Victoria Day Holiday Monday! Jackie picked up all the West-end girls before 8 a.m. and headed to meet the East-end girls!! Craig drove as well and dropped us off at our destination - at the 40 Creek bridge at Gibson Road in Grimsby.
We decided that Sonya should NOT be the navigator :-) She read the map that the Bruce Trail was Ridge Road, and that we could access Lewis Road from the top of the escarpment. Not!! We had to go back down the escarpment. Tracy took over navigating and we reached our destination where we dropped off Jackie's van. At least it was a very scenic route!
We started hiking just after 9 a.m. and we finished the 11.1 km just before 1:30 p.m. Approx. 4 to 4 1/2 hours. The weather was beautiful, about 20 degrees. We were quite warm at times, but then we would get a nice breeze blowing through that would feel really great!
This is the start of the Iroquoia section (which is our home section - Hamilton!!). There are 9 sections in total: Niagara, Iroquoia, Toronto, Caledon Hills, Dufferin Hi-Land, Blue Mountains, Beaver Valley, Sydenham, and Peninsula. 1 down....8 to go!!!
We decided that Sonya should NOT be the navigator :-) She read the map that the Bruce Trail was Ridge Road, and that we could access Lewis Road from the top of the escarpment. Not!! We had to go back down the escarpment. Tracy took over navigating and we reached our destination where we dropped off Jackie's van. At least it was a very scenic route!
We started hiking just after 9 a.m. and we finished the 11.1 km just before 1:30 p.m. Approx. 4 to 4 1/2 hours. The weather was beautiful, about 20 degrees. We were quite warm at times, but then we would get a nice breeze blowing through that would feel really great!
This is the start of the Iroquoia section (which is our home section - Hamilton!!). There are 9 sections in total: Niagara, Iroquoia, Toronto, Caledon Hills, Dufferin Hi-Land, Blue Mountains, Beaver Valley, Sydenham, and Peninsula. 1 down....8 to go!!!
Yipee!!! We received our Niagara End-to-End badges in the mail!
A little bit of history: The Bruce Trail is the oldest and longest marked trail in Canada. It is currently 885 km long and has over 400 km of side trails. In 1959 the idea of a public footpath spanning the entire Niagara Escarpment was born. Ray Lowes articulated his vision of this footpath to friend Robert Bateman at a meeting of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Never before in Canadian history had a trail of this scope been visualized.
The first meeting of the Bruce Trail Committee was held on Sept 23, 1960. The four attending members, Ray Lowes, Philip Gosling, Norman Pearson, and Dr. Robert MacLaren, each became instrumental in building the Bruce Trail.
Gaining access to the Niagara Escarpment was the critical first step in building the Bruce Trail. From 1962 to today, Escarpment landowners have been key to the existence of the Bruce Trail.
Between 1962 and 66 regional Clubs were established along the Trail. Each club was responsible for organization, landowner approvals, trail construction and maintenance. On march 13, 1963 the Bruce Trail Association was incorporated under the laws of Ontario (to be renames The Bruce Trail Conservancy in 2007). Dr. Aubrey Diem, an assistant professor of Geography at the University of Waterloo, was an associate director who handled the compilation of the first guidebook in 1965.
With Canada's Centennial year approaching, it was decided the Trail should open in 1967. In Tobermory, in June of that year, the cairn at the northern terminus of the Bruce Trail was unveiled.
Great things happened between 1962 and 1967!
The Bruce Trail Conservancy and the Bruce Trail Clubs will be celebrating five years of 50th Anniversary milestones between 2012 and 2017: from planning and Trail building in 1962 to the official opening of the Bruce Trail in 1967. Fifty years of determination, support, vision and hard work have created Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath and one of the most successful land trusts in Ontario.
Plan to be a part of this exciting time in BTC history! Visit www.brucetrail.org to learn more about their 50th Anniversary plans. In 2017, two of us hikers will be celebrating our 50th along with the BRUCE TRAIL!!! We will have to have a BIG celebration :-)
THANK YOU Mr. Ray Lowes for having such a great vision!! so that the 6 of us can now (almost 50 years later) enjoy God's beautiful country and be hiking on the oldest trail in Canada....Enjoying nature: the plants, birds, smells, trees, rocks, animals, and water!
A little bit of history: The Bruce Trail is the oldest and longest marked trail in Canada. It is currently 885 km long and has over 400 km of side trails. In 1959 the idea of a public footpath spanning the entire Niagara Escarpment was born. Ray Lowes articulated his vision of this footpath to friend Robert Bateman at a meeting of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Never before in Canadian history had a trail of this scope been visualized.
The first meeting of the Bruce Trail Committee was held on Sept 23, 1960. The four attending members, Ray Lowes, Philip Gosling, Norman Pearson, and Dr. Robert MacLaren, each became instrumental in building the Bruce Trail.
Gaining access to the Niagara Escarpment was the critical first step in building the Bruce Trail. From 1962 to today, Escarpment landowners have been key to the existence of the Bruce Trail.
Between 1962 and 66 regional Clubs were established along the Trail. Each club was responsible for organization, landowner approvals, trail construction and maintenance. On march 13, 1963 the Bruce Trail Association was incorporated under the laws of Ontario (to be renames The Bruce Trail Conservancy in 2007). Dr. Aubrey Diem, an assistant professor of Geography at the University of Waterloo, was an associate director who handled the compilation of the first guidebook in 1965.
With Canada's Centennial year approaching, it was decided the Trail should open in 1967. In Tobermory, in June of that year, the cairn at the northern terminus of the Bruce Trail was unveiled.
Great things happened between 1962 and 1967!
The Bruce Trail Conservancy and the Bruce Trail Clubs will be celebrating five years of 50th Anniversary milestones between 2012 and 2017: from planning and Trail building in 1962 to the official opening of the Bruce Trail in 1967. Fifty years of determination, support, vision and hard work have created Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath and one of the most successful land trusts in Ontario.
Plan to be a part of this exciting time in BTC history! Visit www.brucetrail.org to learn more about their 50th Anniversary plans. In 2017, two of us hikers will be celebrating our 50th along with the BRUCE TRAIL!!! We will have to have a BIG celebration :-)
THANK YOU Mr. Ray Lowes for having such a great vision!! so that the 6 of us can now (almost 50 years later) enjoy God's beautiful country and be hiking on the oldest trail in Canada....Enjoying nature: the plants, birds, smells, trees, rocks, animals, and water!
It was so great to see so much green once again!!