Sun, Mar 21 2010 - Hike & Eat at the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival (View Original Event Details)
|  |
This was a fun adventure -- it brought some back to childhood memories of school trips to a sugar bush, gave some a taste of Canadiana, and for some, it was a chance to try something new. For all, it was a day full of good and sweet things!
We arrived at Bruce's Mill just before 1:00, which was right on time for a 1-hour guided tour of the bush, and the maple-syrup-making-process. The tour guide shared about changes sap collection from the trees over time, and offered random pieces of trivia. For example, did you know that when maple sap is first collected from the trees, that it is 96% water? Most of us didn't! We discovered many interesting things along the way.
After the tour, the group split up to do different things. Some went in search of a mill on site, some went on the guided tour again, and some ate pancakes. Most of the group headed off on a 5-kilometre hike.
For parts of the hike, Nicholas –- another Event Coordinator -– was at the front of the pack, listening to navigation offered by Adele and Kwan who were voicing directions from further back – "left here!" "Go straight!" "Stick to the blue trail!" The group were all hiking at about the same pace, so it was relatively easy for everyone to stick close together in one large group.
Along the hike, we quickly discovered that the recent snow melt had left large portions of the trail quite muddy and wet. Some parts of the trail hadn't been completely cleared after the winter season, so there was some stepping over and around fallen trees, which at times was a bit of an obstacle course. We encountered many burrs along the way, which loved latching onto our clothing, so some of us were covered with wild things.
The biggest part of the hiking adventure was discovering that a bridge over a running stream on the trail wasn't where it was supposed to be! We figured that the recent snow melt had been forceful enough to move the bridge further downstream. There didn't seem to be a clear way to get across the stream without inventing a new one. It became a team building exercise, and we found a log that could span the width of opposite side of the bank to the dry side, and crossed that way, one-by-one and slowly over the suspended log –- it was a bit like crossing over a balance beam. Happily, everyone made it across, and no one got wet!
Returning back to the main part of the conservation area, we still had lots of time to continue to explore at the festival. We took advantage of the time to eat pancakes (yes, again!), buy maple syrup products, visit the small petting zoo. For some, a horse-drawn wagon ride –- or two -– rounded out the day.
At 4:00, when the festival closed down for the day, the group headed home -– full of good food and after a fun adventure in the sugar bush.
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.