| The day started out ordinarily enough - an early start from Kipling, meeting up with the third driver for coffee at the Tim Hortons in Orangeville. Tim's is sponsoring the Legion's poppy sales this year so Alison dropped a handful of coins in the box and picked up a Rememberance Day poppy (more about that later). And then on, past the wind turbine farm outside Shelburne, dropping off Sylvia's car in Eugenia, and uneventfully arriving at the trail-head in Duncan. The weather was typical for central Ontario in the late fall - diffuse light, with the sun behind a thin cloud cover, temperatures around 7 or 8C, and not too much wind (thankfully)! Crunchy leaves underfoot and only a few remaining on the trees added to the sense of winter being just around the corner. The band of 9 intrepid hikers covered the 20 kilometres (definitely NOT as the crow flies) between Duncan and Eugenia in a blistering 5kph, even allowing for the number of photos that Galina takes en route when she's hiking (can't wait to see them, Galina!). This section of the Bruce is a real mix - some road walking, a climb down to the base of the cliffs and then back up through a crack in the rockface, out onto the edge of the escarpment near Old Baldy, across fields and through woods, a steep climb up the side of the Ontario Power Corps hydro-electric pipeline; a bit of everything thrown into the pot. Lunch was consumed at the Old Baldy lookout, which has to be the windiest point in the Beaver Valley, although it does reward a very pretty view for those hikers who don't get blown over the edge. |
| The glitch in the day came when, about 2km before the end of the hike in Eugenia, Sylvia announced that she had left her car-keys in Alison's car - which unfortunately, was in Duncan. After careful questionning, it became apparent that she wasn't joking! So there we were, us in Eugenia, keys to the shuttle car in Duncan, 17km away by road. The down-side of doing an end-to-end hike suddenly became very obvious! Hiking back that distance would elevate this event to a strong D5/weak D6 - not at all what we'd planned. What to do then? We headed to the supermarket/beer store in Eugenia and on asking if there was a local taxi service, were informed that there had been, it had since closed, and that the nearest taxi was in Dundalk, about 25km away. On to Plan B... where would the nearest CAA truck be dispatched from? We were just mulling this over when Sylvia, having caused the problem, offered a solution. She approached a young man who was coming out of the store, explained the situation, and asked if he'd be willing to drive two of the group back to Duncan. After a second's pause, and the offer of a case of beer by way of compensation, he cheerfully agreed. Galina and Alison, being the owners of the two cars left in Duncan, got a lift in a pickup truck to retrieve the two cars, entertained by tales of canoe trips on the Beaver River, and local landmarks, such as Old Baldy. On arriving at the Bruce Trail parking lot in Duncan, Alison offered the money for the case of beer, but the young gentleman refused to take it. Alison refused not to pay. Impasse. His eyes settled on the poppy Alison was wearing, and he said 'if you really want to give me something, let me have the poppy'. It didn't seem any where near a fair exchange however... it offered a way out for both parties, without either losing face, so the poppy changed hands, and with a wave and a smile, he was gone. Local country courtesy does still thrive! |
