Hazelnut Trail, Birds Hill Park

Date - June 3, 2018
Length - 10 km
Elevation - 145 m
Time - 2 hours 25 minutes

Just a heads up, but there won't be a post on Monday, July 2, 2018. We are going to be on returning from a hike that day and won't have time to post one. Stay tuned for the next post on Thursday, July 5, 2018.

AllTrails map of Hazelnut Trail, and a few detours

We set out to do Hazelnut as a nice morning walk in Birds Hill Park. Hazelnut shares a trail head with Tamarack Trail so it is pretty easy to find. The first kilometer heads out around the Polo field before reaching the trees and taking a sharp right along the edge of them. We wandered a bit into the trees trying to find an alternate route as there were horse trailers everywhere, but we ended up just going through the crowd of horse trails along the trail proper.

View along the trail

The trail is well kept and nice and wide. It was enjoyable to walk beside Roslyn for most of the hike instead of in front of or behind her. Even though there was some rain the day before, the trail was not too muddy as well.

Forest Fungi that Roslyn took a picture of

The large detour at the bottom right hand side of the map happened because Roslyn and I were confused over a trail sign and ended up walking out to the edge of the park along a secondary trail head before turning around and making it back to finish the loop.

Confusing trail sign

Apparently that sign meant that Hazelnut Trail goes both forward and to the left. It made sense after we realized that but at the time it wasn't very clear, especially because the trail doesn't actually turn for another 50 m.

Frog on the trail

After getting back on route, we saw about 20 frogs on the trail, all about the size of your thumb. Roslyn spent 5-10 minutes trying to get a close up of one while we walked along slowly.

About halfway through the loop there is a warming shack with a corral, picnic tables, and a privy. We stopped here for a quick snack and picked up some garbage that was strewn around by an animal. The warming shack apparently doesn't latch well so something got into it and made a mess.

Panorama of the rest area

After we left the rest area, we saw a sign that said the trail rest of the trail was closed. We continued onward anyway because it looked like it was left over from when the snow trails were closing to snowmobile traffic. About 20 minutes later we came across a marsh that was right on the trail.

Marsh on the trail

We gave our water proof boots a run for their money, and managed to get about halfway before it became about 1-2 feet deep everywhere, which was too deep to continue. Not to be deterred, we to a right and trudge through the forest around the marsh.

Forest we walked through

Looking back from the far side

The underbrush was fairly thin so it was easy to wind a path through it, we just needed to make sure we didn't stumble into any water pockets. There was one close call where we nearly walked into some deep water, but otherwise it was an easy detour.

In Roslyn's words:

Yet another beautiful day spent at Birds Hill park walking the Hazelnut trail. The path is very gentle and well kept in the areas that are not closed. Us, somehow mistaking the closed signs for winter snowmobiling signs, found a slightly less kept trail but still clear of debris and very walkable. Arriving at the flooded marsh was a bit like, “oooh, ya OK. I understand the why this is closed”.  You could brute force your way through the muck and come out with mud up past your knees, but bush whacking around the small area was really quite simple. You could always see the marsh so there was very little chance of getting lost, and the underbrush was very tame. There is a warming hut about half way through the hike which is nicely developed and had plenty of picnic tables for a large group. All in all, another lovely morning spent under a canopy of green.

We would do Hazelnut again for an early morning stroll if there weren't so many other trails to try out, maybe next year!

Chickadee Trail - Birds Hill Park

Date - May 26, 2018
Length - 4 km
Elevation - 49 m
Time - 52 min

Sorry about being a day late. Blogger was down for me last night, so here it is now.

AllTrail Map of Chickadee Trail

Chickadee trail was a nice but short hike in Birds Hill Park. It is largely a green tree tunnel with very little elevation change though there is a look out tower and a warming shack about 1/4 of the way along it.

Outside the warming shack

Inside the warming shack

The look out tower gives a view of the tree canopy, but isn't quite tall enough to give a grand view.

