Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike Seven

   Woo hoo! A hundred and thirteen kilometers later and the Avon Trail is DONE!
   Yesterday I managed to complete the remaining 21K I still had to hike to be able to say I had walked the trail end-to-end. Our day started very early as we needed to get my stepson, Keenan, out by the 401 Highway for 4:30 a.m. We had decided the previous night that we could probably get out to the Conestogo area faster taking the highway than by zig-zagging the country sideroads so, as long as we were already at the highway, why not get an early start to the hiking day!  Our plan was to drive both cars to the end point, leave mine there, and than have Doralyn drive me to the start. We managed to accomplish all this and have me walking the roadways by about 6:45 in the morning!
   It was a beautiful morning, crisp and clear, and the walking was good. Out of this final 21K section, only about 6K of it is actually on wooded trails or in fields so a lot of highway walking to be done and the first part of yesterday was along roadways.
   Eventually, though, I made it into some farmers' fields and this was where the going got a little tricky. Basically, I found myself traversing parts of the trail where it didn't appear as though anyone had passed through recently and the grass was now waist-high and, because of my early start, also soaking wet. This quickly led to hiking boots full of water and the inevitable slish-slosh as you walked. At times I found myself trying to balance on very uneven ground, while rubbing shoulders with corn on one side and a barbed wire fence on the other. Rough hiking!
  After this, though, the rest of the day involved country roads and forest so the hiking was much more enjoyable. For a change, as well, the mosquitoes were not not out in the abundance I have been used to. The slish-slosh eventually faded and I finally found myself arriving at Conestogo. Just a short walk through this pretty town and I was back at my car. Hooray!
   Just a word about my amazing wife! Much of the Avon Trail experience involved Doralyn giving up a good chunk of her own time so that I was able to cover larger portions of the trail. She was always happy to do this for me and this is just one of the many reasons why I love her so much! Basically, she ROCKS!
   And now, here is the inevitable photo dump, just to prove that I walked the walk!

Ran into this gentleman, guarding the trail. My
favourite part of the day!

How the day started. Just after sunrise on Wilmot
and the hot air balloons are wafting...

Sun in my eyes on Conservation

A sign indicating a seasonal re-route. This avoids having
hikers pass through the sugarbush during sap collection
season. Yesterday, I got to hike through the bush.

And sometimes the re-route is not a "seasonal" one!

Leaving the sugarbush and arriving at Benjamin.

Another re-route (and I'm glad they did this!) I had
scoped this part of the trail via satellite image
and it seemed as though we were old friends
by the time I got there!

Very pretty but also very wet and tricky!

LOVE passing by pastures of grazing cows!

The trail takes you right up this farmer's laneway and
right through the middle of his farm. It's a little surreal
and also the most visual reminder that much
of the trail runs through private property and it is
only by the grace of landowners that the trail even exists!
Thanks, Farmers!

Just a short jaunt and you arrive at St. Jacobs. A pretty
amazing place and hugely busy on a Saturday.
Believe me, if you're wearing full hiking gear walking
through all this, you kinda stand out!

The beginning of what becomes a very nicely-groomed trail
which runs alongside a very busy roadway. There was
a gentleman with a small tractor on it, grading and
cutting grass. We took turns catching up to each
other and I thanked him for all his efforts.

The trail eventually takes you to a wonderfully-placed
little bench right near the Conestogo River. Stopped
there for a bite to eat and to rest some weary legs!

Just in case you weren't sure which way to go!

Under the bridge over the Conestogo River.

The remnants of a treated Giant Hogweed plant. This
is an extremely noxious plant that can cause severe
burns to humans. Many thanks to the trail workers
who go out of their way to keep us all safe!

Walking along the Conestogo. A very pleasant
portion of yesterday's hike.

Taken from a little foot bridge.

Made it all the way to RIM Park, where the
Blackberry people are.

One-car bridge leading into the village of Conestogo.

View of the Grand River, from that same bridge.

And I made it to the end!

My "tired but happy" face!

