When we decided to hike the nearly 900 klms of the Bruce Trail we weren’t sure we’d stick with it but we were determined to try.
There are moments on this hike that keep you going and sometimes those moments feel like entire days. Glorious days where the sheer magnificence of what you’re seeing and hearing makes your spirit soar…this past weekend was filled with those.
Yes it rained on our first day and the mosquitoes were dreadful at times- but they just helped us pick up our speed.
It was breathing in the highly oxygenated air, fragrant with the scent of the forest and rain in springtime that lifted us up. How many glorious shades of green could there be?
It was looking ahead on the trail and seeing a huge deer looking back and not reaching for our cameras because the moment would be fleeting and we didn’t want to miss one second of it – then she bolted, flicking her white tail at us she ran in panic until she had located her precious fawn and ensured it’s safety. We cherished that moment for hours.
It was moments of quiet reverence as we mourned the trees lost through the past winters ice storm or uprooted by unnatural winds.
It was having hundreds of toads clamour across our path as they hopefully hunted the mosquitoes and we cheered them on!
It was standing open mouthed at the beauty of the hawks soaring over the forested peninsula below us as we relished the victory of our tough climb.
And then it was the smaller moments of companionship as my friend Cheryl and I walked in comfortable silence or chatted about our families, politics and life along the way.
These are the things that keep us going onwards to Tobermory or wherever we end up – distance measured in moments not kilometres.
Womanseyeview's Blog 
What a beautiful forest. And what beautiful photos you have captured.
Thank you! Our forests have now turned the most dazzling colours – impossible to capture through the lens.
Lovely shades of green!! I am also enjoying the green in Virginia! and Ohio! and Pennsylvania! Lovely photos!
Neat picture of the toad!
Thank you!
Though only day hikes (900 klm?, Wow!), we travelled similar looking terraine last July. Love all that green!
Oscar
http://hermitsdoor.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/brown-sign-bird-knob-massanutten-mountain/
http://hermitsdoor.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/brown-sign-shenandoah-national-park-hazel-river-trail/
Thanks for the links to your previous blogs – looks like great hiking country and right in our own back yards – lucky us!
Beautiful photos–they make me want to try doing a similar hike sometime.
We weren’t the outdoorsy types until recently – our families are pleasantly surprised and we’re thrilled – you’d love it I’m sure.
So green! Wonderful photos and what an endeavour! Good on you, such beautiful memories you are building.
Yes we’re lucky to be able to get out and about – nice to hear from you.
It looks amazing! My friend’s dog swallowed a toad just recently. Bad news! She’s ok now 🙂
Oh dear – quite a surprise for the toad and the dog! Thanks for the visit.
Oh, bravo! What a wonderful objective. I’ve done some small segments of hiking on the Bruce Trail, and spent some cottaging time in the Bruce Peninsula, so it’s a treat to see your photos and be there again with you, in memory. Thanks!
Thanks – it’s not the Toronto walks you so often blog about but it’s a different kind of beauty that feeds the soul. Maybe I’ll see you on the trail someday!
It’s such a special place, and it truly feeds the soul, just as you say.
Beautiful photographs! Do miss the toads! I haven’t seen a one here on the farm. Pacific Chorus Frogs, yes, toads no.
Haven’t seen so many toads in years but the mystery is were they there and I was too busy or is this a bumper year for toads? Thanks for the visit.
I’m sure you could see quite a bit from that rocky perch jutting out. Beautiful!!
Yes you could actually get a terrific view of Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline on the other shore – a forested tranquil wonderland so close to the busy world.
Oh my goodness how beautifully lush! I agree the measurement in kilometers is not what the journey is about. Wonderful photos and I especially love the toad.
The toads brought back memories of exploring the woods in childhood – haven’t seen them in years and it’s comforting to know they’re still there. The lushness was amazing and reinforced the delight in finding wonders on your own doorstep.
Those surprises and memories are often the best. Lovely post.
Love those toads…. I hope they ate quite a lot of the mosquitos who would have had a go at you otherwise.
There have been loads of toads over the past couple of weeks – they chase the mosquitoes and the garter snakes we see must be chasing them! Thanks for stopping by.
It’s wonderful how we are both on the same journey and both view the same sights but our blogs differ in what we remember. Or want to remember. I will cherish the thought that our journey is marked in memories and moments and not just in kilometers.
So glad we’re doing this trail together and our different perspectives make it all the richer.
It’s all so green! It looks delightful. We’re sweltering in the desert.
Glad my glimpse of green can bring you some relief from the desert…you’ll be leaving for more moderate climes soon though and a green and pleasant land at that!
We will indeed. I’ll probably be yearning for the desert soon!
I am away from the desert now and enjoying the green in Virginia!!
People rave about the tropical rainforest canopy, but I think your top photo shows how spectacular the upper layer of a temperate woodland can look. Such beautiful scenery must be worth the pain of the mosquitoes.
Yes it is worth the mosquitoes to experience the fecundity of forests like these. I said the same thing to my hiking partner Cheryl about tropical forests vs the beauty right on our doorstep – we are discovering it all over again.
It’s a glorious discovery. 🙂
How many shades of green are there? … I think my hiking partner, Helen, said that hundreds of times on our trek along the Bruce. Your pictures are a wonderful reminder of how green and lush everything looked. I miss the deer and the rabbits, but we didn’t see toads or frogs … just snakes and I could have done without those. The mosquitos are now just a bad memory 🙂
You are so right though when you say the experience is measured in moments not kilometers!!
There have been ‘load of toads’ over the past couple of hikes – so reassuring but there have also been snakes although just the common garter variety…probably chasing the toads! The green and the lushness is the benefit we get from such a rainy spring – an upside to everything.