The Look Out Tower

In the Look Out Tower

View from the Look Out Tower

In Roslyn's words:

The Chickadee trail is a lovely little walk in Birds Hill, emphasis on the little. It may have been because I thought it was 6 km instead of 4 km, but I almost found it too short. The trail features a lookout about ¼ of the way through the trail but the view was kinda disappointing. The tower needed to be about 5 feet taller as I could not really see over the treetops. It was a very calm evening and the bugs were not bad considering we were in the woods in the later part of the day. I would definitely do this trail again as part of a multi trail day at Birds Hill and would highly recommend it as a first hike for those wanting to test their physical hiking capabilities on a gentle trail.

There's not much to say about this one except that it was a pleasant evening stroll.

RMNP East Border to East Deep Lake via J.E.T - Day 3

Date - May 21, 2018
Length - 17.1 km
Elevation - 238 m
Time - 5 hours 25 minutes

AllTrails map of the trip out on Day 3

Day 3 started bright and early, with the two of us waking up at 6 am with the plan to have everything packed up and ready to go by 7 am. We got dressed, packed up and emptied the interior of the tent, then Roslyn began breakfast while I packed up the tent. Once the tents were packed I started filtering water again to make sure we were topped off for the hike out.

Packing up the tents while Roslyn makes breakfast

Our fuel canister was getting low on fuel and it was pretty windy so boiling water for breakfast took longer than expected, as did getting everything washed up and packed in the first place. By the time we were ready to go it was 7:45 am. A bit of a late start, but it was our first time and we are sure we'll get better at it.

We started the hike out and about 15 minutes into it we hear what sounded like trees knocking together, or antlers knocking on trees. We slowed down and were expecting to see an elk or deer walking through the close trees in the area, but we were surprised by a bear cub popping out of the trees about 30 feet from us instead! We looked around for momma bear and started shouting "Hey, bear". Momma bear wasn't around so we backed up about 30 feet and waited for the bear cub to run off. Be next kilometer was more of the close in trees with a few blind hills, so we took it slowly until we were about a kilometer past the bear siting.

The trip out was much more green than the trip in, which made it pretty interesting to walk through in comparison. All of the tree tunnels were roofed so it kept the sun off and the buds and flowers that were coming out were pretty.

On the way out we stopped at the lookouts to see the view.

Panorama looking out from the North Lookout

Looking west from the North Lookout

Looking east from the North Lookout

In the picture looking west from the North Lookout you can see a few hill slides on the edge of the valley. It turns out they all hit Packhorse trail, which is why it was closed. We are very glad we didn't try to take the trail after seeing them.

Looking east from the South Lookout

Panorama from the south Lookout

In Roslyn's words:

We tried to do a fast tear down in the morning, but with it being our first time doing this back country, it took a little longer than we would have liked. I'm sure this will improve with time as we get more and more familiar with gear and our roles. It definitely wasn't a dull morning walk out of camp as we ran into a bear only about 1 km out of camp. It looked like maybe a 1 year old cub with no mama in sight. We responded as one is supposed to, make noise and back up slowly. It really did not want anything to do with us, typical of a little black bear, so we got back to hiking pretty quickly.

It was absolutely amazing how much the forest had changed in the 2 days since we came in. There were tons of leaves on the trees which made for some really nice intermittent shade. There were flowers blooming on some trees, and the park just seemed more alive. Yay spring! We took the time on the way out to hit the two lookouts we skipped on the way in and my goodness was the extra 2 km worth it. The north lookout is perfect for a lunch break on the way out. There is some solid shade and clear shale ariea to through down at. Just be careful not to drop anything off the cliff or let your water bottles roll down the hill. It is very steep.  When you go to the south lookout, make sure you walk along the shale, it is questionable whether or not there is an actual trail there, but when you round the corner, you can see bald hill very clearly.

The last km hurt but the promise of DQ was a definite will booster. Over all the trip was just amazing. I has 100% confirmed that I really do enjoy backpacking. I will definitely take the cold nights, sore feet, blisters, bugs for the smell of the forest, seeing the colours of the plant life, watching the wildlife, gazing at the stars, and the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.

