Date – May 19, 2014
Location – Map 25 Kolapore
Distance – 18.1 km
Total Trail Distance – 564.4 (329.6 to go)
Hikers – Steve, Simon, Dean, Marlene, Benjamin, Harold, Janette, Julian,
Sue, Benjamin, Therese and Kai
Start – 41.9 Old Baldy, Beaver Valley Section
End – 23.8 Reg. Road #2
Direction – South on trail, but really East
Weather – Warm and sunny, black flies ferocious
We start this hike further south than yesterday, and will end where
yesterday's hike began. Elza and Robyn elect to have a shopping-and-coffee-drinking-and-reading
day, so we are down to a dozen hikers.
It's another warm and sunny day, but to our dismay we learn that two
days of warmth + northern forest = blackfies! Persistent. Pernicious. Vicious. Blackflies.
We have some bug spray, which we spray liberally, and repeatedly, but it
doesn't help much. Instead, the only relief comes from the wearing of hats and the
tying of bandanas and scarves. About mid-day we meet a local, out for a stroll,
and she is wearing one of those cunning hat and mesh contraptions that
completely protects her from the bugs. I offer to buy it. No dice. She says she
would never venture onto the trail at this time of year without bug gear.
Because of our direction of travel and our choice of start location, we
realize that we could end up passing Rory and Mick again, and sure enough, we soon
do. They are in good spirits and making good progress. We greet each other
briefly and on we go.
At Fox Ridge Road we meet a group of half a dozen day hikers who are
just starting out. We stop for a short conversation and realize very quickly
that four of them are visiting from Europe — The Netherlands, to be exact.
About four kilometres of this hike is on the road, which means we make
good time. We stop for lunch and more bug spray on a wide, grassy shoulder of
the road. It's not pretty there, but there's some shade, and even more
importantly, it's an open space so there's a breeze and we get a little bit of
relief from the blackflies. A very little.
About halfway we
come to the Duncan Crevice Caves Provincial Nature Reserve, but we don't see
any actual caves, although we do have a good view to the south from an
escarpment outcropping. When we emerge from the nature reserve and end up on
private property, we catch up to the kids, who have been hiking ahead of us.
They have found a seating area and a fire pit and have made a very smoky fire
— in the hopes of thwarting the blackflies. It doesn't work.
In a couple of
places we encounter abandoned farm machinery. I am always intrigued by the
lives of the pioneers who once farmed here, and I wonder about how difficult their
lives were — especially when I think about the cold, and the poor soil, and the
rocks in the fields and the bugs.
We meet two more
people who are climbing the escarpment face at Metcalfe Rock and see a farmer cultivating
a field. Our path runs adjacent to the field, which means this famer has kindly
allowed the trail to pass through or adjacent to his or her farm. Thank you,
landowner!
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| Mick and Rory |
