Chasing Waterfalls, Racing the Sun

Of course I've been to Harrison Park dozens of times. Mostly when my kids were little and it would be an opportunity to run off some steam after a morning of errands in Owen Sound.

And of course I've been to Inglis Falls. The crashing mother of all waterfalls that embody the wild nature of Grey County.

I have not, however taken the time to actually use the hiking trails in that area before, which is really a crime! So since we have unseasonable beautiful weather in November, I pack the whole family up and before we do a couple of hours of errands in "the city", we gather full lungs of fresh air on the Bruce Trail.

There are a few flukes that have gone my way to make this happen. Covid-19 being the most noteworthy.

I am working most days from home. So when the horn sounds I'm ready to go! For the kids, high school classes end at 2:00 followed by a study period, so they can drive themselves home by 2:30. (and because of social isolating, they have nothing better to do than hang out with us!) As for Scot, well Covid hasn't changed farming much, but he can sneak away early once in a while!

You'd expect everyone to be as elated as I was to be out on the trail on a Friday night. But a couple of complaints quickly arose.

One - this is not a hike with a code on it. Its not a nature reserve and so while in the Sydenham section of the Bruce Trail...it's not in the book. Very disappointing for my treasure hunters!

Two - This is a linear hike. We park at Harrison Park, hike to Inglis Falls and then turn around and retrace our steps back to the car. Colton is only now expressing very solid opinions on loop hikes vs. linear hikes. I'll let you guess his opinion.

Three - We are racing the sun. It is November after all so we have to seriously boot it to cover the 6km of uneven trail before it's completely dark. We are also racing the stores closing while we're still on the trail. Everyone has shorter hours right now, Covid restrictions again.

Isn't this view worth all of the racing and chasing?

For every parent out there who imagines their family on the trail with them, singing Black Socks and identifying trees by their Latin names and bark patterns, this is more likely a look at an afternoon on the trail. I'm not saying that they are always grumpy to be hiking, they do love it!

I have yet to get them to sing Black Socks with me though.

Still worth it I think? Drag them outside with you, every chance you get!

P.S. the closer you get to Inglis Falls, the more challenging the trail is, but this is a great hike for most all hikers and for families with littles.

6km hiked

1 and a half hours

November 6, 2020