Hiked on the Bruce Trail Today!

Today I decided to go up to the Niagara Escarpment for a nice hike on the Bruce Trail for those of you who are either, ignorant, uninformed, or un-interested here is a run down of what the Niagara Escarpment is. Now that you are familiar with what it is here are some important facts: 1) The Niagara Escarpment is awesome for Hiking! 2) The Niagara Escarpment is awesome for Climbing! 3) The Niagara Escarpment is awesome for Caving! The escarpment provides a terrific view as you can see in the pic above, its cliffs provide great climbing, and in the winter terrific skiing. Blue Mountain is a popular area people visit to ski, it may not look like much if your from BC, but we dont care....your opinion dosnt matter anyway cause your not from Ontario. Todays hike lasted 5 hours and I travelled a little bit less than 20Km. Click on the Map below to see where I went (if you ever want to go here you can print out the map, but this is a free sample, for more purchase the map guide and help keep the trail clean!) I started off at 6.4Km and went all the way down to the 1st line East at the bottom right corner The trail requires basic hiking gear (boots, appropriate clothing, water, etc) but depending on where you go I would also reccomend a hiking pole. Also do not cheap out on your boots! A good quality can make all the differance when you have to go across a rock field, and trust me the trail is full of them! I have a pair of Danner Agitator 45GTX they are great because they are light weight and tough as hell! Also the waterproof Gore-Tex liner really helps! Be careful when you are up there as there is alot of rock you can easily slip on, twisting your ankle is the best case scenario, you could slam your head off a flat rock, tear open your body on a sharp rock, or plummet to your death from a high rock, and again, there is plenty of rock! The trail is free to use but they ask you join the club and help support everyone helps maintain it (they are all volunteers). You can camp on it but only in designated areas, there is a strict code of ethics for the trail. It is imperative that it be sticked to as to protect all the inhabitants of this delicate ecosystem. It was a tiring hike but it felt good to be out there again, I carried with me my Hydration Bladder (2L) and 2 sugar free chocolate bars (Im on atkins). It has been a bit of time since I had been on the Bruce but I definatly plan on going back, actually me and my buddy were planning on trying to do a throuh hike of the Blue Mountain Section in less than 24 hours. I think it will be a difficult challenge (I am in a fair bit of pain from this hike) gut I think we can do it. Another great place to go on the trail is the Duncan Caves, I can not remember who does it but they conduct rock climbing lessons there and there are great caves to explore. If you decide to go caving please wear appropriate safety gear (especially a climbing helmet) I nailed my head against a rock once real good! What ever you decide to dothe escarpment provides a lot of beauty and hosts many flaura and fawna(sp?) that is unique to the escarpment alone. Please take the time to explore and enjoy the escarpment, I guarrantee you will not be dissapointed. *Guarantee not valid in Quebec One of the things I am dying to try out on the escarpment this winter is Ice Climbing! I think that would be awesome and if anyone has any suggestions that would be great. That about ties it up I guess, I am sorry this entry is a little bit dry but I am tired and if I decide to add more I will... If you decide to hike anywhere, please remember. "Take Only Photographs, and Leave Only Your Thanks"