Running From the Pushed-Down-Signpost All The Way To The Giant-Lego-Blocks

   Someone who is near and dear to me suggested very

One tree kind of picked
its own direction.

recently that I had been "slacking on the blog lately". Now, she didn't make reference to which blog I'd been slacking on but I've clearly been slacking on both of them, so she was totally correct, regardless.
   In light of this, and also because I have been a little stir-crazy lately, I decided to hit the trails yesterday. What made this somewhat different, however, was that I was actually planning on running, of all things!
   I've had this idea for a while now of heading to Komoka Provincial Park and running end-to-end on the portion of the Thames Valley Trail which bisects it. I can't tell you how many times I've

Starting point- The-Pushed-Down-
Signpost

been on this trail (literally, I can't, I go on it all the time) and it has a good mixture of terrain for trail-running. 
   My plan was to start at the old Oxford Street entrance and run all the way to where the trail meets Gideon Drive. I wanted to time myself and use that as kind of a benchmark for future, similar runs. Hopefully, the idea would be to run a little faster each time!
   I parked in the main parking lot at Komoka and slid $5.25 worth of change into the parking machine. This gave me two hours of parking and I thought to myself that there was no way I'd take two hours. I was almost wrong...
   Parking where I did meant that I would need to hike along the trail to the Oxford Street entrance. This gave me an opportunity to warm up. Once I got there, I started up my Garmin and started to run!
   

Ending up at The-Giant-Lego-Blocks

Okay, I'm not really sure that "run" isn't kind of misleading in this particular case. It could be that "shuffle" or "trot" are more accurate, hard to tell. Basically, I was doing whatever it is when walking stops being walking.
   Part of my plan, as well, was not to stop. Relentless Forward Motion! For the most part, I accomplished this---stopped once to fidget with a stubborn water bottle and one other time for about twenty seconds at the end of a steep climb. All in all, I was happy with that part of it.

   At the Oxford end of things, there's an old frame for what used to be a park sign which is now lying on its side, on top the underbrush. At the Gideon end of things, there are several concrete blocks

Upside-down but you can still read it

(which look exactly like Lego) positioned along the entrance, I'm sure to discourage motorized vehicles from entering. I

The Steps--you may recognize them

used both of these as my start and ending points. When I was done and sitting on one of those concrete blocks, I checked my Garmin. The "run" had taken me almost 52 minutes and I had only gone 4.1K! By the time I hiked back to where the car was, I had almost used up my two hours of parking. On streets, that would be a horrendous time but I had no problem reminding myself that I'm slowly working my way back into things and that trail-running is a whole different animal. Next time out---faster.

A great day to be in the forest!

Hiking The Elgin Trail: Hiking With Heather

   A couple of days ago, I received an invitation from my friend, Heather, to tag along with her as she hiked the Elgin Trail. This is a 49K trail which begins in Port Stanley in southwestern Ontario and winds its way up through Elgin County, eventually arriving at Southdel Road, where it then joins with the Thames Valley Trail. It's a trail I've always known I wanted to hike someday so when Heather contacted me, I kind of jumped at the opportunity!

Looking up toward the St. Thomas
Elevated Parkway

   We agreed to meet under the towering railway trestle you encounter as you're traveling from London to Port Stanley, just at St. Thomas. The trestle used to support the Michigan Central Railroad but currently is being converted into something known as the St. Thomas Elevated Park---if you can imagine a park about a hundred feet in the air!
   We left Heather's car parked under the trestle and I then drove us north to the start of the hike, where we left my car by the side of the road. After a ceremonial signing of the Trail log, we headed off!
   

Heather sign us in!

Heather's plan was to hike about a 12K section of the trail, right in the middle of it. Now, if you know me, this goes totally against the way I approach hiking a trail! When I hike a trail, I start at the very beginning and I hike it right through to the end, in the direction the map says to go, and I don't miss any sections. So, to start in the middle of a trail and then hike in the wrong direction is not my usual plan, as you can imagine. Faced, however, with a beautiful Fall day for hiking and someone who, right out of the blue, was willing to give me a guided tour and I really had no problem!
   Part of Heather's motivation for wanting to get out yesterday was to enjoy the Fall colours and also to hopefully come up with some great photo opportunities. She has recently decided to concentrate much of her energy on creating art through photography and is

Me, at the start of the middle of my journey!

already producing amazing work. She has her own website, Exploration Project, (click on it, you really need to!) and has traveled near and far, documenting her hiking adventures in prose and pictures. Recently, she has taken a further leap by submitting selections of her photography to online journals dedicated to the arts. Her pics

This was a mushroom literally
the size of a volleyball!