With our first real backpacking trip out of the way, we have determined that we need to use a checklist, look into a better water filter, and that backpacking is definitely for us! We also need to look into a lighter tent and bringing less food to help cut down on weight.

All in all the trip was amazing, and we can't wait to do more!

RMNP East Border to East Deep Lake via J.E.T - Day 2

Date - May 20, 2018

Length - 10.2 km

Elevation - 192 m

Time - 2 hours 15 minutes

This the second post in our first “series”. The previous post, this post, and the next one cover our May long weekend backpacking trip through an eastern section of Riding Mountain National Park. The total mileage for the trip was 42.6 km. Each post covers one of the three days of hiking!

One way map from EDL to Breezy Hill

Day two was nominally the 'rest and relax' day of the three day trip. We had no mileage planned and were just going to hangout around the camp site. I'll give a bit of an overview of the campsite here, as I forgot to in the last post.

The campsite was large enough for two tents side by side, with a picnic table and a fire pit. The ground quickly sloped down to the water and towards the other campsite in the area so there was not a lot of flat ground, but enough for our group. The camping area also has firewood provided so you don't need to collect your own, steel bear canisters, and a covered outhouse with toilet paper provided. All in all, a pretty cushy camping area.

Campsite 'entrance' looking past the sign in box

To EDL Campsite #1, our neighbours

Open area between Site #1 and Site #2, with the

bear boxes for your food and scented items

Tents stove, and picnic table on Site #2, our site

So, starting from going to bed on Day 1. Overnight the temperature dropped down to 0 C (30 F). Our sleeping bags were good for the temperature, but we had forgotten our sleeping pads. We knew about the forgotten pads the day before, we just didn't think it was a big deal. Tyler had simply decided not to bring a sleeping pad. After experiencing the night on the ground all three of us are going to make sure we don't make the same mistake again.

The problem wasn't that the ground was uncomfortable. The "comfort" part of it was more than adequate. Our problem was the cold. Throughout the night we could feel the ground leeching the heat out of our bodies. It turns out that sleeping bags provide warmth because of their 'loft' and how many air pockets they have for your body heat to warm up. When you lay down on the sleeping bag your body compresses it to the point where there's essentially no loft left in it, so it provides no insulation or warmth. The sleeping pad helps with this by getting you an inch or so off the ground with air pockets that your body can warm up. So, lesson learned, always bring a sleeping pad.

Due to the poor sleeping conditions, animal noises, and growing light, I woke up for good around 5 am, and got out of the tent for the day around 6 am. Roslyn was up a bit before 6 as I dressed, and was out around 6:30. Tyler and I set about filtering water, which I will talk about a bit more later, and Roslyn and I made oatmeal with dehydrated blueberries and mil for breakfast. Tyler and Mathew ate granola bars. The oatmeal was a really great way to start the morning, especially since it was still cool out and only around 5 C.

After hanging around talking for a while it began to warm up. We realized we didn't have any shade, and at around 10:30 am we decided to try and do something about that. We decided on moving to Breezy Hill campsite about 5 km away to see if there was any available shade. Setting up for a quick day trip we packed water and lunch and headed off.

The 5 km trip was fairly pleasant with a good amount of intermittent shade, which was very appreciated. On the way we saw quite a few set of animal tracks, including some faint bear tracks and lots of deer and elk tracks.

Elk hoof print

At Breezy Hill there was a water pump, the water still needed treating, a horse corral, an out house, provided firewood, and three camp sites. Luckily no one was camping here and we moved a picnic table into some shade provided by a tree and waited out the afternoon heat. Around 2 pm we decided to head back to our campsite and were back around 3 pm.

Once we got back to the campsite, we started filtering water. Just as we were finishing, a helicopter started circling the campsite. It made its way over to a dry part of the lake bed a beaver dam had cut off and landed. Three rangers came over to the campsite to put up a notice of the fire ban that was in effect. We were quite happy that that was all it was. We did not fancy the idea of having to pack up and hike out.

