Walking on a Wednesday, Silent Valley second time - Hike #4

My Grandmother used to say "one's a wish, two's a kiss, three's a disappointment"

Now, she was referring to sneezes, but there couldn't be a better expression to describe my hikes in the Silent Valley Nature Reserve.

My first hike here was back in September here and I left it wishing for more group hikes, wishing we'd made it through the Avalanche side trail to see what what there, wishing for more.

My second time hiking around the Silent Valley Nature Reserve was a beautiful Wednesday in October. A kiss of fall in the air, two codes collected and a weekday off to explore with friends. Sweet like a kiss!

I met my friend and co-worker Cindy and her daughter Cara who was home for a reading week and we headed out on what started as a very soggy trail.

Taking a clockwise route, we headed down the Wilson Homestead Side Trail, past the well and barn foundation that still amaze me. We paused at the plane crash. It seems too small to have every held 4 people in the sky!

The trail dries out at we start to slowly climb the escarpment and I start looking for the Secrets of Sydenham clues I missed the first time. I'm looking for a tree with steel and a boulder hanging in suspension (that I was pretty sure I'd identified the first time, so easy peasy)

I've never wanted to give any spoilers for others seeking the codes on the 30 nature reserves. But let me just say that the 4 codes in this reserve are the trickiest in the whole book. I am not the only one to need more than 3 hikes to find them all! (ya, refer to the little rhyme at the top and I'll cover that third hike in a much later post!)

I think I could keep hiking this area over and over and never tire of it!

This hike we were also headed into a land locked reserve called the Waisberg Nature Reserve. Its almost 2km farther along the main trail.

The views did not disappoint! Slide through the below images to see the scenic lookout.

As we came down the Silent Valley Side Trail we chose the Avalanche Pass Side Trail and was it ever neat! Giant moss covered boulders resting peacefully now, but you can imagine the way the earth would have shook as they all crashed into this position during their great fall.

Today, you can stand in one spot and see

Maidenhair Spleenwort Fern

Northern Holly Fern

Hart's Tongue Fern and

Bulblet Fern without even moving your feet. And I likely missed a couple distinct varieties I can't identify properly yet!

The very definition of peaceful for me.

The Zettlers are awesome hiking partners and I'm looking forward to hitting the trails with them again soon!

October 28. 2020

9km hiked

3.5 hours