Once rested I continued along the middle section of trail as it made its way to the series of small ponds on the upper flank. The trail seemed to zip past quickly and before expected I was wandering among the upper ponds. Next came the steepest section and along this area there was still some snow on the trail, not a lot but it did provide for some variety. Soon I was rounding the turn on the summit and calling out to the couple who were spread out on the highest rocks. In all, I made the summit in an hour 40 minutes. A very fast time for me. The view was a bit covered in some low cloud but the sun was breaking through more and more.

Once rested and finished my lunch I set up my 2m radio and started making calls. The first was to another hiker just across the valley on Black Mountain. I could almost shout at him. So I had the summit activated and with a Summit-to-summit to boot. I continued to make contacts including another hiker on a summit. By the end I had 17 in the log. By now the flies were starting to take notice of my presence and so I took a few minutes to gather some photos as the clouds had cleared and then packed away the radio. It was a very good morning so far.

The flight back down the trail went even faster and I noticed that I was back to the car after an hour fifteen. So I made very good time in the cooler air and felt I had a very pleasant trip up the summit. The drive home went quickly as well as there were no backups on the highway in my direction though the opposite direction was moving very slowly in places.

Ralph was using his Alex Loop antenna today, his last time with it was not a success and so this time he wanted to give it a better try and see how it would do. While he set that up I got my two-meter Yagi deployed along with a small portable table I got at Christmas. I put out a few calls and was hearing no responses. I was able to work Carolyn before long and then a chap and his wife in Abbotsford. After a long period of calling I only heard a few brief responses but not enough to log the contact. 2m seemed to be quite dead today for some reason. Meanwhile Ralph had gotten his loop set up and using my KX2 was making a number of contacts in CW (Morse). After a while I stopped to eat lunch and then tried a few more calls to no avail.

After lunch Ralph had completed more than enough contacts and so I was able to switch the radio to phone mode and after putting out a spot on the sota list, I started making some calls. I soon had a contact with a chap in Kansas and then a second with a station in Minnesota. So the loop and KX2 were working well with the 12 watts. I tried a few more calls but soon I got crowded by some other stations and since I had enough contacts, I called it quits for the day. So now to pack up and head down.  One of the benefits of this location is the number of mountain bikers that take a breather at this clearing. We chat with many of them explaining the fun of radio. One pair of cyclists were quite amazed when I announced my successful working of the two mid-western contacts.

After packing up, we began the walk down and were soon dumping our gear into the car. It was a fun time on the summit in the fresh air, and even though only a low hill the time amongst the trees was still quite rewarding. As we descended back to the crowds on the highway, we stopped at another Starbucks for a warm up coffee and then continued on our way home. Now to plan the next summit before too much time passes by.

This road was in much better condition and we were hopeful. After what seemed like a long drive, we arrived at the first of the lakes. The road continued past as the map showed and then swung south heading back toward the road that dead-ended on us. Right at the place it would have forked with the summit road the now the only road, it swung right and continued up the slope! It was now the access road. Great news. I continued driving up the spur, by now it was down to a pair of ruts along the road bed with small trees growing in the middle. I continued following the road, taking the left fork near the top of the way and soon we were heading due south to the final ridge and activation area.

The road played out right where my original maps showed, and Google Earth indicated. We were in the activation zone! The area was full of head height trees from replanting, but the road area was still clear, and we were able to park and set up a table and chairs. After planning how we would string the OCF wire antenna we got my fiberglass mast stretched out and the antenna attached. While Ralph and Nick were getting the HF antenna in the air, I got my 2m yagi set up and put out a quick call to John Bell who was hiking a quadruple summit run in Cypress. I managed to get him first call – he was on the second peak already – Mt. Hollyburn. Once logged, I helped the other two get the wire in the air and Ralph on the HF radio then we both got busy making more contacts. I managed John a second time once he reached the summit of Mt Strachan.

