Sat, Oct 6 2007 - Terra Cotta Conservation Area (View Original Event Details)
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It’s been a while since I’ve been on a hike, so what better way to re-introduce myself than by going on a nice easy hike through the Terra Cotta Conservation Area. Carpool was quick and easy, once I made sure everyone else was off, we set out to Terra Cotta.
We arrived just before everyone else, which was surprising since we were the last to leave, but Fraser took the alternate route to the park, which lead through some road closure’s since there was street festival on his chosen path. Other’s stopped for breakfast, and I guess everyone else took their time, not that I was speeding, or else I would have earned myself another ticket on a TOC event!
Once we were all collected, we set off to find the trail heads, and with good fortune and luck, we found one. In hindsight we took a wrong turn, but it did lead us to the trail head I wanted to start. Terra Cotta has many trails and loops that you can follow, most of them short, and all them poorly marked! We managed to pretty much stay on course during the morning, but the afternoon was a different story!
We stopped for lunch after a couple hours of hiking, and relaxed under the shade in the picnic area. Margaret had brought her bathing suit, and was found taking a quick dip in the ‘lake’. I say ‘lake’ because the level of the ponds and lakes in the area are drastically low due to the lack of rain this year.. We ate lunch at leisure, and decided that we should head back and perhaps go towards the Silver Creek area since it really wasn’t too far off.
As we started our second hike for the afternoon, we were greeted by ominous thunder, heralding the coming of rain. It had threatened to rain all day, but we were fortunate to avoid it so far. With maps in hand, we set off for the first leg of the trail that would take us to the Silver Creek area. And this is where we took a wrong turn! We continued down the wrong path until we reached the end of the Terra Cotta Trail and hit the beginning of one of the Bruce Side trails. We turned around, still in good spirits, but they became somewhat dampened by the onslaught of rain that came down on us! It was fortunate we were heading back anyways, and nobody objected when I suggested perhaps it would be time to head back to the cars!
We waited the rain out under a deck by the nature centre until it wasn’t pouring sheets of water anymore, and by the time we reached the cars, the rain graciously stopped! A small group of us headed to Chalkers afterwards to enjoy a well deserved Angus Steak Sandwich and a cold refreshing beer!
Thanks everyone for coming out and being great sports about the weather! See you all sooon!
Jason
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