Since it was a holiday and I had absolutely no plans, I slept in. There was no rush to get home, and no rush hour traffic, so no need to start super early. I left the house just before 8AM and was on the trail just before 9AM.

The weather was super hot this time, I brought lots of water.

The trail started on mostly surface streets, and there are some really nice homes up there on Ridge Road. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll miss the Grimsby Garden Tour.

I was thinking a lot about that word while I was walking… “home”. In a very real sense I don’t feel like I have one anymore. I have a house I live in (for now) and people come and go from it, but the sense of “home” doesn’t seem to exist anymore, at least not the way it did.

Sorry about that, the rest of the post will be more upbeat.

There were lots of fields, some interesting cars including a Corvette for sale and a derelict VW bus. I met a couple going in the opposite direction who were wearing the minimum amount of clothing not to get arrested, but were absolutely firing on all eight cylinders. I mean if they aren’t making money off “amateur” films they are missing out. I thought this would be a harbinger of things to come (other hikers I mean) in that it was Canada Day and what better way to celebrate than enjoying the beautiful nature this country has to offer? But, I met surprisingly few people on the trail, and this was my longest hike so far.

As I suspected when I was looking at the map for this section of the trail, there really isn’t that much to talk about. It was just a walk through the woods. Which is nice, but you run out of stuff to say pretty fast. I mean really, how many pictures can you take of trees?

None the less, you’ll see some photos of what I’m pretty sure are flowers and berries that I haven’t photographed before. In the early sections near Grimsby there were again some gorgeous lookouts over the peninsula and Lake Ontario.

I saw quite a few birds on this hike: There were a few hawks screaming and taking flight as I walked past, a mating pair of Blue Jays that shadowed me for a kilometre or two (did you know they mate for life, noble creatures), many Robins (I found an egg right in the middle of the trail), and a few Red Jays (sorry I can’t resist, this is what my son Will called them the first time he saw them). Unfortunately they move so fast that it’s almost impossible to get a picture of them.

Once I started crossing railroad tracks I knew I was getting closer to what I thought might be my stopping point. The Devil’s Punchbowl is a waterfall/rock formation just outside Hamilton, Ontario. The trail doesn’t actually go up to the falls, but I walked up to them anyway. I met two young guys playing marbles here. They were digging small holes in the hill then seeing who could throw a marble closest to or in the hole. They were very enthusiastic about it and I’m sure would have let me join in if I asked.

It’s hard to do the Devil’s Punchbowl justice with an iPhone photo, so here’s a video:

At this point it was about 12:45PM. I had finished almost all my water, and was starting to get tired, to the point that I was stumbling and tripping on rocks and/or roots. I didn’t bring any food or drink (other than water) with me so I thought I’d see if there was somewhere nearby I could retire for lunch. Luckily I was in Stoney Creek, which is just outside Hamilton. And, in Hamilton you’re never too far from a drunk. I mean a drink. I mean… you get the idea. Apple Maps informed me that The Powerhouse was only about 1.5km away and that it was built into the historic power house for the local light railway. That sounded right up my street (or rail) so I walked over. I actually almost threw up from the change of hot and humid outside to air conditioning inside, along with a glass or two of ice water. Luckily that soon subsided and I had some lunch and a cold beer. My God a cold beer tastes great when you’ve earned it. I know I said the same thing last time but it’s true. It was a neat place, the ceiling joists were amazing, made of such huge timbers that I doubt you could recreate them now, there are no trees left that are big enough. I forgot to get any pictures of this, sorry.

I could have retired at this point but I decided to carry on. While I was walking I could hear rushing water, but no obvious source. Walking off the trail a bit I found this:

I passed another beautiful waterfall:

After this it was mostly local trails. I was getting very tired now. It was hard to go on, my feet were hurting, my joints were hurting and my legs were starting to falter. It really was time to stop. I made it to Albion Falls and threw in the towel.

I sent my hiking log to the Niagara section of the trail and they approved it! I should be getting my Niagara end-to-end badge soon.

Only 770.3km to go!