Another Day on the Peninsula

2019-09-03
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada

Last night was a bit interesting. I woke up around 3:00 and decided to get up to look at at the stars. It's very dark on the peninsula so you can see quite the spectacular sky. They encourage darkness so much that they don't even light the bathhouse, which I visited. I mean, I was already up, so why not? When I got back to my campsite, I hear an animal in the tree over my tent. She was not happy. I felt obliged to determine whether or not it was a small bear, as, you know, something to put in my blog. I have readers to consider!

Using my flashlight I was able to determine that it was a raccoon. It certainly seemed upset to see me. I knew that I hadn't dropped any food nor was any in my tent, but the previous tenants were less tidy (I picked up some bits of candy). Once I was sure of the species I went into my tent and waited quietly for her to leave. Which she did eventually do, although "quietly" is not the adjective I'd use to describe her departure; if I didn't know better I'd think a chihuahua had escaped from a nearby camper. I should point out that although a tent feels like a room, there was really only 10 cm and two thin pieces of nylon separating my head from the raccoon as it left the tree. Perhaps I'm getting that same laissez-faire attitude that the wildlife has; I had no trouble falling back asleep.

The hike for today is Lions Head, which refers to a stone formation on the cliffs. I'll be on the wrong sides of the shoreline to see the lion, but then I find it easier to hike on land. The original plan was a 9.5 mile loop when I set off. It's really a very nice trail but rugged with a lot of worn rocks and tree roots. It is also incredibly well-marked and maintained.

There weren't many people on the trail so I got to see an owl with stripes. It didn't pose for long, but I did get a couple shots which I used to google "striped owl." Turns out it's a Striped Owl.

About a mile into the hike it started drizzling. I pressed on, checking out the views along the cliff. Considering how beautiful it is in the overcast, it must be quite nice with a blue sky.

As I crossed Lion's Head around 2 miles in, the rain picked up a bit. I put the rain fly on my camera pack, but I was still fine without a raincoat myself. At the 2.5 mile mark I decided that the worn rock on this trail was glissant lorsqu'il est mouillé (slippery when wet, for those that don't read "French highway sign"). At about 3 miles the rain picked up a fair amount and i ended up with my rain jacket on for the duration back to the car.

After I got back to my car, quite wet, I drove a metric crapton of kilometers up to Sudbury. Seriously, if you want to feel like you've driven half way across the country, measure it in kilometers. I did finally have to stop for gas, and as I feared my credit card didn't work. I purposely reset my PIN before leaving so I'd have it, but no dice. Luckily they were able to ring it through with a signature inside. I think that should be enough to get me back to the US where my cards will work like I'm used to, for better or worse. But I know the lines at the border; I don't want to be low on gas there.

Hiking Distance: 8 km