Another day and time to move location but this time only 8km out of town. We should have been here in the first place but I muffed up and could not change it. Taxi arrived 6.20am and took us and our booking packs to our new accommodation via Tim Hortens for a morning Coffee. We dropped off our back packs expecting to start walking from Bruce Caves but the Taxi driver had a brilliant idea to drop us off at our proposed end point so we could walk back to our accommodation without having to worry about arranging for a pick up shuttle. So off we went in a 15min drive to our now drop off point to walk in reverse.
It was a cool and misty morning so on went the long sleeve T shirt, Beanie and Gloves. About 800m up a bitumen road then left onto a gravel road heading due North, the sun was low and shining through the trees giving them a golden red hue. Sadly the camera just could not capture what we saw. At the Taylor road intersection the trail took off through a meadow that had recently be cut with a mower, the trail was amazing as there was a lot of tall grass etc. that would have been difficult to walk through and we certainly would have been soaked. The entire section back on to Cole’s Side was fabulous thanks to the local Vollies that maintain it. It was so beautiful to hike both scenically and to hike.
Once we rejoined Cole’s side road it had been turned into a series of mud wallows by some off road vehicles. Thankfully we were able to our way and dodge around the mud holes. This section would have been almost impossible to negotiate 2 days ago. The fabulous weather we have had these last 3 days has dried out the worst of the mud and slippery parts of the trail. The entire section of trail we hiked today was just a joy to walk. The visual spectacle of walking through and beside the Ash Trees with the filtered, dappled sunlight falling on moss covered rocks is just amazing. The only downside is avoiding the clumps of Poison Ivy dotted along the trail. The terrain is certainly getting easier and we have turned into rock hoppers so the combination made for a phenomenal day’s hike. The ground underfoot at times is like walking on foam rubber matting with all the decaying composting vegetation on the ground. This leads to a minor issue when walking with trekking poles as your poles sink into the soft spongey earth you’re never sure you have a firm support. Some of the views from Skinners Bluff over Colpoy’s Bay are nothing short of spectacular, sadly once again the camera just does not capture what the eye can see. It’s amazing looking over the bay to the bluff on the opposite side and marvel that we had just walked along there a couple of days ago.
We came out of the forest and had a short walk down to our B&B, which is just beautiful. There is a deck area looking out over manicured lawns through trees to the bay. We just sat there chilling with the Owner Cathy marvelling at the vista before us and relishing this amazing weather we have had these past 3 days.
Time to go eat and our favourite Taxi “The Crabby Cabby” came to pick us up for dinner. Rod our Taxi driver for the past 3 days has been amazing, so friendly, informative, punctual and cheap. Our dinner venue for today was basically the only decent place left open tonight. Apparently it was the worst place to eat in town but has new owners who are working hard to change that poor reputation. Well I have too say they have succeeded, our dinner was amazing.
When we got back to our B&B from dinner we were accosted by the other guests there that were curious about 2 Aussies hiking in Canada. It was a 30 minute discussion about us and where we’re from, what we’re doing etc. before could politely escape and get to bed for our early departure in the morning.