Marching into March

Back in March I grabbed my ruck and went for an extended wander. Only now getting around to sticking up the few photos I took. 

Cut across Chedoke Golf Course. No one golfing yet.

Despite it being a beautiful day, chilly but sunny, this was the extent of people out. One cyclist overtook me, and 17 walkers and 3 cyclists passed me on the trail. Oh well.

View out across the Dundas Valley, the Niagara Escarpment on the opposite side on the left, with Lake Ontario in the distance on the right.

Closer to the Lake.

Hawk soaring on the thermals of the Escarpment.

Chedoke Gorge Cleanup

This past Sunday saw a community effort, called The Escarpment Project to clean up various spots along the Niagara Escarpment here in Hamilton. Decided to volunteer for the Chedoke Gorge, since it was the spot closest to me, and also one I’m rather fond of. I’ve cleaned up various spots I frequent around here, and I could go and clean any spot at any time, but it seemed like a good thing to participate in a larger group effort.

Although, me being me, I never really participated in the larger group effort. I got there early in the morning, several hours before the official start time, and went off on my own. One of the updates on this had mentioned something about the City saying there were places people shouldn’t go, and team leaders would direct people where they could go. I sort of get why they say that: some of the terrain in these gorges is pretty serious, some of the really steep sides are a fragile eco-system, and a bunch of well meaning but clueless teenage urbanites could either damage something or get themselves seriously hurt. I’m really comfortable out in the woods, know what to avoid tromping all over, and knew what spots I really needed to clean from past experience. Fearing that officious busy bodies would tell me not to go there, I just went off on my own. The weather also looked a bit iffy early in the morning, and I had a thought they might call it off.

A photo taken of the Chedoke Gorge the week before from above. The mouth of it is a long way off from here.

The mouth of the Chedoke Gorge.

Lower Chedoke Falls.

Looking back towards the mouth.

Just to give a sense of the size of some of the boulders I had to clamber over and around.

The pack I took with me. Kifaru Express with the CargoChair attached. This terrain is a challenge to move through with both hands free – I knew I didn’t want to tackle it with a big bag full of garbage in my hands. Strapping it to the pack was the smart way to go.

Atop the Lower Chedoke Falls

 Nice spot for a break.

Looking further up the Gorge, with the Upper Chedoke Falls in the distance.

One of the many things I found: a rusted and busted bicycle. No idea how long it had been there, but a gorge filled with boulders that get shoved around by the forces of water and erosion, meant it was stuck in there. Jutting partially out of the ground, I had to give up trying to get more than that out because it had been shoved up against a jumble of boulders, then smashed into by other rocks and boulders and layers of sedimentation, for potentially years or decades.

Other than this, I freed a jumble of fencing, barbed wire and fence posts from the stream, and found an endless array of cans and plastic bottles and a bunch of other junk.

On the hunt for more crap. The jumble of rocks made for lots of hiding spots.

I found a can with the two tabs you had to push in - the little one at the back for air to go in, and the bigger one at the front to drink from. They stopped making them in the early 80s I think.

There’s a spot right near here that is a shitbag party pit. Spent a lot of time cleaning up broken glass there. I get wanting to sit in nature and have a drink. But if they can bring a full bottle in, why can they not bring the empty one out? Did I mention that I really hate people sometimes?

Managed to fill a bin liner. Considerably larger than the pack itself, the terrific Kifaru CargoChair made it much safer and easier to move over the rocks and boulders. 

What you can’t see are the chunks of aluminum and steel I moved down and out of the gorge by hurling them ahead of me, walking to where they were, chucking them forward, and so on. Took me a while, but every little bit helps.

As I was heading out, the other volunteers were just starting.

Hauled it all out to the official collection point, signed the CYA permission/liability slip, mainly just so I could be added to the official count of how many people participated. Which was apparently over 400. Disappointed to find out that this was not one of the places that free food and Starbucks coffee was being handed out to volunteers. D’oh!

An article in the local paper about the event.

