What the blazes?! How to not get lost on the trail.

I have gone the wrong way, but I have never been lost!

Ok, more than once. I've gone the wrong way or missed a turn more than once.

The Bruce Trail is marked by white paint called blazes. They are spaced in such a way that you should pretty much always be able to see the next one. The side trails are marked in the same way, but with blue paint. If you hike with me I assume that the person in the front is always in charge of keeping one eye out for the blazes.

If you're hiking and you don't remember seeing a blaze in a bit, follow your tracks back until you can pick it up again. They are most often on trees, but can be on fence posts, their own sign post, or even on rocks. Mostly trees though. The blue side trails will often form loops either on their own or in combination with the white marked main trail.

Both times that I was "lost" were because I missed or never found the blue trail to loop with. (ok, once, I also hiked east for an hour instead of west. I'm working on my sense of direction!)

You should not expect there to be directions on the trail, so definitely prepare before you go. Know what direction to loop back to your vehicle. If you're using a blue side trail, it will be named wherever it meets the main trail. You're not lost if you go the wrong way, but it might take you a while to accept you got it wrong and then backtrack!

While you're researching the trail, be sure to look up the parking. Sometimes there is a small parking lot, or a wider area on the side of the road to park a few cars, and in some places you are permitted to park on the side of the road. The Bruce Trail winds through all kinds of private land by generous landowners, so always be respectful!

Most trail sites, The Bruce Trail Guide, and the book Secrets of Sydenham will rate a trail easy, moderate, or strenuous. I am often heard bemoaning that I am not as goat-footed as I was in my youth, so I'm going to rate the trails on a scale of one goats to five. One being gentle enough to almost take a stroller on, and five goats is steep and rocky enough that I considered getting down on my butt to prevent falling down!

Always be safe on the trail! Remember that conditions can change quickly after a rain. Always tell someone where you plan to hike and how long you expect to be. And hiking is always more fun (and safer) with a friend.

For more safety tips on the trails, visit the Bruce Trail Conservancy site by clicking on their photo of the blazes.

Happy Hiking!