Sat, May 5 2007 - High Falls Loop - Hiker's Graveyard - Ganaraska (View Original Event Details)
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"The sensation is quite pleasant once you get used to it."
OK, that may or may not be a direct quote from Jim, but it was pretty close to what he said! Yup, this was the swamp/marsh hike, however there is a certain amount of this shrouded in mystery - the person responsible for this trail section took about 40 minutes to clear the swamp/marsh last fall and get to the trail. We took approximately 5 minutes, as we went roughly 50-100M before I decided it would be easiest to skirt the outside of the marsh - I could see an opening in the bush, so we left the water (at times over our knees and smelling good!) and right before us were blazes. Huh.
However, I think mostly everyone enjoyed the swamp/marsh - I know Min and Alex did (Saif was more reticient on the subject, but I heard him laughing). Playing in it (I mean hiking!) was like being a kid again.
Anyways, we left the water and head up the trail, through mostly brushy open shield country, following the blazes (where possible; lichens had grown over some). We soon found the High Falls Side Trail and headed down it following the Cranberry River. Here we had to backtrack a couple of time to find where the trail had gone, but as we discovered, Saif is a born trail finder (I decided he has to come on all my hikes, and that way I can leave the map and compass behind!).
We lunched next to a lovely little river canyon with a beaver dam waterfall (it was open to a breeze, and the bugs blew away), and then headed down the river to High Falls, which was pretty cool - there's a couple of pictures that definitely don't do it justice! The trail then headed back towards the main Ganaraska Trail, which we met sooner than I expected (Alex was definitely doing a better job paying attention here!). On the main trail, we hit a well-groomed ATV trail (I know, who would've thought it possible) that we knew travelled pretty well next to the main trail back to the road, and as we'd suffered a sprained ankle (but Jim and I got to practice wrapping techniques) we took that route.
As we accessed the road, we did encounter an irate farmer, and while there was no private property signs posted to tip us off (we were at the junction with where the trail was blazed, after all), for future reference - it is. However, this did help us solve the mystery of the vastly disparate swamp travel times - while there are no 'trail closed' signs posted (how hard would that be put up?), I would guess that part of the official trail is closed; I thought the swamp travel was the reroute to get around access point issues, but it appears that where we hit solid land may also be closed and the access is now at another, unidentified, point. Nonetheless, no harm done, but for that reason I would recommend to anyone considering this hike to consider another hike instead. Hopefully the access issues can be resolved, as it's a lovely area and the hike is a lot of fun.
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.