It is drizzling and foggy outside, but since the Camino weather might be miserable too we will be going for our planned hike anyway. Philip and AJ are coming with me and Tanja today and we decided to use Philip’s new car to get there. His Jeep Compass has enough leg space in the back, so much more comfortable than my little car. Philip has not been on any long walks with us yet, but he thinks this distance will suit him and will give him the exercise he needs. AJ loves long distance walking so he is jumping at the bit. So off we go!
I found this hike on the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club’s website. You can earn a “Historical Hike” badge when you do 5 specific hikes picked to celebrate Canada’s 150th. You get a little bit of background information about the area that you are hiking with the added incentive of earning a badge to show for your effort. These hikes are all longer than 10 km.
We park the car and hike to where the white blaze marks the main trail into the forest. We walk up the hill to where the signs tell you more about the trail. The maps are pretty good and show you where you are as well as the distances of the various side trails that are marked with blue blazes. Today we are doing the Tom East, Isabel East and Glen Cross side trails and we are coming back via the main trail. We will be walking altogether 11.3 km according to the map. (Originally we thought it would be a 10 km hike.)
The Scenery is absolutely gorgeous. The fence is made of wood and almost looks artistic. The meadow along the trail looks so green and in the fog everything looks a little romantic too. They told us that the part of the Camino that we are doing is very scenic and I am wondering how O Cebreiro will compare! We will wait and see…
The trilliums are everywhere! I take a picture of Tanja where it looks like she is surrounded by trilliums. She took a picture of me walking under the canopy of trees thinking how God looks after us.
I am contemplative in nature when it comes to sharing my relationship with God. In Psalm 139 it says that He is in you, in front of you, above you and holds His hand over you. I think I paraphrased a little, but that is how I see my life’s journey here on earth. When I walk in the presence of God, I am filled with His Holy Spirit and everything I do or say is to His Glory. I see nature/God’s creation as a visible reminder of God’s omni–presence. Photography is my way of sharing God’s presence. I leave it up to the Holy Spirit to create the insight. Everybody is created in a unique way and we all reflect God’s light differently. Together we create the symphony of God’s love. Since my approach is so subtle, I realize that I should try harder to put my interpretation into words to serve as accompaniment to my photographs in order to communicate the message.
This hike is extremely hilly. Lots of ups and downs. After 2 hours we are not even half way yet!! Normal walking speed would be 4 km per hour. It took us a little over 5 hours to finish the complete distance. We did stop fairly frequently to enjoy the scenery and also had a quick lunch consisting of fruit, cheese and crackers. I was the slowest and the others took turns to walk with me. In the end AJ even put my backpack inside his!! Team work paid off and we all made it back to the car in one piece.
Walking the Walk 
Beautiful. Thank you, Margreet for sharing!!!
Thank you!
That was so lovely I felt I was walking with you as I read & saw you there in the picture s.very inspirational.
Glad you liked it. Happy to share