Sun, Apr 29 2007 - Hockley Valley Loops Hike (View Original Event Details)
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The weather-gods were smiling upon the six eager TOCers gathered at Downsview Station early Sunday morning. The sun was shining bright, the sky was a gorgeous blue and there wasn’t a single cloud in sight! A perfect day for a walk in the woods! Although anyone who refers to 30+ kilometres as a mere “walk”, even in jest, should probably get their head examined (I’m looking at you, Bill Bryson!).
After signing our lives away with the new event waiver, we split up into two cars and headed out. The drive to the trailhead proved uneventful, as no one got lost (clearly the result of superior navigation) or held up by long lines at Timmy’s (clearly the result of impeccable timing), so we arrived within 5 mins of each other. A disappointing beginning if you happen to be the designated writer for this event. How are we to amuse the insomniacs in our midst without a few mishaps and wrong-turns to spice things up??
Fortunately, Mother Nature took pity on me, for I could at least wax eloquent about the beauty of this area. It’s easy to see why Hockley Valley is considered one of the loveliest sections of the Bruce Trail. The trail winds its way up, down and around the many hills and valleys, and there are at least half a dozen sparkling streams to be crossed. The moss-covered rocks were a vibrant green that day and flowers of all shapes and colours were starting to bloom everywhere! Picture perfect, actually. Unfortunately, not one of us had brought a camera along, so you’ll have to take our word for it. Or better yet, join us next time!
Bryan in particular was so excited to see signs of spring that he just couldn’t contain himself, and commented out loud on the buds on the trees (not to be confused with bushes) and the flowery fragrances that enveloped us. This led to one of the most amusing exchanges of the day, with Jenn mistaking the tone of Bryan's remarks for something a little more…shall we say…sarcastic. Suffice it to say, for five of us, pretty yellow flowers will forever conjure up images of Jenn's armpits! But I guess that's what the TOC is all about…right? Memories to last a lifetime?!?
We also saw our share of wildlife. In addition to the usual squirrels, chipmunks and garter snakes, we managed to scare two turkeys from their hiding spots. There was some debate as to whether there was actually a third, whom we heard, but did not see. But since that’s a good skill to have if you’re a turkey, we’ll count him anyway.
After going up and down some more hills (enough to be convinced that Hockley Valley is aptly named, let me tell you), we found ourselves in the middle of a pine forest. The protection from the sun that the foliage provided was much appreciated, as the sun beating down on us all morning had made it feel much warmer than 17 degrees. The soft, spongy layer of needles below our feet also proved fun to walk on, so there was an extra bounce to our steps for more reasons than one!
We eventually emerged from the cool pine forest to cut across a few farmer’s fields and start the first of two road sections. The quiet, dandelion-lined country lane was a pleasant change as we no longer had to walk single-file, and conversation flowed freely. As with most TOC events, this means the topics ranged from perfectly normal to down-right absurd. Everthing from hiking, biking and sky-diving (Hyun only looks like the shy quiet type, folks) to what fish ear bones and tree-rings have in common, were covered.
But even engaging conversation and the wonders of biology couldn’t keep hunger pangs at bay, so after putting some distance between ourselves and civilization, we enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch at a pretty lookout. The view and the breeze were so pleasant that we lingered for more than 45 minutes. A well deserved break, as we had been keeping a pretty ambitious pace all morning. By Julian’s calculations, some of the side-loops had been completed at speeds over 6.5 km/hr!
After lunch, we continued at a more reasonable pace, as some of us were starting to get tired. But Jenn kept the group motivated with the promise of cow poo, golf courses and babbling brooks. She also (regretfully) informed us that we would not be climbing a ski hill as originally planned. We all did our best to hide our disappointment at this announcement.
But in the end, our unspoken wishes were fulfilled anyway! We got a chance to cool off in the shadow of idle chair-lifts and speculate about the services provided by hilltop Pizza Pizza huts (world’s tiniest pizza shop? Or most heavily sponsored outhouse?? We report, you decide). The cow poo however, never did materialize. And with every bend in the trail that did not reveal a babbling brook, confidence in our co-coordinator’s memory was beginning to fade. She was 0-for-2 so far. Could we even be sure that we were going the right way? What if we had walked well past 30km’s already?? Should we have made a left back there instead of a right?
With mutiny staring her in the face, Jenn was relieved to find that her brook was still there and still babbling. Her trail-cred thus preserved, we spent some time trying to decipher its murmurings. Our feet got a chance to cool off in the ice-cold water too. Justin resisted the temptation for a while there, but even he caved eventually (no doubt daunted by the prospect of having to peel off three (three!) layers of socks), and Sivanny took the opportunity to prove that her new gore-tex lined boots were indeed waterproof by dropping them into the water (for future reference, money totally well spent!). This timely and refreshing break was just what we needed before we took a stab at the remaining 5km.
There’s not much to say about the final stretch that hasn’t been said already. So let’s fast forward to the part where we gratefully pile into the cars and head off in search of cold refreshing drinks (I’m talking about Gatorade, folks. It was still only 4PM, you know!).
All in all, we had a wonderful day. The trail was gorgeous, the weather
unbelievably pleasant, and the company even more so. Who could ask for more!
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.