Niagara Section - Woodend Conservation 15.2 km to Decew House 29.8 km - Dec. 14th, 2017

 Fantastic day for hiking, about -10C and sunny.

 Today's hikers; Rob; Ron; Nancy; Marleen; George; Karen; 

Steve our leader and Case.

 Yahoo, Tim Horton's and lunch.

 The Second Welland Canal (1845-1915)

 We crossed the Fourth (current) Welland Canal

 The Third Welland Canal (1887 to 1931)

 I suggested this might be a bollard used to tie up the boats in the

 now defunct fourth canal.. Our resident Biologist disagreed and 

opined it was a petrified mushroom from a bygone era.

 Ron, collecting his Christmas Decorations - Bittersweet

Over the stile, across the road and into the car !!

Niagara Section - Queenston Heights (0.0 km) to Woodend Conservation (15.2 km) - Dec. 7th, 2017

We had a large group out to hike the first 15 km of the Bruce Trail on this cold windy day.  Luckily most of the hike would be in the shelter of the forest but it was chilly as we started off.

The hikers were Ann, Steve, Rob, George, John G., Karen, Nancy, Marleen, Fran, Annette and Steve K.  Fran probably felt the cold the most as she had just returned from two weeks of cruising on a yacht in the Caribbean.  Brave lady.  Our new hikers posing by the Cairn.

The trail begins by crossing the park surrounding Brock's Monument.

The trail soon enters the forest.

The leaves were long gone offering glimpses of Lake Ontario below.

A clothing adjustment was soon required.

The trail follows the edge of the escarpment.

With some descents...

and ascents required.

Followed by a another steep descent.

A bit of road walking.

Fungi for Ron.  We missed you!

A lonely bridge picture. Where did everyone go?

A small creek crossing.

A major road (QEW) crossing.

Half of the hikers appear to have made it through the Screaming Tunnel as Ann and Marleen approached it.

I checked for my lost boot but no luck.

A bit more road walking into the wind,

Back into the forest.

One final descent (I hope).

Now how did they get up there?

From there it was a short  hike to the cars and a warm drive home.

Toronto Section - Limehouse (21.5km) to Speyside (11.4km) - Nov. 30th, 2017

We had 4 new members join us for this 10.1 km hike from Limehouse to Speyside.  The weather was cool and threatening rain as we started off on our hike.

We were a group of ten including Rob, Ron, Karen, Marlene, Nancy, Annette, Eric, George and Stefan.  In the absence of Case, Steve did double duty as Leader and Photographer.  Don't worry Case, your job is not in jeopardy.

After inspecting the Powder house we soon hiked by the Limekiln.

and the remnants of a mill.

We soon came upon the Hole-in-the-Wall.

Eric waits for Rob to fit through the Hole.

Always light on his feet, Stefan skipped up the stairs.

We descended to 5th Line and then began the crossing of  a series of farmfields

as well as the mandatory stiles.

After leaving the farms, we were into a new growth forest.

This portion of the trail has some rocky areas that made footing treacherous.

The bleak bushes reinforce "Winter is Coming", for those Game of Thrones fans.

Steve confirms that we have almost completed the hike.

The rains began as we finished the hike which encouraged us to pack up quickly and head off home.