Blue Mountain - Km 30.1 to Km 47.1, September 8th, 2016

Section from the Devil's Glen Provincial Park parking lot on Hwy 124, to the Pretty River Access Trail at km 47.1. 
A feature of this section is the Standing Rock and Caves.

The temperature was approx. 25C and we started out in a light drizzle which soon let up although the sun never appeared.

Today's hikers; Case, behind the camera again after taking the summer off; Eric, Annette, 
Steve, our leader and someone who has recently been on the Hornblower Niagara Falls Cruise.
It should be noted we left Oakville at 6 am this morning.
We started the hike at the Devil's Glen Provincial Park parking lot and followed the south side of
 Simcoe Road 124. We crossed 124 and walked through privately owned farm land to Concession 10.

Lovely 'Dry Stone' fence along Con 10.

and also some 'lovely' Goldenrod. After 2.5 km we turn left onto Simcoe Road 91. 
The main Trail  turns north off 91 and eventually enter a Maple Forest and follow thw Escarpment. 

Luckily we had no bugs and mosquitoes, the only thing that attacked us were burrs from this Burdock 

For mushroom lovers we came across several Lion's Mane (or Bear's Head)

and a field of large Mullein plants

Past the dead tree you turn right and reach the 26 / 27 Sideroad.

We hike through a mature forest and reach the edge of the Escarpment. 
We chose not to enter the Standing Rock and Caves Side Trail at the point due to 
the wet and slippery conditions and carry on to 42.0 where we enter the Side Trail. 

The Standing Rock and Caves Side Trail was well worth the effort.
The photos do not capture the awesome experience of climbing through these rock formations..

Lesson 101 in the Hike Leaders Handbook. Do not poke the sleeping carnivores

We cross the 30 / 31 Sideroad and continue north on the Blue Mountain Townline.

Turning left the Trail follows the north bank of  the Pretty River heading north to the Pretty River Road.

After crossing the road the Trail climbs steeply over a moraine, a mound of sand and gravel left by
 a glacier 12,000 years ago. For some (not so) obscure reason it is now refered to as "Helgy's Hill".

At the summit there are excellent views south over the Pretty River Valley

After a very successful hike its time to remove those mddy shoes and head for the nearest Timmys.