Get out Of Town
On Friday, May 28, work does not cooperate. I have my people on standby as I communicate my plans to make the great escape at 3 PM with the goal of being on the road by 3:30 PM. My plans are thwarted. My people drift out at their regular times and I stay until 4 PM, as I deal with a last minute crisis. By the time I get home, Olivia is already there, glassy eyed, waiting for me. She is packed and ready to roll. I still have to pack. We are on the road by 4:30 PM, set for prime rush hour traffic on a splendid Friday afternoon. There is an accident on the 403& #5 so we take a secondary route and hookup with the 403 at Winston Churchill. The hiway is ridiculously wide open and slows down on the 410. Once we are past #7, traffic opens up again. The new 410 extension is a wonderful thing. We stop at Pete's donuts just between Orangeville and Shelbourne and Olivia cleans out the store as she hoovers a sandwich, donuts and drinks. We are off again. The driving to the Bruce is so beautiful. We are on this surreal, vivid trip of warmth, colour and fresh breezes.
We arrive at Bruce Gables B&B in Wiarton at 7:45 PM. I am not a fast driver with my daughter in the car and our great hiking spread before us. I don't take risks and just go with the traffic flow.
Bruce Gables
We are the only people staying at Bruce Gables on Friday night, so the concept of a shared bathroom is a non-event. The home is a Victorian beauty with a bit of her petticoats showing. The lady who owns Bruce Gables, owns 10 other properties in the area, so our hostess, Kerry, tells us. Kerry is filling in for the owner and owns another B&B at Red Bay where we will stay on Saturday night. Kerry is very welcoming and pleasant. She suggests we share a room away from the front of the house which is on Hwy #6. Kerry leaves to walk the beach at Sauble. Olivia finds a piano and practices her music. We walk the main drag in the evening light. There are several main street businesses for sale and the town looks a little tired. There is a Tasty Freeze which has very good softserve icecream. We go back to Bruce Gables and we watch a show on TV about wedding dresses.
In our room, there is a ceiling fan which we use, but the temperature is warm and pleasant. The moon is full or close to it and for some reason, I never sleep well on full moon nights. I share my observation with the hiking group the next day and it seems that no one has slept well.
Hiking on Day 1
7:15 AM Kerry has prepared a Belgium waffle feast with yogurt, fresh berries, cheddar scones - lovingly displayed on good china and silver ware - delivered on time. We chat about the day and Kerry tells us about a "fish fry" at Mar in the evening not far from her cottage. She highly recommends we go to. So dinner is planned for the evening once we are back.
We hit the local Tim's to buy our lunch. The locals on the intercom act like we have a horn growing out of foreheads for ordering BLT's for what they think is breakfast. They verify our order twice with a note of incredulity. We arrive at the pre-determined 8:45 AM meeting point at Wright's crescent where the last car to arrive drives up on our bumper. We jump around on one foot as we rush to get our boots on, collect our poles and heave our knap sacks. There are forms to complete, waivers to sign and money to pay. The seniors in the group tend to butt in line and steal the pens. I ask one if I could borrow her pen to move things along. She looks at me and puts the pen in her purse. Hmmm - I think - this could be interesting.
No one is going anywhere without the forms completed so in due course, when we all complete our forms, we organize the rides to the starting point (we car pool in a few cars and then at the end, take the drivers back to their cars at the starting point). There is a young fellow who looks ex-military, named Craig who we later find is a steel worker from Hamilton. Olivia and I gravitate to Craig and together with a couple of 40 yr old ladies, pile into Craig's truck and head into Wiarton, to the statue of Wiarton Willy, our starting point. There are 26 people on Day 1 of Hike #1.
We start hiking at 9:30 AM which the organizers remark never happens. Usually they start between 10 AM and 10:30 AM.
The trail leaders are fill ins and very soon the group becomes spread out. There are the fast hikers, like Craig and Olivia, who set the pace and keep the "fast" group motoring.
Then there is a slow group which includes the two ladies who rode with Craig and some of the seniors. We become spread out on the trail.
I find I would like to take photo's which the fast group doesn't allow for. Craig is looking to get in a round of golf in the afternoon. The spreading out becomes more pronounced after a brief 20 minute stop for lunch. Later we learn, one person gets re-routed on a side trail and has hiked an extra 4 km. At one point, I am steaming ahead from the small pack I find myself in, trying to catch up with Olivia, Craig and a couple of other faster, non-photo taking hikers. I find myself at risk.
During the hike on Day 1, we are walking along the escarpment where Mallory Beach lies below. There are a lot of weekend cottagers along Mallory beach. Last year, the municipality changed garbage pick up day from Monday to Tuesday, which meant weekend garbage was being left out for a day and night. The area has become infested with bears. During day one, we are dodging sizable bear scat along the trail - I mean some of it is cow poo sized. At one point, I am alone and I see a dark form in the bushes. I hear a growl. My scalp prickles and I start wolf whistling as loud as I can. I turn back to rejoin my group. I don't steam ahead by myself again.
Another local item to be aware of is the bountiful crop of poison ivy. I was never sure what it looked like but I definitely know now. It is thick along and on the trail. The trick is not to crush the leaves and allow the oil to get on your legs. Mindful of my healthy allergy to poison ivy, I manage to complete the weekend unscathed. A week later, I have a few rash spots on my legs, but not the incessant itch that goes with it. Another reason to wear long pants.
At the end of the hike on day 1, Olivia and Craig and crew finished at 2 pm, I finished at 2:07 pm (Olivia times me as I reach the parking area). The slow group, we learn later, finished at 4:45 PM. The two ladies that we rode with in the morning, though physically fit, decided to fore go the group hike and just travel at their own speed.
And some typical views and photo's of Day 1:
After dropping Craig off at his truck, Olivia and I head to Sauble Beach. The water is warm, warm enough to swim in but we haven't brought our bathing suits (note to self). We go up to our knees and the water feels amazing on our tired feet. We drive back to the Red Bay cottage and grab a shower and hit the fish fry in Mar.
The travelling fish fry guy has a set up in the back of his van. The local charity has supplied home made pies, peas, baked potatoes, cole slaw and a bun. The fish, from Lake Huron, is splake and is not battered but rather rolled in spices and deep fried. With one hand balancing a delicious fish dinner and the other a substantial wedge of pie, Olivia and I find a table in the basement of the Mar Community Centre. We dig in. The food is beyond wonderful. I finish the last bite of my creamy rubarb pie and I want to find the person who baked it to hug them. We go out to the car with full bellies. Olivia makes a bee line to the horses leaning over the parking lot fence, stretching their necks to be fed and petted. Olivia delivers what the horses are looking for and we all leave satisfied.
Back at the cottage, though it is only 7:30 PM, we lie on our single beds and watch the seagulls float in the evening sun outside our window. It is like watching a silent movie as the light turns to pink in the dusky stillness. Instead of the clacking of a silent film projector, we hear the crescendo/decrescendo of the humming birds thrumming outside our corner room. It is very peaceful and tonight, we sleep very well.
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