When we had finished our lunch and filled our log books with various contacts, Ralph even worked a station in New Zealand, we packed up the gear and looked to the side of the road in the direction of the posted summit. Our location was only about 7m below the summit peak and the area was quite broad so finding the exact high point in the brush would be hard. We decided to give it a bit of a go and so we pushed through some dense tree growth towards the summit location. We went about 75m when we came by a grouping of rocks which we decided might be the highest point. I decided to push in a bit further to see if the old growth area was higher but upon getting there, I wasn’t so sure it was much different. So, we decided to say we had reached the high point and set off back to the truck. It is easy to drop down hill too fast when returning and this was the case today as well. Fortunately, being aware of the tendency I managed to get us back to the road without much drift. It was a fun side excursion and it reminded us of how nice open forest is.

Once back in the truck we started back the way we came. I stopped to gather a few photos of a frozen pond and when we got down to the major road, we decided to visit Gwendoline Lake for a phot op. It was a very pretty setting and well worth the effort to visit. The final drive back to the gate went well though my truck was making a clicking sound while the 4x4 was engaged. So that will need to be looked into. The gate key unlocked the gate for us again and we were outside the forest, I gathered a few last photos before we started for home. It was a very pleasant day in the hills, the drive-up was very nice and we had some good success making contacts.

I then moved on to a third bridge, Fulton Bridge, this was another single lane metal bridge and here I found a few more images that had some interest. Not as colourful as the second bridge but still it was interesting.

Done with the the three I had planned I decided to head on to the highway. We did pass a number of lovely bushes of colour, but the dull day hid almost all of it. So, I didn’t bother to stop. It will be a nice place to return to next year when the sun is out.

Muncey road also had a new type of stop sign which I had never seen before. If not for its colour and shape I would not have known what it was. ‘Stop’ was replaced with the First Nations word, Nookshkaan,  that I guess means stop! In coming out this way, I was also hoping to find a small cemetery I had spotted before where the grave markers were collected and placed in a large cement base. As the day wore on, I was beginning the think I would not find it, and after studying the map I was even less certain I could locate it. Except that as I looked up and to my left, I was starring right at the cement structure! Go figure, glad I wasn’t watching the map too closely.

I parked and wandered the memorial field; the river was not far below but again it was blocked by a field of trees and electric fence. I continued to road 8 and stopped at its bridge over the river. Here I found a number of interesting sights along the short segment of the river. On the one side I was able to get down below the bridge but the view was not as good as above. So, after getting my fill of photos I started heading back to the shop to gather up Carolyn. I took a leisurely return and found another creek valley with some colours and cows to capture. It was a tranquil spot with lots of interest. I could have stayed much longer but time was running out so I quickly snapped a few photos and continued on the road. Soon I was on the final road headed to the shop where Carolyn was now waiting. A pleasant day with not an overly large number of photos but it was a relaxing adventure which really is the whole point.

The scene was lovely with the waves were crashing over the top of the final bit of the causeway that leads to the lighthouse. I stopped to gather a number of high waves as they doused the walk. Some were higher than the lamp stands. As sunset came a few others gathered to photograph and video the waves. Some got a bit wet from the spray, including myself. At least it is fresh water not like spray at home! Soon the last moments of the sunset came. It was quite overcast and there was only a brief moment when the sun was visible below the clouds and above the horizon. Not an overly great sunset but still it proved interesting with the rough waves.

Once the sun was gone, I refocused on the causeway and with the lights now coming on, I had some interesting new scenes to enjoy. After a few more images I packed away the gear and casually walked back along the walkway. A short day but it had its own beauty demonstrating the power of nature.

The Jamestown area had a very lovely forest across the fields which offered lots of photos. I was actually more interested in the weeds in the field between me and the trees. The trees offered some nice back drop to the weeds, but my main interest was actually the field. I continued along the road and stopped next at the beach in Port Bruce. Here the colour was in the distance but the grass alongside the shoreline was interesting and offered some nice textures against the distant colour. I found a few pieces of driftwood that caught my eye and I tried a number of angles with it as my focal point.  The wind was blowing so the grass wasn’t great for close-ups but I was able to get a few shots that caught my imagination.

