We met as usual in Kingston for coffee, where we nibbled Icelandic chocolate from K and where S presented us all with Icelandic soaps. We then took off down the 401 to meet at our launch point in Mono Mills. S and K maaaaay have taken the scenic route, visiting the departures and arrival areas of the TO International Airport first. Just because. In spite our our "delayed" start, we got started at a decent time.
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| All smiles as we start out. Little did we know how we would soon descend into debauchery of the worst kind. |
Day #1 (half day)
Start and End Pts: Entering Duffering Hi-Land Section, Mono Centre on Hwy 8 to First Line EHS
Distance: 8 km
Hike Time: 3ish hrs
Weather: sunny, beautiful fall day
Terrain:gentle rolling trails (allowed for a good pace)
Wildlife Sightings: None. But there were MANY Toronto peeps and tourists out enjoying the warm temps and muted fall colours. It was a Sunday afternoon, after all, and this part of the trail runs right through Mono Cliffs Provincial Park.
Fit Bit Step Count:16,000
When we reached our first reserved Bed and Breakfast in the Orangeville area, we discovered that our host was an Eccentric Octogenarian. To her credit, she had a lovely fire roaring in our own private living room upon arrival. It was when D and L started making the special Chocolate Martinis to drink in front of that roaring fire, that things started to unravel. Our Eccentric Octogenarian's eyes practically popped out of their sockets when she saw our Martinis and she immediately screeched that we were completely DEBAUCHED. Debauched? Huh? Is that even a word? Turns out it is.
de·bauched
adjective
indulging in or characterized by sensual pleasures to a degree perceived to be morally harmful.
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| Full disclosure: We consumed one of these per night. Servings were significant. |
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The Blistered Sister's Autumn Chocolate Martini Recipe
3 parts vanilla vodka
2 parts Bailey's
A drizzle of chocolate syrup
Ice
Large festive glass
One outraged Octogenarian (for extra hilarity)
😂
Start and End Pts: First Line EHS to First Line EHS, near Hwy 17
Distance: 20 km
Hike Time: full day
Weather: On and off rain all day long. Windy. 8-10 degrees.
Terrain: winding gravel roads, wooded valleys, field walking, beautiful vistas, horse country
Wildlife Sightings: None. Apparently there have been cougar sightings here. If you believe our Eccentric Octogenarian. Which we don't really.
Fit Bit Step Count: 32,293
This day was our least pleasant. The unpleasantness started with the very meagre coffee rationings by our hostess. As well as the "Dog-Lick Pancakes" which we all tentatively nibbled around the edges of...as D and K had witnessed the Eccentric Octogenarian's dogs voraciously licking the batter out of the bowl on the counter.
The unpleasantness continued in the ongoing rain, soggy socks and wet boots but we hopped on the trail and were happy to be on our way. This section of trail has a considerable amount of road walking and also passes through the Boyne Valley Provincial Park.
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| How wet we were, how wet. |
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| Diana "selfied" her lunch" and then promptly spilled it off the boardwalk. |
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| Soggy Sock Change |
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| The Elusive Picnic Table that always shows up a half hour after we have eaten. |
We saw no other hikers due to the weather but experienced two Acts of Kindness that warmed our soggy hearts.
1. The first was when a woman who was driving by on a gravel road stopped and asked if we needed anything as she just lived at the next farm over. We were struck by how this kind gesture was so simple but so welcomed and how we all could/should do more of this in our day-to-day lives!
2. The second was what one could call a SUPREME act of kindness and warrants a few pics to go along with it. Here's what happened.
At the end of our long hiking day we were all wet and cold. Instead of going out to eat that night as planned, L and D headed to Orangeville to purchase a pizza while S and K headed back to base to get showered and changed.
In Orangeville, D and L found a pizza place.
But alas--the door was locked and the place was closed. Just as they turned to leave, a smiling young man came to the door and unlocked it. He was hugely apologetic about being closed and after a few minutes of conversation, he offered to MAKE a PIZZA for us. D and L, of course, refused. They chatted a bit longer about our Bruce Trail venture (he had noticed the muddy pants and wet boots) after which he recommended a Johnny's Pizza just down the street. But as they walked away, the young man called out to them, saying "No, wait. I'M going to BUY you a pizza there!!" Once again D and L thanked him profusely for his kindness but told him that was 100% unnecessary. They then headed to the grocery store to pick up a pre-made salad and then on to Johnny's to order up a pizza. And who was standing outside the door of Johnny's Pizza, pizza box in hand? The smiling young man. His name is Trevor and it is beautiful stories like this that remind us that there are good people walking on this earth!
Day #3
Start and End Pts: First Line EHS, near Hwy 17 to Hwy 21 near Black Bank
Distance: 20 km
Hike Time: full day
Weather:crisp, sunny, chilly, windy
Terrain: rocky, rough, slippery due to previous rain, caves, crevasses, livestock fields
Wildlife Sightings: None.
Fit Bit Step Count: 34, 847
We left our Eccentric Octogenarian early in the morning. She seemed happy to see us go. Pretty sure she thinks we are all alcoholics. Her parting words were: "Well, I survived you!" WTF!!!????
Our early start served us well as we had a rougher hike ahead with lots of climbing up and down the escarpment face all day long.The colours of the leaves were muted but beautiful. The forest in this area is full of maple, poplar, ironwood and oak. We passed by waterways, babbling brooks, an old mill and saw not a single other hiker and no living creatures except one large toad.