Helicopter taking off and going to Breezy Hill to

deliver another fire ban notice

We spent another couple hours sitting around talking before supper, which was dehydrated vegetable flake, bacon bits, and instant mashed potatoes. After cleaning up supper and filtering more water we waited and watched the sun set again before heading off to bed.

Complete still water about 30 minutes before the sun went down

In Roslyn's words:

Day one ended and Day two started with a very cold night due to us forgetting our sleeping pads. I still can’t believe we actually forgot our sleeping pads on a night where it got down to 0 degrees C. Well we definitely learned our lesson. The sleep was not overly uncomfortable, just very cold. I was trying my best to sleep on my side as it was much warmer with as little body touching the ground as possible. I did try sleeping with my pack under my legs but with me trying to stay on my side, this did not work very well. I will definitely try it again when we have our sleeping pads.

A nice bowl of hot oatmeal and hot chocolate warmed us up to a beautiful day. As the morning grew warmer, we decided a hike to the Breezy Hill campsite might be worth our time as our site had no shade. It was a nice easy hike with no real elevation challenges over the 5 km there. The Breezy Hill site was a nice setup if you had horses with you, and we did find some wonderful shade by a picnic table, but filtering water would have been a challenge. The water source was a well and pump which would not have worked well with our hand pump filter. In general our hand pump water filter does not seem like a good fit for us. It is quite large and a hassle to use and clean, prompting us to look into other options for our next trip.

After getting back to the East Deep Lake campsite, we had a bit of excitement with three rangers coming in a helicopter to deliver a fire ban notice (we knew about it already). We were soooo happy that they were only delivering a fire ban notice and not instructing us to evacuate due to a forest fire. I mean, a helicopter is a hell of a ride to deliver a piece of paper. After that, it was a lazy afternoon with a muskrat siting and us trying to stay up to see the stars. I ended up giving up and waking up at 2 am to see the stars without light pollution. Definitely worth it.

Our biggest pet peeve this trip has definitely been the water filter. Its a simple hand pump filter that forces the water through a ceramic filter. Our main problem with it is that after about 2 liters of water you have to wash it or else the flow rate becomes nearly zero. This wouldn't have been a problem if it were just one of us, but we were trying to filter water for four people with the one filter. That being said, it works well for its intended purpose, we were just trying to get more out of it that it could provide. We are currently looking at the Sawyer Squeeze and plan on testing it out soon to see if its the right fit for us. The other option we have been looking at is a gravity filter. Our neighbors on this trip had one and it seemed to work quite well.

Overall, Day 2 was very enjoyable and we would both recommend coming out here if you like backpacking.

RMNP East Border to East Deep Lake, via J.E.T

Date - May 19, 2018

Length - 15.3 km
Elevation - 567 m
Time - 5 hours 37 minutes

This the first post in our first “series”. This post and the next two cover our May long weekend backpacking trip through an eastern section of Riding Mountain National Park. The total mileage for the trip was 42.6 km. Each post covers one of the three days of hiking!

AllTrails map of our route to East Deep Lake

Finally, our first actual backpacking trip. This one is no mere training hike but a three day trip out in Riding Mountain National Park along the Packhorse and J.E.T trails. At least that was what we thought it would be. Unfortunately, Packhorse is permanently closed so we ended up taking J.E.T both ways. This routing change did not lessen the experience in the slightest however because our hike in had nearly no blooming on the trees, but on our hike out two days later all the trees and flowers were in bloom, completely changing the sights on the hike.

So... Day 1.

The trip started Friday night with Roslyn, our friend Tyler, and I driving from Winnipeg to Brandon to stay at Roslyn's mothers house. The next morning we were up at 6:15 am packing everything into the car again and picking up Roslyn's cousin Mathew at 6:45 am. By 7 am we had picked up breakfast at Tim Horton's and started the drive to the trail head.