Autumnal Splendour

Two days of walking. Out along the Radial Trail and Scenic Drive. One day I just went wandering for exercise and fun and enjoying the scenery. The second day I went for the afore mentioned and also to wander out to Ancaster to a large retail center partly to a branch of a large chain of home improvement stores to investigate different materials for water resistant seals for kayak hatches.

Brought along a hiking helper and sauntered in the direction of the golf course. Temps were idyllic. Sweater weather. Despite that, and despite it being a few hours before dusk, there was no one out playing.

The post war era clubhouse. Looking a little down at the heels now. Actually went into it for the first time today. It’s usually closed, and I other wise have little to no cause to go in. Filled a water bottle from the fountain.

Spencer Gorge in the distance.

 Another glimpse across the valley.

Funny how you can live in a place for years, and there are still spots you’ve never explored. For some reason, when I take this trail, I usually always take it back. Rarely go along the road, and usually only at night, that skirts the top of the Escarpment. (The old rail trail being only about halfway up it.) Of course the views are a little better. Duh. Went along the edge and found some tracks that led to a nice look out.

A look out across the area I refer to as the old rifle range. To me this is one of the reasons I like living here. Not far from home are little spots like this. A bit out of the way, with a nice view.

In the center, about a quarter of the way from the left, you can make out the rock shelf that the previous two pictures were taken from.

Sit, enjoy the fall colours, admire the view, saunter home again.

Former railway line.

Former railway line, the next day.

McMaster Hospital in the center of the photo.

Same spot I was in yesterday, just on an overcast day.

Cliffview Gorge.

Delighted to see a young fox dart out in front of me, grab a walnut in its mouth, and run off into the woods clinging to the Escarpment.

Upper Sanatorium Falls...I think.

Fall Falls pt. 2 – Balls to the Walls

Last Sunday I wandered along the Niagara Escarpment, and had such a swell time I did it again this Sunday. Like last week, it was a grey, rainy day, but I will take a cool autumn day over a summer scorcher any day.

Partly I went because I just enjoy going wandering, and also because I had the idea to get down into Scenic Gorge to take some photos of the falls from below. It’s a steep descent and right now with freshly fallen leaves and quite a few rainy days in the last several weeks, they’ll be slippery and the ground underneath will be muddy. That’s what held me back last week, but all week I kept thinking about throwing caution to the wind and making my way down. It’s an intermittent waterfall, only making an appearance after rainfalls or spring melt. Best time to get some photos of it is now, after weeks of rainy weather. The descent involved a mud skidded ass and hands that required a rinse off in the creek, but I made it down in one piece

Start of the trail.

Made a little detour into Chedoke Gorge. Didn’t go in that far.

Remarkable where foliage will take hold.

From here I opted to check out the rest of the gorge. All those rocks you see on the ground – they covered the entire floor of the gorge from one end to the other. Some the size of a fist, some the size of a toaster, some the size of an oven, some the size of a car. Not to mention then being covered in leaves, and plenty of fallen trees. Made for treacherous footing.


I decided to explore another avenue out of the gorge further up and once I figured out that was a no go, I came back down and had a pucker moment when a rock slid out from under my foot, one leg went in one awkward direction, another foot slid and got wedged in behind another rock. My body, my legs, my knees, my ankles were in a strangely disjointed pose before I plunked myself down on my ass and stopped before anything snapped. Deep breath. And...on we go.

It seems that this is an area not frequented by people that much, simply by the lack of garbage. I only found three beer bottles and four beer cans. Probably too much trouble for shitheads to scramble in and clamber back out. What garbage there is looks like it is carried down here by the creek. A couple of tires, a completely rusted out wheel barrow, a destroyed suitcase. I’d like to organize a clean up of this area and one other in the spring. Do it with a group of people, some up top with ropes that can haul the stuff up and out. Trying to climb up the walls with tires and garbage bags in my hands doesn’t seem so feasible.

One last look around before clambering back out.

Even within the confines of a big city, and a highway not too far away, a really peaceful spot. Getting to sit on a big rock for a while, with the sound of a waterfall and a burbling brook right nearby - fantastic.