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| Trevor of Orangeville |
Day #3
Start and End Pts: First Line EHS, near Hwy 17 to Hwy 21 near Black Bank
Distance: 20 km
Hike Time: full day
Weather:crisp, sunny, chilly, windy
Terrain: rocky, rough, slippery due to previous rain, caves, crevasses, livestock fields
Wildlife Sightings: None.
Fit Bit Step Count: 34, 847
We left our Eccentric Octogenarian early in the morning. She seemed happy to see us go. Pretty sure she thinks we are all alcoholics. Her parting words were: "Well, I survived you!" WTF!!!????
Our early start served us well as we had a rougher hike ahead with lots of climbing up and down the escarpment face all day long.The colours of the leaves were muted but beautiful. The forest in this area is full of maple, poplar, ironwood and oak. We passed by waterways, babbling brooks, an old mill and saw not a single other hiker and no living creatures except one large toad.
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| Sometimes the self-timer shot works out splendidly.... |
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| ...and sometimes it doesn't! |
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| We lunched in a sunny spot and K had a little time to practise some yoga on the precipice edge... |
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| ...while the others just sat and ate chocolates. |
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| Beautiful sunset that evening! |
We had a few issues finding our next B and B near Clearview, ON (who knew every township has a 12/13 Sideroad?) which was a bit surprising considering there was a giant caboose sitting on the front lawn.
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| Yep, a caboose. |
Start and End Pts: Hwy 21 near Black Bank and 9/10 Nottawasaga Sideroad
Distance: 26 (unintentional) km. About 6 km in, we officially crossed into the Blue Mountains section of the Bruce Trail
Hike Time: full day-a long one
Weather: chilly,a touch of snow on the ground, sideways blizzards at times
Terrain:rocky, crevasses, moss covered forests, rolling fields
Wildlife Sightings: Two white tailed deer.
Fit Bit Step Count: 42,227
After a Breakfast of Champions and LOTS of hot coffee, our kindly new host Dave took us on a scenic drive to drop off our end-pt car. K had carefully pointed out where we were planning to pick the car up at the 20 km mark and Dave had assured us that he knew exactly where that was. Turns out he didn't. However, we didn't know that he didn't know so we trusted him and off we launched.
It was slow going for the most part due to the rockiness of the terrain. But the day was great with a nice mix of hiking trails that pass through places like the Noisy River Provincial Nature Reserve and Lavendar Hill
Part way through our hiking day, we ran into a woman working on the trails. She was the Team Leader for the Blue Mountain section and was opening a a newly acquired section of the trail. We were the second small group to go through it. It was WELL MARKED every ten metres or so.
She posed (reluctantly) for a photo with us....
and took one of the four of us too.
The day got colder. We all had icy hands and wet feet. So when D broke out the
WARM. CHICKEN. KORMA. for lunch, we were ecstatic. Once again she wins a cookery award, this time for the BLE (Best Lunch Ever).
The wind came up and it got blizzardy at times but we knew we were nearing the end. Or so we thought. So we trudged on.
But after considerable confusion as to the whereabouts of our parked car, we realized that our car was NOT parked where it was supposed to be and we actually had NO IDEA where it was. The long and the short of it is that 1) we ended up walking an extra 6 km to find the car 2) it was NOT where we had asked Dave to leave it and 3) we had been careless in not verifying that he had left it where we expected it to be. Fortunately we remained in high spirits and sang away our aches and pains until the car was spotted!
That night we had a wonderful evening relaxing at the Scandinave Spa Blue Mountain, followed by some delish tacos at the Bent Taco in Collingwood. Excellent extra-curricular activities after a long day! We even got to visit with this precious small being....
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| Ethan, 3.5 months |
Day #5
Start and End Pts: 9/10 Nottawasaga Sideroad adn 12/13 Nottawasaga Siderd/Conc10 South Nottawasaga
Distance:5 km
Hike Time: 2.5 hrs
Weather: chilly, snowy,
Terrain: rocky,forest trail, wet, slippery, winter wonderland
Wildlife Sightings:None
Fit Bit Step Count:10,000
On the last day we awoke to a splendid sunrise...
...and this....
It was our first serious snowfall as Blistered Sisters on the trail. Very pretty. Chilly. Undeterred, we packed up our stuff, knowing we had a short hike only due to the extra kilometres we had mistakenly put in the previous day.
We hit the trail early and were immediately in a winter wonderland.
We almost wanted to sing Christmas carols, but then realized Halloween had yet to happen.
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| Always reassuring to find a shelter should we need one... |
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| S had constant "thermos issues" while the rest of us enjoyed piping hot tea. |
When we popped out, we were exactly where we thought we should have been, and so was our shuttle car. This is the start point for next spring's hike, still in the Blue Mountain section of the trail.
Since K has taken to travelling with 14 transparent umbrellas in her trunk, we figured this was an excellent opportunity to do a Professional Modelling photo shoot, just in case we were ever spotted somewhere on the trail by someone from a large fashion house in Milano.
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| So we struck.... |
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| some provocative poses on the side of the road.... |
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| and finally.... |
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| just nailed it. |
1. There should be mandatory retirement for Eccentric Octogenarians who run B and B's with rulebooks and judgements the size of a phone book.
2. We're pretty sure we may have eaten Dog-Lick Scrambled Eggs too.
3. We are considering having rubber bracelets made with WWEOS written on them, to make us wonder What Would the Eccentric Octogenarian Say, and have us howling with laughter the length of the trail.
4. It is probably best not to collect stuff in your life, like fine china, cabooses and other themed paraphenalia. It gets a bit cluttery.
5. We discussed the book "Educated" as part of the walking book club and gave it about a 9/10.
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