A bit less than two hours later, we were driving down a dirt road about a minute from the trail head. This stretch of road gets a special mention because the Honda Civic we were driving in bottomed out a few times. If you're driving a low car beware, drive around the loose gravel in the road as you will sink into it. Another reason this section needs to be mentioned is that we got lost about 20 seconds from the trail head. It not visible until you are right on top of it and we spent maybe 5-10 minutes looking for it on foot down a side road the Civic couldn't traverse. Once we found the parking lot we parked pretty carefully as there's only room for about 2 cars in it.

The start of the trail is a nice, easy walk, with minimal elevation change along Bald Hill Trail. After about 1.2 km we came to the Packhorse trail head. As mentioned, we originally planned to travel this trail, but after about 100 feet decided against it due to the obvious lack of upkeep and too much deadfall on it.

A little under 2 km later we came to the Bald Hill-J.E.T trail junction. Taking the turn onto J.E.T trail we had our first, and only, water crossing of the trip. The creek here is only about 10 feet across and 4-6 inches deep. Tyler and Roslyn walked through it, and Mathew and I rock hopped across it.

Creek Crossing

The creek it as the 3 km mark, which is basically the bottom of a pretty steep climb that gives an elevation change of 90 m over a kilometer. At one point on this climb the grade reaches 32 degrees, which is pretty steep when you're carrying 30 lbs of gear. On our way up we were passed by two guys trail running. About 30 minutes later one of them was returning down the trail and warned us of a bear cub ahead near the official look out points.

Right at the top of the first climb there is a wonderful look out site, and not the one that has a bear cub! It was a nice place to catch our breath and made the climb worth it.

Lookout point over the valley

From here the trail eased up a bit for the next two kilometers. While not flat, I wouldn't say it was a climb either. About halfway through the flat section there are two side trails, one to a look out on the north side of the spur and another to a look out on the south side. Having been warned about bear cubs in the area we decided to check it out on the way back and moved on.

After the flat section we began the second climb. This climb was definitely worse, rising 56 m over 0.4 km of travel. At one point the grade reached 44 degrees, which looks and feels like a everything is straight up when you're leaning into it with a 30 lb backpack.

Beautiful Tree Tunnel Walk

From here on the trail is relatively flat, with generally gradual ups and downs. The kilometer after the second climb is a beautiful tree tunnel. Eventually you come out of tunnel very suddenly to the view below.

Large muskeg lake

The trail only followed the edge of the lake for a few hundred meters, but it was cool watching the wildlife in it, even though we only saw birds.

Walked through a lot of stands of trees that looked like this on the way in

The last 6 km after the lake were enjoyable. There are 2-3 old large beaver dams that you walk across, not that you'd recognize them as such any more.

At around 3:30 pm we made it to the camp site and set up camp.

View down the trail from the camp site

View out over the lake at the campsite

In Roslyn's Words:

And so our biggest adventure yet begins! The start of the trail is a very calm and easy walk to the main trail junction and is quite a nice warm up. It was somewhat disappointing to have to change our plans from Packhorse to JET both ways, but without the proper equipment it is better to be safe than sorry, and it was a good thing we chose safe. The shale washouts made it look impassible without full on climbing gear.

Looking back on the bear sighting at the viewpoints on the way in, it was a good thing we skipped them as the full hike in ended up being longer than anticipated and not easy. This trail goes from low farm land to the highest point in the park so there was some intense long incline stretches. At one point I would look up the trail, find a point about 100 ft away, and focus on getting to that point. Once that was accomplished I did it again, and again until we made it to the top. It was a great challenge that is often hard to find in Manitoba.

Finally getting to camp was very satisfying. I felt that I had really accomplished something that day. We were at East Deep Lake campsite #2, but if I were to go back, I would try to reserve site 1 as it had more shaded area and better ground for pitching a tent. By the end of the day we were a little bored as we forgot to bring some cards but our spirits were high as we ended the first day watching the trees reflecting in the lake.