   
   
   

Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike Six

   On Saturday of this past weekend, I decided to return to the Avon Trail and attempt to make up for the previous weekend's somewhat disastrous result, wherein I was overcome with exhaustion and heat and found myself unable to complete the section.
   This time out, I was going it alone and drove up to the start-point by myself---it would be a smaller hike and I had it mapped out in such a way that I could drive to a small section, complete it, then drive on to the next longer section. I would then be left with about a three and a half kilometer trek back to my car.
   I started off by tackling a 3K section just northwest of Berlett's Corners. I parked my car by the end point and then had a fairly short highway jaunt to the beginning of the trail. 
   Once again, as soon as I entered the woods, I was swarmed by mosquitoes. Fortunately I came well-prepared and was already wearing my bug jacket. It was just a short section but near to the end of it I lost the trail. I was following the blazes and then, suddenly, not a blaze to be found. I back-tracked to the last blaze I'd seen and tried all over again but still no blaze. At that point, I had a general idea of what direction I needed to head in and eventually made my way back to the marked trail. No sweat but it didn't do a lot for my mindset!
   After this, a lengthy highway walk and I then found myself with the final section of woods I'd planned on hiking. 
   I then entered Musselman Woods. This is a parcel of land owned by the Musselman and Schneider families and its trails are wide and fairly well-marked. It was quite hilly but still a pleasurable hike. It was here, though, that I ran into some problems.
   As is my usual predicament, I found myself having a hard time marrying the written directions in the guide, the map which comes with them, and what I was actually able to see with my own two eyes. 
   As an example, at one point the guide says you will climb a steep hill, at the top of the hill there will be a bench, with a panoramic view of a lake. Well, I clearly had just gone up a hill, I had popped out of the forest, there was a bench with a panoramic view---but no lake. Had the lake dried up?? Following the map, it looked as though I needed to go right, around the edge of a field (the guide mentioned this) and so I did. And promptly found another bench. And then another. There were benches all over the place! There were also many entrances back into the forest, so I took a couple of them, looking for blazes. None to be found. So back to the original bench. Here I managed to find a tiny little directional blaze, pinned to a post, indicating a left turn. So I took it. Found more blazes but seemed to be headed back in the direction from whence I'd come. 
   At this point, I was, in a way, lost. I did have a trail to follow, just wasn't sure it was taking me where I wanted to go. If all else failed though, it would get me out of the woods.
   A lot of twisting and turning later and I found myself out of the woods and at the base of a fairly steep, grassy hill. I powered up it and, lo and behold, there was the bench with the panoramic view of the lake! Huge sigh of relief and vindication that I was actually on the right path. The view from the bench was amazing and it was kind of a cathartic moment, to be honest. 
   From there, the rest of the forest trip was uneventful and I soon found myself back on the roadway, headed to my car. It was a long walk and my feet were burning but my legs were good so we got 'er done. Never so glad to see my car, though...
   And now, as is customary, a walking-the-walk photo dump!

I've just parked at the end of the first section I
wanted to hike and now for some roadwork to get me...

...down to Berlett's Corners, where they have a....

...small cemetery.

Another little bit of highway walking took me
to where I entered the forest. You can just see the
Avon Trail sign from the road.

I always like the look of a wheatfield up against
the forest. Where those trees start was my entrance
back into the woods, although it took me awhile
to figure that out.

Because I took a pic, I musta known where I was goin'!

Back to my car for a bite to eat and then drive to the
next section. Normally I would have hiked there,
but I already did this part last week.

Walking to the next set of woods.

The entrance to Musselman Woods, Ropes and
barriers so we don't block the laneway.

Nice little sign!

Wide and easily walkable. Hilly, too!

My favourite part of the day! After wandering around,
lost, I found the hill with the bench and the view!

After a quick hike through the rest of the forest,
I reach the endpoint. This is the 91.6 K point of the
Avon Trail. Only about 21K to go!

   

Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike 5 (and a DNF...)

