Our last two hikes

So we have gone for three hikes over summer, stretching our total kilometers to 9.2 kilometers.  It is slow going, but we are enjoying them.  We are still struggling with how to accomplish this.  On our second hike, the boys fell asleep so E and I walked from where she was bit to where mom was to pick us up.  It was a neat hike with a rope climb down and a stile.  This time the pick up was easy to arrange as the boys were asleep.  However, from there we hiked together to Fireman's Park, got there, had lunch and then turned around together and hiked back to the car.   We had some trouble with some dirtbikers there, but we set some traps for them on the way back.  We ended up drinking from a creek/spring that was cold and delicious.  Our kids love climbing trees and "wheeeing" down hills.

With SP we went from Fireman's park to Mewburn road.  About 3/4 J,J, and I turned around to get the car - i still find this inefficient. Again, J complained and complained before he went hiking, but he always enjoys it.  J saw a gartner snake and we played with that for a bit - it was great.  An odd bit of trail as it was filled with crushed stone - does this section go by an old garbage dump?  The next section will prove to be a little tricky as on the map it seemed to be all road to warner, but there appears to be a trail off of Mewburn that will follow the railroad track and through a tunnel but we will have to see.  Maybe enough time for two more hikes before winter.

0-3.9 km

Well, we made our first dive into hiking the Bruce Trail today - pictures to be posted later.  After struggling to find the beginning (actually to find Queenston Heights - we shouldn't take the 405, where is Queenston Heights? on the 405) we hiked the first 3.9 km.  It was a beautiful trail you could easily mountain bike along. We discovered limestone topography, I introduced my kids to chewing grass and we had many woo hoo moments.  Those moments you can raise your hands and run down hill.  It was a close call to our kids having to sit on every stump on the BT.  We learned a couple of things - always take two maps with you so you can see the end point - the road you are going to come out on - we were a little worried about having to hike back to our vehicle, but due to an unfortunate incident we didn't have to. We also learned that our kids really enjoyed it, taking off on side paths, getting along, it was a great afternoon.  We just found the steep descent we were warned about when our first got bit by a dog.  A Schnauser to be specific.  The owner was apologetic and offered to bring us to our car.  We weren't sure at first, but hiking 3.9 km back with our first hurt would have taken a long time.  We went to their house, they invited us to the back and he took me back to get our car.   It was funny... if I was bit, I would have been able to laugh it off, but the dog biting my first was a little more difficult to handle - the owner tried to start small talk, but I just couldn't do it.  So our first adventure had a mishap at the end, but the owner was kind enough to encourage our first not to give up on hiking or small dogs.  Our kids are already looking forward to heading out again.