills! As we made our way along the trail, we came to one of our final cross roads. Everyone had a map, and I had co-ordinates punched into my GPS. We stood and tried to decide, “Do we go left or right?”…as we were trying to decide, someone noted …”Why don’t we look at this map behind us, with the ‘You are here’ arrow?” Everyone laughed, and even though the GPS were suggesting left, we all went right based on the map. We were right…so there must have been a bit of magnetic disruption affecting the GPS’s compass! As I’ve always said GPS is an aid to your trip, but not something to be relied on 100% of the time as they can be wrong sometimes! As we came upon our last waypoint before the final stretch to the cars, a few didn’t want the fun to end and were trying to get the group to do a loop or two over again…but as we know all good things must come to an end. :) I suggested we could look forward to a hike in the Fall to see how the next season would change the landscape once again!
Thanks to Janice, Chris and Gina – our carpool drivers! Without your fearless and safe driving, today would not have been possible!
Donations collected today, $8.
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.