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.

Dufferin - Black Bank - Km 41.7 to Km 56.2, September 1st 2016

Hikers:  Annette. Eric, David, Bill, and Steve
Weather:  Moderate temperatures with a light drizzle for the first 20 minutes or so.

We began the hike in a light drizzle which soon passed.  Unfortunately, our leader slept in so we had an unexpected late start.

However, the trail started up a long steep dirt road until we turned into the forest and encountered a trail book that Annette signed on our behalf.

The trail continued up the escarpment adjacent to farmers fields with very skittish cows that kept their distance from us.

Upon reaching the top of the escarpment the sun came out as we looked out over the valley and the farms.

We continued our hike amid the farmers fields.

Windmills were visible on the hazy horizon.

and wild berries along the edge of the fields.

After crossing Prince of Wales Road Road the trail renters the forest and declines steeply followed by a steep climb out of the valley.

A large mushroom (for Case).

A second Trail Book was soon encountered

After crossing Centre Road the trail renters the forest and declines steeply to Black Bank creek followed by a steep climb out of the valley.

We also encountered horses that were grazing in a pasture next to the trail.

  The trail continues adjacent to farm fields until reaching 1st Line East Road allowance and then continues north.

The trail through this section had gentle hills both up and...

down.

The trail final emerges from the forest at Mulmar-Nottawasaga Townline and our car was in sight just at the top of the next hill.

and one final idyllic farm view before reaching the car.

The car shuffle, a stop at Timmie's, and we were homeward bound.

Dufferin - Pine River - Km 29.4 to Km 41.7 - August 25th 2016

Hikers: Bill, Eric, Annette, David, and Steve
Weather: Warm and humid but with a breeze

After parking the cars we started off at the south end of the trail which begins in a forest with a series of crevasses.

After crossing a natural bridge over one of the crevasses we continued on through the forest.

The trail soon exited the forest and continued along Side Road 10 towards the former town of Whitfield with the abandoned church the only structure remaining.

The trail continued North on Center Road and one of us had a distinctly faster pace than the rest over this portion of the hike.

Along the way we passed this attractive farmhouse...

but soon reentered the forest and descended into the Pine River valley along a narrow road.

We soon came into the town of Kilgorie where this former schoolhouse had been converted to a home.

After a brief road walk we reentered the forest adjacent to the Pine River.

We soon came across an abandoned power plant that was apparently the largest in Ontario in its time. Of course we had to investigate and capture photos for those not here.

Interior view of the power plant and...

Exterior view.

The trail continued to follow the Pine River and steadily climbed...

until the Pine River Fishing lake was reached.

We climbed up another half kilometer to the Bell Lookout where we had our elevensies.  Note the shy hiker who didn't want his face photographed.

After admiring the view over the Lake we continued on our hike.

After hiking on a gravel road for a awhile we reentered the forest crossing the only stile on this segment of the trail.

Nearing the end of the hike the group paused to admire the creek and regain our energy for the final stretch.

After returning to the road we passed an old barn which no longer seemed to be in use.

We finally arrived at our destination with this Maple tree that was already turning colour, marking the end of today's hike

After the car shuffle it was once again off to Timmies and home.