 Day 2 of a 3 day hike – it’s that day that surprises you and the kind that you need a cheerleading squad to get you moving in the morning despite any training you’ve done. Yesterday’s mudapolooza should have indicated that on day 2, I would be extraordinarily stiff. It’s that feeling when you slide out of bed and put your feet on the floor and every molecule in your body screams at you from the souls of your feet. Yes, that indescribable feeling of pain every time you move. When you wonder if your legs can even get you to the washroom, and you think, “how the hell am I going to hike 27 KM today?!” Fast forward 2.5 hours later (it takes that long to wake up and get ready apparently), we were on the bus heading back to Ball’s Fall Conservation Area to hike day 2 of our Niagara Bruce Trail end-to-end. We were already ahead of yesterday – it wasn’t rainy but it was sticky and humid and there wasn’t a breeze. This day we walked eastward towards Brock University in St. Catharines. Again the sound of Ball’s Falls followed us a short while, almost whispering to us encouraging words (this was my second day without coffee so I may have not quite been fully awake – it’s amazing what you think you hear in the sounds of rushing water). On the second day of an organized hike people are no longer strangers. We’ve had a shared experience and now we have something to talk about. All day we could hear the echoes of people talking about yesterday’s mud hoping that today would be better. Every time we’d come across a mud puddle that meant we would have to find another way to circumnavigate the trail you could hear people wail, “No! Enough with the mud already!” (Mostly that was me wailing but it could’ve been anybody!) Seriously, everyone was talking about the mud and how sore their knees were. Something to be said for a shared experience among strangers. In this case we could commiserate together.  After a nice stretch of generally “flatish” terrain at the start of the day that included forest trails and two stretches of quiet roadway alongside vineyards, we were confronted with a section of mud that I don’t even know how to describe. We descended from the escarpment and the trail took us through a farmer’s field. We could see people stopped on the other side of the field and when we reached that point we could see why. Mud puddles for as far as you could see – ankle deep kind of mud puddles. We forged forward finding grassy pockets or fallen branches to use as bridges over the mud. And then we were faced with a nearly perpendicular wall of mud and we had to climb up it. We tried to find the silver lining in the situation by saying how thankful we were we didn’t have to go down the mud hill. Rumour has it that they are trying to find an alternative route for this part of the trail so maybe in the future it can be avoided. Of course what goes up must come down. This next section was a very narrow path, just wide enough for one foot in front of the other. I think had my knee not been hurting I might not have even noticed the next part but with every uneven step down I felt shooting pain. It was the kind of section that if you didn’t know there was a trail there you might completely miss it. Thank goodness for the White Blazes! Once through that up-down uneven section we heard gun fire in the distance. I had to laugh because we just kept moving closer to the sound as oppose to what should be the natural reaction, which would be to flee in the opposite direction. But having come from there – walking toward the sound of gunfire seemed like a better option. It wasn’t until the shots sounded like they were right beside us did we see a sign for a Firing Range. Phew! Sure today had some difficult parts but all throughout the day we came across waterfalls – so many waterfalls! What is it about waterfalls that can make the day a better day? All the waterfalls were impressive but perhaps the most stunning one we came across was Swayze Falls in Short Hills Provincial Park. Yesterday’s rainfall meant that we got a chance to see the waterfall in all its beauty as sometimes there’s no water falling. The falls were created 12,500 years ago and you can see the history in the layers of rock. There’s a platform here to look at the falls. It also has a bench so a delightful place to take a break as there as very few places to sit on the trail.  Today’s trail also crossed paths with the Laura Secord Trail. If you’re not familiar with Laura Secord she played a vital role in the War of 1812 and in Canadian history. Having learned of the plans of the Americans of a surprise attack on the British Laura trekked 30 KMS (in a dress no less!) through mud (I feel her pain) and forest to warn the British of the looming attack. This information allowed the British to intercept the attack and ambush the American troops. There’s a lovely Heritage Minute of the story here (notice the mud!).
On the trail we came across a bridge built to honour her bravery. Kind of makes you wonder, could you be as brave as Laura Secord? And that’s a wrap on Day 2! Next: Day 3 Back: Day 1
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