   Yesterday, I celebrated Canada Day by heading up north to tackle another portion of the Avon Trail.
   The plan was to start at Kilometer 68.9 and then eventually make my way to Kilometer 91.2---approximately 22 kilometers. This would have made it one of my longest hikes ever but at this point I only have 44 kilometers left to finish the trail and I really wanted to get it done in two hikes. When you do the math, you end up with two 22K hikes.
   From a mileage standpoint, I wasn't too worried about it. It would only have been my longest hike by a kilometer or two and I've always had enough left in me to walk another kilometer or two.
   The real wildcard yesterday, however, was the weather. We are in the middle of almost record-setting heat and humidity here in southwestern Ontario and yesterday the temp was 33C (91F) with a humidex that raised it closer to 40C (104F). Although I've always fared pretty well in this kind of weather, I was feeling rather unsure as to my ability to cope yesterday. Or even the wisdom of attempting, quite frankly...
   The plan was to have Doralyn follow me in her car to the end point of the hike, where I would drop my car off. She would then drive me back to the starting point. To make it a little more fun for Doralyn, she decided to bring along her friend, Louise.
   My last trip out, I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. To hopefully counter this, I had gone to MEC to inquire about The Best Possible Mosquito Deterrent. I ended up being directed to something called Great Outdoors, by Watkins. The online reviews were, for the most part, positive. On the way out of the store, I also noticed some bug jackets so I picked one up, just in case. Yesterday morning, I lathered myself up with the Great Outdoors before we set out.
   I was about ten yards into the woods, however, when I was swarmed by mosquitoes. They were all around me and I didn't even wait to find out if they were actually biting or not before heading back out to the roadway and digging out the bug jacket. I am pretty sure this was the only thing that allowed me to continue. I was still getting swarmed but they were actually unable to get to me and after awhile I was able to put the constant bzzzz out of my mind.
   The hiking yesterday was rough. In spots, I found myself hiking through waist-high grasses. Occasionally, I had to wander around, trying to find the next visible trail blaze. On top of this, I had my usual problem of marrying the trail directions with what I was actually seeing in front of me. This necessitated stopping many times and digging out the trail map for the third or fourth time for the same section of trail. 
   At some point, I realized I was making very poor mileage. By about the ninth kilometer I was totally exhausted and realized that, at the rate I was going, I might actually be looking at fading daylight toward the end of the hike. I then decided to call it a day, as far as staying on the trail goes. Unfortunately, when your car is the only way home and it's parked at the end of where that day's hike was supposed to be, you still have a lot of hiking ahead of you! 
   I looked at the map and figured out the fastest route back to the car, using the roadways. I then headed out. 
   On a map, the distance you need to travel looks comparatively small...when you are driving a car. Walking in 33C heat when you are already tired to the bone, however, almost makes this unbearable. I had brought along what I thought was plenty of ice water but soon found myself rationing it dearly. Eventually, after an extra six kilometers of hiking, I made it back to the car. I was never so relieved. And never wanted to hike another day in my life! As much as I had a DNF (Did Not Finish) for this hike, the fact of the matter is that I managed to get in fifteen kilometers of hiking on a day when most people were either at the cottage or sitting inside with their air conditioning. Not too shabby!
   So...yet another hiking lesson learned! I now have a clearer parameter around heat, distance and what my aging body is capable of and am already looking at different ways of completing the Avon and any other trail I might attempt after that.
   And now, as is my habit, another photo dump to prove that I walked the walk!

This is what the Great Outdoors by Watkins looks like,
without the little squeeze cap on. It's a little hard to
"shake well" when something is essentially
a solid.

Doralyn and our friend, Louise, dropping me off. Would
have been the best part of ANY hiking trip,
let alone THIS one!

Made it through the first section of mosquito-infested forest!

Very pretty countryside

I seem to run into little places like this all the time on the
Avon. Really makes you wonder about the history!

Made it to the K-W Khaki Club. No idea what they do there
but they DO have horseshoe pitches!

Just past the horseshoe pitches and into the forest again.

Back out into the tall grasses.

Pretty countryside!

A view of the Nith River. After this, heat and exhaustion
took over and no more pics!

Me, at the beginning of the hike. Before the exhaustion...
Compliments of Doralyn. Behind me? Skeeters......

Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike Four

   Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hike another leg of the Avon Trail!
   Doralyn lovingly agreed to meet me at the end point so that I could leave my car there and then drive me to the starting point. Today, my plan was to start where I left off the last time out, the 48.8K mark and then hike to the 68.9K mark. Thus, a total of just over 20K!
   Yesterday was probably a perfect day for hiking---it was about 20C (60F), hazy and not too humid. There was also a breeze blowing, which was kind of nice.
   We managed to find both the end and starting point fairly easily, kissed and waved to each other goodbye and off I went.
   Today was a bit of a mixed bag, hiking-wise. One of the things I've enjoyed about the Avon Trail so far is their signage---clear directions on the maps and easy to find blazes. For whatever reason, yesterday I had difficulties with this. Several times I had to re-read the directions and wander aimlessly about, looking for blazes. The saving grace was that I had lots of time for all of this but it just seemed like wasted energy to me and I don't have a lot of that to waste. Eventually I would find my way and then say to myself, after taking another look at the map and directions, "so THAT'S what they were talking about!"
   I also ran into a horrendous problem with mosquitoes about two thirds of the way in. I had applied bugspray with DEET in it prior to the hike but it didn't seem to phase them. Whenever I stopped or slowed down, a cloud of them would descend on me. They were so thick it was actually hard to breathe. Part of the problem might have been the time of day (later) and I also noted much stagnant water around. I will need to look at something different for the next time out!
   Wildlife-wise, I did manage to startle a couple of deer on occasion, I spotted a turtle swimming down a stream, a toad on the road and, at the edge of a field where the tall grasses started, I noticed these small baby birds darting about. I'm thinking they were partridges or pheasants or maybe even wild turkeys. At any rate, they would rustle around in the grass and I was deathly afraid I was going to step on one!
    Lastly---stiles. I have never had to climb so many stiles on a hike, I'm guessing there were about eight of them and the closer it got to the end of the hike, the more difficult it was to throw myself over them! Better than the alternative, I suppose....
   Now I present to you the usual huge photo dump, just to prove that I walked the walk!

And so it begins

A farmer's bridge. If you look really closely, you
can see the first stile of the day, just at the right..
Even farther to the right, there had been a herd of
cows up by the farm, at the end of that roadway. When
they saw the "new guy" show up, they all headed
down to the other end of the pasture to watch
me climb the stile!

The second stile of the day, after I had climbed it. As
I was approaching it, it appeared as though the cows
and I were on the same side of the fence and I
had visions of jumping OVER the fence to avoid
perhaps an angry bull. Fortunately, by the time
I got to the stile, I realized the cows were
actually on the other side of the stream you can
sort of see at the right.

Into the forest. This part was kind of cool, the pine trees
along here formed this long tunnel you had to walk through.

A stretch of roadwalking. I don't usually mind these, as long
as there's not too much traffic. Easy kilometers!

Another stile. I sat on top of this one and had a bite
to eat as the traffic whizzed by.

Quite a long boardwalk section. It was kind of nice---
you could look at the scenery without having to worry
about tripping over a log!

Found this little "cabin in the woods"! Not sure
what it's used for?

That's the direction I SHOULD have been headed in...

Back into the forest

ANOTHER stile, this one a little overgrown.

Walking along the edge of the farmer's field. Ran into
a lot of farmers working on their fields, actually.
Always feels strange, walking on someone else's
property, while they're right there...

Just passed through Amulree (love the name) and am
headed back into the forest. At this point, the
mosquitoes became ravenous!

Quite pretty in there, but was being swarmed as I took
the pic. And any pic you see AFTER this was made
under great duress!

Signs of former human habitation.

Well, you can SORT of see the trail....

The cemetery at Lisbon. Was just about to head into
the forest for the final time.

My car was in sight when this happened! Ended
up on the wrong side of the stream. My feet were
killing me, so instead of walking back, I
decided to hop the stream. The far side of the
stream looked solid, but it was basically quicksand...

Never so glad to see a vehicle! Five or six mosquitoes
made in into the car with me, just so they could
continue the carnage. See what I did there?