Getting Out Cuz I Needed To!

   It was a sunny and relatively mild day, about 8C(46F), so I thought I would get out for a hike and get these old legs moving. My ability to do this has been greatly hampered by the weather and commitments lately so I jumped at the opportunity.

Just about to head down to the river

   I really bit the bullet and paid $7.50 to park in the main lot at Komoka Provincial park this afternoon. Paid a little extra for more time so that I wouldn't be worried about getting back to my car before the time expired, although I don't think a park official is going to do very much if I overstay my limit.
   Once again I wore my Yaktrax and carried trekking poles, as there are a number of hilly sections where melting and then re-freezing has happened and these sections are always really slick.
   It was great to get out again! Most of the trail is west of the main parking lot so that's the direction I headed in. I opted for a little open-field walking before I got into the woods and started tackling

The edge of the Thames. If this
were summer, I'd be up to my
waist in water.

the hills. The Yaktrax worked great and I was able to do the ups and downs with no issues.
   My plan was to go all the way to the western entrance to the park. I had heard that this part of the trail had actually been closed down for re-generation purposes and I wanted to see just how far in that direction I could hike. Closing that part of the trail is also a little problematic because it's also part of the Thames Valley Trail and anyone following the Trail from the west would be stopped in their tracks, literally. 
   Along the way, I found found myself down by the edge of the Thames River. I

Same spot on the river,
looking upstream

was actually able to walk out onto the river bed as the water was so low. This will not likely be the case in another month or so as the Spring melts and runoff will greatly swell the river. In a bad year, parts of the trail become impassable due to flooding.
   Soon, I came to what I call The Steps. The keepers of the Trail have built a massive set of wooden steps which take you basically from the edge of the river up to the top of the valley. This is the fastest way of gaining the height but it's a killer set of steps if you're maybe 40 pounds overweight and in bad shape. Whoever THAT is.....

The Steps

   I survived The Steps and continued on. As I approached the western end if the trail, I assumed I would start seeing indications that this part of the trail was closed. This never actually happened, though, and I was able to follow the trail all the way to the end, where it meets up with the highway. Good news!
   At that point, I turned and headed back. The only intimidating thing about The Steps on the way back is making sure you don't fall down them! This and the fact that I was wearing rubber and wire on the bottoms of my hiking boots made me take them even more cautiously.
   

Resting at the top of The Steps.

Once back along the edge of the river, it's pretty flat going for awhile. At this point, I ran into a young couple coming towards me. It looked very much as if the young lady was dragging a dirty bag along behind her. When they got to me though, I realized that what they were dragging was the head, neck and ribcage of a recently deceased deer, attached to a dog leash! I'm always pretty keen to document anything out of the ordinary when I'm out on a trail so I asked them if I could take a pic and they gladly obliged. The park was pretty busy and at one point I ran into a couple with small children. I warned them that there were dead deer carcasses in the park today, in case young eyes were not ready for that!

I think I mentioned a deer....

   Finally made it back to the car and discovered I hadn't even used any of my extra time I'd paid for. Oh well, it was good for the peace of mind. Komoka Park is actually so close to where I live that, under different circumstances I might have walked there, so maybe next time!