TRAIL: BLUE MOUNTAINS BRUCE TRAIL – BLACK FLIES & MUD

Brushed the winter dust off my hiking gear (finally!) and headed up to the Blue Mountains for a two-day hiking adventure on the third weekend in May with my sister and our friends Jaime and Susie.

​Our goal: complete the 66KM+ Blue Mountains Bruce Trail end-to-end relatively unscathed. Perhaps it was a bit too ambitious, but what you don’t know, you don’t know.
​
In any case, we hiked, limped, and came close to crawling to the end, but we did it! Hey – 66KM+ is a lofty goal to complete in two days.

---

DAY ONE

It was a pleasant start to the day. Today’s trail would have us hiking southward to the Highlands Nordic Centre, the mid way point along the 66KM trail.

The crisp Spring air greeted us as we stepped off the bus at the northern tip of the trail high up in the Blue Mountains. The area is popular ski country and so it was no surprise that the trail took us by barren ski hills and sleepy chairlifts including Ontario’s first chairlift.
I can imagine this area is alive with winter activities when there is snow on the ground. The trail was very well suited for cross country skiing and snow shoeing.

But as it was Spring and the forest was just about the burst open with brilliant green. The trilliums were in full bloom too. They dotted the forest floor with speckles of white, pink and the rare dark maroon.
​
The start of the trail felt like a lovely nature walk (photo left). But then it started to rain. Heavily. And then the trail got a wee bit muddy (photo right). As we like to say, it’s not the Bruce Trail unless there’s mud!

---

That rain produced some fantastic mud! I’m not sure why I’m calling it fantastic because we had a few other choice words to describe it during those two days , the kind of words that rhyme with “terse”.

For those who’ve hiked the Bruce Trail you’ll know that it’s a special kind of mud. You know what makes hiking in mud even more fun? hiking uphill! Good times.
​
Thankfully it didn’t rain all day and the rest of the day did have some cool and equally lovely moments, like this:

But, then they came. Hoards of black flies emerged from the now rain soaked ground. And they came out in full force and very, very hungry for blood. No one was safe and only the smart hikers with bug nets survived the onslaught rather unbitten. I was not one of those smart people.

Fun fact: when the trilliums bloom, the hungry black flies emerge in full brigade. Perfect timing.

All in all, day one of the two day end-to-end was a tough one. Our mud covered boots and gators say it all.

DAY TWO

Rested but weary the next morning we were eager to tackle the second half of the hike because  – GOOD NEWS! The sun was shining! No sign of rain clouds in sight. Yay!

​The day’s first steps on the trail took us through a lovely wooded area and alongside the Niagara Escarpment. It’s the escarpment’s millions of years of transition from tropical sea bed to the dramatic landscape today that created some really cool crevices, cliffs, and rocky nooks and crannies. This is classic escarpment and it’s one of the unique features that really does make the Bruce Trail one of the coolest long distance trails in Canada.

When you forget about the mud for just a second you realize how phenomenal this biosphere really is and what a great organization the Bruce Trail Conservancy is for protecting this land.

And it’s all within just a few hours’ drive from Toronto. Bonus!
​
Today’s trail took us into some open spaces – a nice break from the bug infested forest. Many land owners graciously permit hikers to use their land. In many cases it’s usually alongside a field. Like this:

---

At this point we were all suffering body aches and pains. A fun new game: Guess which toenails we would lose! But we persevered to the end! We had come so far it wasn’t an option to opt out before the finish line.
​
The trail meandered through more forest trails covered with trilliums – so very classic Ontario:

The Blue Mountains section started to feel really long by about this point. We reached the last rest stop before the finish and were told that we still had another 5KM to go. You would’ve thought that by our moans and groans they said 55KM!

After some refreshments, an Advil, and a sock change we kept moving. Somehow. Because it was that point in the day where you know your legs are moving but you don’t know how they are.
​
The reward at the finish of an end-to-end is a badge. In the badge holds our determination to push ourselves physically, our aches and pains, our laughter, and our accomplishment.

By finishing the Blue Mountains sections I now have 4 sections complete. Later this year I’ll be tackling the Toronto section.
​
Here is the complete trail (map courtesy of the Bruce Trail Conservancy):