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