By now noon had come and gone and the clouds were getting thicker, what had started as a bright overcast day had become a dull one. So, I figured it was time to head back and enjoy a few hours of reading and rest while I watched the activity in the harbor. I did feel I found some alternate interests to the basic tree picture so in the end the day worked out well.

Next we walked the eastern direction to the Trafalgar Point area. By now the numbers of people had increased, I guess this direction is more popular. We didn’t find as many viewpoints this way but even at the ones we did the colours were now more muted as the sun was directly above us. When we reached the view area we stopped to gather pictures and then we climbed down the stairs to where we could climb out onto a ledge on the cliff. I opted to not climb up as my dislocated shoulder would not appreciate the strain yet. I did get a couple pictures of Mike up on the ledge. Then I dropped down to the base of the vertical a section where a trail made its way along the bottom. Here there were numerous groups of rock climbers organizing their climbs.

The first climbers we came by were a young couple. The chap made his way up first pulling the rope and setting some clips securing his rope. Once at the top he dropped down and his partner started her way up. It looked like a lot of fun and not overly difficult. But the closest I got to climbing was with chatting with them. My shoulder certainly wouldn’t want any part of that.

After watching the climbers a while, we returned to the top and wandered to the next viewpoint and then returned along the trail. The place is certainly popular.  There was a chap offering rock climbing experiences for thirty dollars that looked inviting. Once back to the car we pulled out noticing that there were a few more open parking spots than when we arrived.  We followed the road to the top lot and exit. This lot was packed full of cars and there was a backlog of 15 cars waiting to pay to get in. More arrived as we drove out!

Being past lunch, we decided to head for the small restaurant in Lowville that we enjoyed last year. It was once again a very enjoyable meal. After lunch I was feeling quite tired, my earlier than normal start had caught up to me and I wasn’t up to more adventure. So, we drove back to Burlington and there we did stop for a break visit to the beach on the far western shore of Lake Ontario. The wind was very refreshing. A short drive further and I was back at the hotel where I could get a brief snooze before heading out for dinner. A lovely visit with lots of brilliant colours. The waterfall will have to wait for my next visit.

Done with parking, we made for the trail and were soon walking towards the falls. We ended up walking the length of the parking area twice as we didn’t realize that the trail actual doubles back alongside the parking lot.  Once we got to the viewpoint overlooking the falls, we started to have some nice colour and views to enjoy, at least what we could see through the crowds. I gathered some photos and then we continued along the trail to the point. Mid way we dropped down to a rock ledge that juts out into the gorge and offers some nice views of the Tews falls. We met a pair of guys who were making their way to the bottom. Their first route ended in a cliff so they had to resort to the simpler path that had a rope to help.

We continued to the point where we spent time taking in the colour and grandeur of the location along with dozens of others who were enjoying the day. Then it was back to the car to look for a place to eat lunch. Mike thought of driving to Waterdown and so we made straight for there. The area was vastly built up from what Mike remembered but we made our way through all the new malls to the older part of town where we found a place to park so I could try contacting Ralph at home via amateur radio. I tried a number of repeater sites but most I couldn’t reach and those I did were not responding on IRLP so I wasn’t able to call him.

Done with radio, we found a spot in the old town for lunch a nice little soup and sandwich café -  Jitterbug . It was quite nice and we both enjoyed the food there. Our next stop was at the Smokey Hollow Waterfall. Here we found a stairway to a view platform above the falls it was a nice view but it wasn’t overly scenic. On our way back Mike found a route along the creek to where it dropped down and gave access to the creek. From there we scrambled back to the waterfall gathering photos. It was a nice spot with many scenes to capture. A few others had also walked the creek and were busy taking photos as well.

It was now getting on and we had to get back. We thought that it would be a nice spot to revisit perhaps tomorrow. The drive back to my hotel went fairly quickly even despite the Friday afternoon traffic. A very nice day taking colour photos and waterfall pictures.