T.S. Giilck
I would walk 500 miles – The Proclaimers
It might not have been 500 miles, but it might have seemed that way to the president of the Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club last month.
Jill Smith-Brodie was one of the people taking up the dare put on by the Bruce Trail Conservancy last month to walk 50 kilometres in a day.
“It was CHALLENGING!! (sic) mainly due to weather – violent thunderstorms with rain, thunder, lightning and HAIL! (sic)”, Brodie wrote in a Facebook post. “The latter covered the path in hailstones making it impassable, so that several people who took shelter under a large overhang were stranded and some decided to abandon the hike.”
“At one point as I stood at the top of the escarpment and the lightning flashed I thought it was best to get below the escarpment and find shelter,” she continued. “I hurried along and saw the ladder that would take me down. As I got closer I realized the ladder was metal, I was so wet by then and the rains torrential that I figured, oh well, carry on. Between storms there was some sun and many stunning panoramic views across the bay.”
Smith-Brodie added she and her hiking companion saw more poison ivy than they had ever seen in the “lush green landscape”.
“But we had little time to stop and admire it. We heard many woodpeckers drumming on the trees, saw massive tall oaks, and baby oaks at their feet, and heard Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, robins, warblers, and other unknown birds singing in the tree tops.”
The event was a fundraising challenge for the Bruce Trail Conservancy.