Once camp was setup we ate supper, which was ramen with vegetable flakes and sausage chunks cut into it. Nothing tastes as good as food eaten while hiking or camping, no matter how bad the food actually is. We spent the evening filtering water (more on that in the next post), watching the wild life in the area, and occasionally chatting with our neighbors in the site next to ours. We tried to stay up late to see the stars come out, but with twilight still hanging out around 11 pm we went to bed and vowed to see them the next night.

All in all, it was a great day.

Kinosao Lake Trail

Date - May 13, 2018

Length - 7.4 km

Elevation Change - 169 m

Time - 1 hour 42 minutes

AllTrails map of Kinosao Trail

A short 5-10 minutes drive into Riding Mountain National Park from Wasagaming, Kinosao Lake trail is a pleasant jaunt through the park, perfect for an easy morning hike to get out of your cabin or as part of a day trip to experience what Riding Mountain has to offer. The trial is well kept and generally wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The dock at Kinosao Lake

Two kilometers into the hike you arrive at Kinosao lake. There's a nice picnic area and a dock for swimming off of. One of the things we really enjoyed was the canoe that was there. We didn't actually use it, but it is a community use canoe that one of the residents maintains for everyone to use, including making sure there are paddles and life jackets.

View out over the lake

Wider shot of the picnic area

Unfortunately, for this and a few future hikes, my phone was not saving pictures all of the time so there are quite a few lost pictures and a few lost videos. With the issue found though I can be more careful and make sure we get all the pictures the two of us are taking shown here. There were quite a few marshy areas that we took pictures of, they have walkways over them for ease of use, as well as a 360 image of the lake from the dock. I guess you will just have to get out on the trail to see it!

Approach to Kinosao lake from Brule Trail

View from the Brule Trail approach

The dock has a second trail, the Brule Trail, come out to it as well. While we did not hike Brule, it is an easier trail meant for allowing people less able to hike over elevation changes to get to Kinosao lake.

In Roslyn's words:

"This trail is a very nice walk through the woods with a flat wide trail and a few small rises and falls. When the trail meets the lake there is a very nice, well kept floating dock with a community canoe. There are life jackets provided and stored under the canoe as well. A community canoe is such a wonderful piece of equipment to provide and I ask that anyone who uses it please respect the equipment and treat it with care. This is a real treat and it would be such a shame for it to be damaged. All in all, this was a lovely morning hike and look forward to one day trying out that canoe."

The remaining 5.4 km after getting to Kinosao lake was nice for a quick morning hike as well, with plenty of small ups and downs. We say signs of plenty of wild life in the area, including bears, but only saw a few types of birds. All in all, this is a the two of us would recommend everyone tries out.

Hunt Lake Trail

Date - May 6, 2018

Length - 13.1 km

Elevation Gain - 224 m

Time - 7 hours

Hunt Lake Trail Head Sign

AllTrails Map of Hunt Lake Trail

Hunt lake is easily the most challenging hike we have done so far. It is 13.1 km of climbs, near climbs, and incredible views. Only about the first kilometer actually follows the shore of Hunt Lake, the rest of it follows the much larger West Hawk Lake. I would recommend this trail only for people who are physically fit and comfortable with hiking or being in the woods. Also, it will take 4 to 6 hours of moving time, so account for that plus however much time you want to spend on breaks and lunch at the half way point. Overall, our group moved for just over 5 hours, but it took us 7 to complete the trail with only a 45 minute lunch stop at the half way point.

Sign about 200 m into the trail. It's apt.

As the sign above hints at, the trail is strenuous. Roslyn and I completed the trail with about 28 lbs of weight each as part of our training regimen. With the steep ups and downs, this quickly took a toll on my knee, leaving it fairly sore after about the first 4 km. The discomfort was more than worth it though given the beauty of the trail.

About 500 m to 750 m into the trail there's a small "cave" you can climb up to. It's not really much more than a deep ledge, but the 15 ft climb up and down is fun, plus it gives a good view. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I actually climbed up with my backpack on. Unless you are comfortable with the weight of your backpack I wouldn't recommend it as my center of balance was different enough that I slipped once or twice before figuring out how to compensate for it.

