T.S. Giilck
If you want to take a large step into the past, head for the Lloyd Laycock side trail in the former Sydenham Township. I recently had the chance to visit the property again, more than ten years after my first and only hike there.
Like so many sections of the iconic Bruce Trail, the side trail features a spectacular surprise tucked off the main section of the wandering footpath, in the form of an imposing canyon and deep crevice cave in an outcropping of the escarpment.
Like the nearby Boyd side trail, the Laycock Cave is located so near a main road – in this case Highway 26 – as to be astonishing that it’s not better known. The canyon and cave can be accessed from either Highway 26 or from Sideroad 22 to the north of the highway. The highway entrance is the most direct and shortest route, which is the way I first visited the Laycock property. On my most recent visit, I took the somewhat longer and more scenic route from Sideroad 22.
From there, the trail wends its way through open farm fields at first, which provides a pleasant ramble and lots of time to gradually warm up. The more scenic part of the trail curls around the foot of the escarpment outcropping, providing some excellent and imposing views of its stony brow.
“This is really like stepping into the land that time forgot,” my hiking partner remarked, as we kept an eye on the trail blazes. We were watching for the blue markers signifying we were nearing the side trail leading to the cave, but it would be a few minutes more of walking before we found them after a semi-strenuous scrabble up the face of the escarpment.
Patches of snow still lingered here and there, and the footing was a bit soft and wet, making caution the word of the day. It wasn’t far to the entrance of the canyon from there, a narrow gate-like gap in a towering cleft in the rock.
The canyon is a spectacular site to walk through, full of a colony of ostrich ferns and festooned with lichens. Not surprisingly, patches of ice lingered here and there, but it was still conveniently navigable.
The serious challenge came within seconds, as the floor of the canyon rose a short distance just before the entrance to the cave. A thick layer of ice coated the rocks, and I had neglected to pack spikes for our boots. My heart sank a little, as my agility hasn’t been up to par since a serious surgery a little more than a year ago. It took a few minutes to pick a relatively safe way up the obstacle, involving a maximum amount of huffing and puffing, but the end result was worth it.
The crevice cave is a large one, with enormous rock walls of perhaps 50 feet or more in height. To step into the cave is to feel the weight of the world upon you. We ventured some small distance into its depths, but the ice on its floor proved a bit more daunting, and we didn’t finish a complete exploration of it. That ice is known to persist into the summer months, a testament to the unique micro-climate of the site.
We gingerly picked our way back out, and even more tentatively navigated our way back down the small hill that we had so laboriously picked our way up. “It was sure easier going up than going down,” quipped my hiking partner. I had to agree.
We retraced our steps back to the trail-head quietly, marvelling over what lay hidden in the rocky heart of the escarpment, and wondering what other treasures remained unseen.
