Bruce Trail - Short Hills Provincial Park - Map 3 and Map 1 (our oops)

 Last time Nicola and I hiked we learned that we had to check online for the status of various sections of the trail. Of course it takes more than one incident for me to learn, so I didn't. When we arrived at the section that we wanted to hike (in St Catherines, at 11am already) the parking lot was blocked off and on line we learned that some of the Niagara Section of the Bruce Peninsular is closed due to the large number of people who were using it. Sitting in the car we tried to figure out whether we would have to drive the half hour to the Grimsby section to access the trail. Nearby was Short Hills Provincial Park with a section of the Bruce going through it so we decided to give that a try.

The parking lot was full and cars parked up and down the side of the road. Way more people than we were comfortable with but we gave it a go.

There were a lot of people, mostly families, on the trail to the falls (currently dry)

but once we got on to the section that was actually part of the Bruce Trail it wasn't as crowded.

The fall colours had not really started here yet but there was an occasional brilliant tree and it was windy so it occasionally "rained" spiraling leaves.

Nicola's photo or me trying to get a shot of a tiny toad below another dry waterfall location.

It was hot and muggy so the 5.3km felt like a lot longer.

Having done less than we had planned, we drove to the start of the Bruce Trail at Brock's Monument Park. When we started this endeavor, 3 years ago, we didn't realize that there was a cairn marking the "Southern Terminus" so we knew we had a few 100metres to walk to truly have started at the beginning.

It's a lovely park with plenty of space for the families and friends who were gathered at picnic tables, under trees and out playing in the open spaces. We had to ask a park employee for the location of the cairn.

Proof we were there. Selfie (we are sooo bad at them) by Nicola.

Between a parking lot and the road, not that easy to find.

We followed the white flashes through the park

to where we started on June 17, 2017

 

We changed out of our hiking clothes in the washrooms there and then met Mum and Dad at the Lighthouse on the Niagara Parkway near Fort Erie. It was a lovely location, out on the patio, but the service was extremely slow and the food was just OK. Luckily our focus was on the visit not the restaurant and it was lovely to see them.