Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike Two

   This past Monday, I set out on the second portion of my end-to-end Avon Trail hike.
   I have moved on to Map 2 of the Avon Trail guide but was only able to complete approximately a 10K portion of it. This was due to it being necessary to hike that portion and then walk almost the same distance back to where my car was parked. 
   I set out much earlier in the day than my last outing and this removed that nasty feeling that that I was potentially going to end up in a forest in the dark. I'm not particularly afraid of the dark but my navigational skills are somewhat suspect, even in daylight.
   This was not to say that I didn't have a couple pf panicky moments, anyways.
   Fairly early on, I discovered that I had actually lost my map! Of all things! It was in a plastic sleeve in my pocket and I had already had it out a few times when I discovered it missing. Fortunately, I knew that I had looked at it not that long ago and so I began to retrace my steps. In about a quarter of a kilometer, I found it lying beside the trail and heaved a sigh of relief.
   That panicky moment was nothing compared to the next one. At about 8K in, I stopped to double-check, for some reason, where my car keys were. They were not where I thought I had left them, in my waist pouch. A feverish search did not produce them. It was only after I forced myself to calm down and be a little more methodical, that they showed up, albeit in a different section of my waist pouch than I remembered putting them in. Another sigh of relief!
   Eventually I reached the part of the trail I had picked as my end point. This meant a 10K hike on the trail and round about another 8K (because I could just follow the highway) back to where I had parked my car. 
   Walking back to my car was a bit of a soul-sucking experience. I was pretty well exhausted at that point and the thought of having to put that much mileage on my old, tired legs simply just to get back to my vehicle did not sit well. If those miles had been towards completing more of the trail then, psychologically, it would have been way more uplifting!
   At any rate, I am now 30K into my 113K journey and am working on the logistics for the next section. In the meantime, here's a photo dump to prove that I walked the walk!

A coupla hundred yards in...

Out  into the open

Narrow stretch of woodland

Along the farmer's field

Reaching Line 33

Pretty scenic on Line 33

Passing the Tavistock Rod and Gun Club

Off Line 33 and back into the forest

One of the two stiles which needed to be traversed on this section. The Avon Trail
people really have no idea of my capabilities. There should be a sign there
which says "At this point, seniors must turn back!" lol
(PS They were a piece of cake...)

The fabric electrified fence. I had read about this in the guide book and was
not really looking forward to it. As I stood there, trying to figure out the best way to pass,
it became obvious that people were simply walking around it, through an opening
in the wire fence just after that post with the white blazes. Whew!

There were literally trilliums of these things!

Trout Creek, we meet again!

Out on to Perth Oxford Road, on my way to.....

...Fairview!

Camp Bimini, a United Church camp. I stopped right after this, at
the Bimini Loop, sort of a side trail. Started walking back at this point.

The smiling face belies the VERY tired legs at this point. To top it
all off, am pretty sure the manure in the fields was starting to go bad....

Had never seen one of these before, seemed like a collection
of stones from a nearby plowed field

At this point, I am back in my car, headed home. This seemed like the place for me!