….Andrea and Josie have invited us to walk the Bruce Trail from end to end

A week ago last Monday, the four of us drove down to Queenston Heights in Niagara Falls to start our trek on the Bruce Trail. After doing our hikes for the last 8 weeks I thought I was in good enough shape to tackle the first part of the Bruce Trail. All was well until we hit the ridge. I’m actually fine walking uphill but going downhill is scary for me because of my vertigo.

We started at the Cairn for stage one at Queenston Heights.

The first part of the trail was pretty easy. The trails were relatively wide and well marked.

At about the 3 kilometre marks things started to get a bit tricky. I didn’t mind the uphill climbs and at one point at the top of the ridge we came across a series of abandoned limestone kilns that were behind a chainlink fence and nestled into the side of the ridge. We carefully went around the fence to have a closer look at the old brickwork.

It was soon after this that I became seriously doubtful that I could finish the hike. It was time to descend from the ridge and the path was rocky, twisty and very steep. Luckily my daughter was very supportive and was there with a helping hand and encouraging words. When we got to a lower section the path evened out and the rest of the hike was relatively uneventful. We came across a wooden box where we could record our names, date and our intentions for the rest of the Bruce Trail.

The end of the trail brought us back out to a road by a railroad crossing and close to where we had parked one of the cars. We managed to hike 7.4 kilometres but it seemed like a lot more. We drove back to Queenston Heights to pick up the other car and then we headed back home.

That night and the next day both Kevin and I were feeling a little stiff and sore but it hasn’t deterred us from doing the next section of the Bruce Trail.