 Picture of me, Connor, up on the cave ledge

 Another from a closer location

 View of the route down from the ledge

 Panorama from the cave ledge

Roslyn enjoying her time in the cave

The view down the trail

The area between Hunt Lake and West Hawk lake had a small water fall pouring down the hill on its way out to West Hawk Lake. The water actually splits where the image looses sight of it. One of the streams continues to the left as an open brook, while the other travels more to the right and under ground and breaks apart into smaller rivulets about 40 feet away. Each of the rivulets bubbles back up  to ground level through the root system and they eventually meet up with the brook again.

Small waterfall between Hunt Lake and West Hawk Lake

There were four "beach" areas along the trail were the trail met the shore line and the area was open enough for large groups of people to get to the waters edge. The first is a small detour off the trail to a rock area with enough space for a group of 6-8 to hang out. The second area is after a steep 30 ft climb where a small creek runs into West Hawk Lake and makes a bit of a bay. 

Clear water at the second "beach" area

The third area is a rock out cropping looking out over West Hawk Lake. There's easily room for 10-15 people and easy access to the water, both by jumping off the rocks and going around to where they meet the water. The trail runs about 40 feet in from the edge of the rock out crop, so its also a fairly quiet spot since you can get some distance from others hiking by.

A bit of the trail between "beaches" 2 and 3

View over West Hawk Lake from the 3rd "beach" area 

View over West Hawk Lake from the 3rd "beach" area

The final beach location was the turnaround point on the trail. It had a small three sided shelter, plenty of water access and a large area for many groups of people to enjoy at once. None of the images below show it, but there is also a fairly large area off to the right. You could easily have 30 - 40 people here without it being too crowded.

View from the trail between "beach" 3 and the turn around point

View out over a small bay at the turn around point 

 Different anlge

Other side of the turn around "beach"

In Roslyn's words:

Wow, just wow. One of the most beautiful hikes I have done, and the trees weren't even leaved. It was also one of the most difficult hikes I have ever done, and carrying a 25 pound pack for training did not make that easier. The trail contains some very steep inclines and some spots where I used my hands and feet to climb up rocks. The amount of elevation changes literally takes your breath away but rewards you with fantastic views. There are also some steep and sudden drop offs along the side of the trail so be sure to be focused on the trail. Having said that this is a difficult trail, if you do not think that you can physically do the whole thing, it would still be very rewarding to only do 1 or 2 km of the start. There is a very well photographed “cave” that is pretty cool to see less than 1 KM into the trail. A few km in there is also a nice picnic spot with a fire pit and shoreline that looked swimmer friendly. Note that just before this picnic spot there is a short but difficult climb down some rocks. Overall this has become one of my favorite hikes and I definitely look forward to doing it again when all the leaves are on the trees.

We plan on doing the hike again when there are leaves on the trees, but we could not have asked for a better day to do it. The temperature only rose to about 20 C, but at the tops of the climbs there was no air movement which made it seem quite a bit warmer. And seeing the ice on the lake was a sight in itself. At points where the trail was near lake level there were 1-2 foot thick sheets of ice pushed up onto the shore from the wind, which added to the rugged feel of the trail.

One thing to note, and which Roslyn mentioned above, is that at least a quarter of the trail has some form of drop off within five feet of the edge of the trail. These drop offs range from 45 degree inclines that are 10 to 20 feet long all the way to 40 foot drops straight down into the lake. While the trail is more than wide enough to be safe, it is also covered with roots, protruding rocks, and pine needles which make the footing uncertain in places. I wouldn't say it is imminently dangerous, but not paying attention cause someone to get severely injured.

All in all, this is our favorite trail that we have hiked this year, including the trails that we have done but haven't covered here yet - J.E.T, Kinosao, Chickadee, and Hazelnut. We are also heading out this weekend to hit up four smaller trails with a group of people in White Shell Provincial park. At this point, I'm not sure when I will get caught up, but it will probably be some time in August.

Happy Hiking