Promises Not Kept.....

I promised that I would let people know when were going to do some hiking on the Bruce Trail, so that you would have a head's up about the weather. Sorry I forgot. You see, we seem to attract rain!! Whenever we have planned a holiday or a few days away this year, it has rained. And yes, it did rain this last weekend. However, I have been getting used to it and learning ways of making the best of it!! Here's how it works.

1. We pick a weekend and extend it by taking both Friday and Monday off work. This is easy!!

2. We research an area - both on-line and in "Where to Eat in Canada." Book a B&B or two in an area with good restaurants and plan to head out on the appointed weekend - rain or shine or in our case - rain or rain.

3. For us the area we select has to have some recreational activity, such as, kayaking, hiking or biking. Hiking is cheaper because we don't have to rent bikes or kayaks.

4. Check the weather forecast a little closer to the time and moan. Chance of rain on Friday - we're driving, so that's OK. All day rain on Saturday - sigh. Sun and cloud on Sunday - not bad. Rain on Monday - we're driving home, so OK, maybe.

Windmills in the Mist

Actually we rarely cancel our plans, because, although it has rained a lot on our outings, we have found that the sun shines sometimes in between the squalls and if we time it right, we can salvage the day.

So it was that we left Toronto early Friday morning - OK 10:00am is early for us - to head to Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula. As predicted, it started to rain around Orangeville, getting heavier the further north we went, sigh. We travelled through some pretty miserable stretches, bleak countryside, where the only redeeming feature was a windmill here and there. Nothing looked promising!! I amused myself by reading road maps - exciting stuff!!

Inglis Falls

It was the squeak of a dry wiper blade on the windshield that brought me back to the moment. Had it actually stopped raining!!! It was close to lunchtime and yes, there was a ray - only one mind you - of sunshine up ahead. We began looking for picnic spots. Of course we had forgotten one of the rules of the road. The closer you are to having lunch, the fewer the picnic spots - rain or shine. Oh look! a sign for a conservation area. We turned off the road, hoping that we weren't going to have to drive an hour or so to the park. After all they do post the signs to Algonquin Park on the 401 near the airport - it's only 300kms away!!

Bruce Trail at Inglis Falls

Well, we nearly missed the driveway into the park, because it was right there - Inglis Falls and it just happened to be right on the Bruce Trail, as well. The area had been an old mill situated on a wonderful waterfall with several gorgeous hiking trails, all glistening in the sun. Now it was only about 12º C with a wind chill, but it wasn't raining. After lunch we hiked down to the base of the falls and back up again - a total of about 3kms - it was wonderful!!

Next stop Lion's Head!!