Blue Mountain - Maple Lane (67.3 km) to Pretty River (48.6 km) - Oct. 28th, 2021

This week's End to End hike in the Blue Mountain Section took us from the end of Maple Lane in Ravenna to Pretty River Road for a distance of 18.7 km.

 A bird's eye view of the route through ski country.

Our group this morning consisted of Ron B. (contributing photographer), Alex, Brian, Arpi, Barbara, Steve, Doug (contributing photographer), Sandra, Catherine, and Ken (behind the camera)...

 

A crisp, clear late October morning greeted us as we set off atop the Blue Mountain ski resort..

Nothing like an early bridge picture to rally the spirits....

The top of the "Century Express" high speed chair lift at Blue Mountain ski resort...

The village below and Georgian Bay shimmering in the distance...

Up onto Swiss Meadows Blvd followed by a left turn onto Scenic Caves Road and a quick stop at an info board to learn the origin story of the ski hill development...

The first ski chair lift ever used in this area (not high speed)...

You would need a lift to get up onto this Muskoka chair...

Scrambling to rejoin the group...

Enjoying fresh air and good company...some of the best parts of hiking...

A quick regroup before setting off again...lots of trail ahead...

A nice clean path thanks to a young lad who had been blowing leaves ahead of us...

Look Out!..

Exiting the forest in style...

And quickly back in...

Much of the Trail seem to be doubling as a stream bed on this day...

Brian and Arpi pointing the way across an actual stream...

Ok...I'll try that...

And yet another stream to cross...this one had a bridge...

As did this one...

We finally emerged from the forest onto Grey Road 19...

And our longest "paved section" of the day...

                                                                    

"Bolder" than most, these hikers appropriated what we assumed was a natural rock formation (and not the landscaped entrance to some private estate), to enjoy a well earned Elevensies...shout out to Arpi who provided fresh baked cookies for the group...mmmmmm...

Lots of signage today...we are about to enter the Petun Conservation Area.

And our most technical descent of the day...note the shadowy camera holding figure on the tree...

Brian providing guidance and assistance to make sure everyone got down safely...

Catherine seems to have enjoyed the challenge...

Our leader waits until last to make the descent...

Out onto 2nd Line and the final stretch ahead through Pretty River Valley Provincial Park...

A quick regroup first however, before putting our best foot forward...

Dear John...you make nice farm equipment...

Our almost 500 metres of vertical climbing on the day is rewarded with spectacular views of the valley...

Brian and I took a quick detour on a side trail to stand at the highest point on the Bruce Trail..

We reached Pretty River and a very muddy descent to the cars...

It was very pretty though...a picturesque end to a challenging, but rewarding day!

The End