Sat, Jul 6 2013 - SLOWPOKE Hike - Eldred King Woodlands (15 KM) (View Original Event Details)
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Despite forecasts throughout the week predicting rain and possible thundershowers, by the time Saturday morning arrived, it was sunny, hot, and muggy. It promised to be great day for hiking! Unfortunately, the hike started a bit late thanks to the coordinator locking her keys in her car (sorry guys).
Once we reached the trail head, we headed off north. I had heard this was a difficult hike to navigate and that it was very easy to get lost; well, that proved to be true! The trail system is quite extensive with numerous T, Y and cross intersections, and most trails are poorly marked. Unfortunately, the map only shows the intended route and does not indicate the rest of the trails, which would be helpful.
We had planned a 15km hike tackling all 3 loops - the Eldred King Side Trail, the Hall Tract Side Trail and the Patterson Tract Side Trail - and it looked like we might fall short as we missed a few trails and ended up cutting the first loop short; but we made up that distance later on by having to do some backtracking when what we thought was waypoint 007 turned out to be incorrect.
Despite having the best of old school (map, compass and complete trail guide) and the best of new technology (GPS and iphones), it was still difficult to sort out which direction to go specifically at times. I would highly recommend taking a compass on this trail as it turned out to be very useful when eenie meenie miney mo didn't seem prudent.
The terrain was very sandy so at times, a really good workout for the feet and legs. This trail system is highly populated with horseback riders which was evidenced by the number of riders we encountered, and the numerous piles of horse droppings we had to avoid.
Despite the confusing trail system, for the most part, we managed to complete our intended route and accomplished all 3 loops, making it back to the trailhead with 15.5km under our feet. All in all a great day! Thanks for coming out, and I look forward to seeing you all soon :-)
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.