now appear in the current and upcoming issues of an amazing journal called Barren Magazine. This is an online magazine which features outstanding poetry, fiction and photography and Heather's work fits in perfectly. Follow the link and and you will see one of her pics on the cover of the current edition! She is drawn to deserted things, places and buildings and if you are at all interested in the slightly spooky then you should seek out her work online.
   It was a great day for hiking! The air was crisp and the colours were amazing. I am so glad Heather was there as she was familiar with the trail and pretty well every time the blazes seemed to peter out, she was able to corral the next one. The hiking was also very challenging,

The signpost for Lyle Side Road.
If you enlarge the pic, you can
see where it says the "trial" will
continue a hundred meters down
the road. At that point, I became
judge, jury and executioner.
*giggle*

some of the most challenging I've been on. Much of the trekking was up and down steep, slippery slopes with lots of fallen trees to traverse. Counter to that, though, were the gentle strolls along creek beds, sharing the path with horseback riders. At one point we found ourselves crossing the rolling pastures (paddocks?) of a horse farm. Great photo op there!
   After about four and a half hours, we found ourselves back under the railway trestle. From there, Heather drove me back to my car and my first foray on the Elgin Trail was done! Many thanks to Heather for the invitation!
   

Heather, stopped by horses!

   

The Shoe Tree! A tradition I
did not partake of!

Huge, barbed-wire gate

The Railway Trestle---off in the distance

Almost back to the car

   

Making New Plans And Hiking In Medway

   Okay, a whole bunch of hiking posts in a row, then one running post, and now I'm back to what I expect will be a lot more hiking posts! Perhaps instead of "Ragged Cap Runner", I should call this blog "Haggard Hat Hiker"! (my hiking hat has seen better days....)
   Anyway....this past summer I completed the Avon Trail end-to-end and had already started to make plans for next summer's hiking adventure. The plan was to tackle the Grand Valley Trail, from start to finish. This would involve a 280K hike from Dunnville, on the shores of Lake Erie, up north to Orangeville. This is WAY farther than I have ever hiked and, frankly, I wasn't sure of I could get it done in one summer. With this in mind, I had thought about maybe getting a head start this Fall and getting at least some of it out of the way. Then I got a different idea.
Another trail on my to-hike list is the Maitland Trail. It follows the very meandering Maitland River from Goderich up to Auburn and is 49K long. What appeals to me about this trail is that I'm familiar with the countryside it runs through and I could probably get it done this fall. It's also much closer than the Grand Valley Trail system, so the logistics would be easier, as well. 
   With this newer direction in mind, I set off yesterday to visit the little hamlet of Benmiller, about 18K east of Goderich. This is the home of the Benmiller Inn and the Maitland Trail website advertised that copies of the guide could be purchased there. Well, I guess this used to be true but hasn't been true for a couple of years now. From Benmiller, I then headed west to Goderich, where I had a list of four different places I might find the guide.
    My first stop was the Tourist Bureau. It was closed. Now, I didn't go up and read the sign so it might have just been closed for lunch or, more likely I thought, it was closed due to it not really being tourist season at the moment. No problem, three more spots to try. The second spot was a little

I found it!

bookstore right on the Square in Goderich. The young lady working there went to where she thought the guide would be, shifted a few books around and couldn't find it either. She then gave me somewhat confusing directions to the next bookstore on my list and there I found it! Woo hoo! I had a nice little chat with the woman who worked there, mainly about the weather. It was unseasonably warm yesterday and the lady mentioned that tomorrow it was supposed to be back down in the seventies. It was the "seventies" part which got me---here in Canada, the temperature is officially measured in Celsius. She had quoted the temp in Fahrenheit, the antiquated system. This warmed my heart! We had a nostalgic little chat about how we only truly know what the temperature is when we hear it in Fahrenheit and then I headed on my way once more.
   I had brought my hiking gear in case I actually decided to start the trail but when I looked at how the guide was set up I realized I had not had the opportunity to plan the hike as much as I would normally have liked, so I called it a day, Maitland Trail-wise.
   I did still have the urge to hit the trails, though, so when I arrived back in the north end of London, I headed for the Medway Valley Heritage Forest.

Due to the recent mild weather,
much of London is still green.
There WERE a few splashes
of colour, though!

Nice view!

   I had been there twice before and both times were somewhat unsatisfactory, partly due to the weather and partly due to entering forest at the wrong part. Yesterday, I used the entrance which would give me the longest possible hike and in the best weather.
   I was able to hike for about 3K before the trail petered out and I had to turn back. This was fine by me as it was about 28C (I have no idea how hot that really is, haha) and I had worked up quite the sweat. Much future trail planning ran through my head as I made my way home!

Rushing Medway Creek