Sun, Nov 12 2006 - Nature Walk: Devil's Punch Bowl (Waterfalls) (View Original Event Details)
|  |
Our nature walk at Devil’s Punch Bowl was a thoroughly pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon in late autumn. For most out-of-town events I’ve ever coordinated, I sweat bullets about having enough drivers. For this event, however, we had 8 people and 6 cars!!! Needless to say, we piled into just two vehicles and headed out to our intended destination. Note to anyone else who goes looking for this location: it is NOT well-marked. Both cars drove around aimlessly for some time while we looked for signs, helpful locals, whatever … and when we finally found it, it was because we thought that those in the OTHER car had found it! As a waterfall goes, the Devil’s Punch Bowl is a mere trickle, even with all the rain that we’ve had lately. However, the various layers of rock carved out by a once-mighty waterfall were pretty cool to look at. There is also a lookout from which you can see Stoney Creek, the distant smokestacks of Hamilton, and the expanse of Lake Ontario. We could see there were trails down in the gorge, but getting down to them seemed a bit more challenging than the literature I’d found had led me to believe. Since the event had promised all participants an easy walk, we decided to walk along the flat and very pleasant Dofasco Trail. Along the way, we took lots of pictures, observed many different types of poisonous-looking berries, and saw several small birds of prey. The three Californians (Lillian, Perkin, and Melanie) compared notes about places they’d visited, politics, etc. Perkin, Yin, and Julian chatted about their plans for skiing this winter. Ola and Yvonne made a welcome light-hearted addition to our group as new TOC members. After some good exercise, fresh air, and cold temperatures, we warmed up at a coffee shop and chatted some more before heading back – sleepy but refreshed - to the city.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.