July 31st, 2021 - Aug 1st, 2021: KM 703.6

(Day 1: Sydenham 145.7 - 161.9)

Chris and I (Graham) booked a hotel in Owen Sound for us and the families for the weekend. Started hiking around 9am on Saturday at the Graham's Hill Road parking lot. Eily immediately had a poop.

The trail turned right on the road and went downhill past some cows.

then cut in to a small forest before going into farmers fields.

We passed through another small forest before the trail came out on to a dirt road for a few kilometers.

After climbing a hill on the road, the trail turned in to Skinners Bluffs.

The amazing phot spot was only a few minutes hike in to the Bluffs.

The photos from the side are pretty awesome:

We continued hiking along the Bluffs for a few hours. It was a bit rainy but the views were still incredible.

Eventually the forest turned more to cedar trees and rocky limestone terrain, sometimes strewn with large boulders.

After passing Bruce's Caves side trail, the main trail cut back in to the forest leading us back to where we parked. Hiked for about 5 hours total. 17.03 km distance according to the app.

Had a quick clean-up then went for dinner with the family at Kettles Country Cookin'!

Took some photos with the Sherman tank on the way back to the hotel.

After getting back to the hotel had a sunset walk with Fiona and Eily along the lakefront.

Fiona even spotted a beaver!

Eily was completely tuckered after the hiking and swimming.

(Day 2: Sydenham 161.9 - 168.4)

Chris' family shuttled us to the Bruce Caves parking lot where we started the hike for day 2.

We saw an old (abandoned) Blockbuster Video on the way up.

Hiking was initially along the highway, and eventually cut into a field that led to Wiarton International Airport.

Past the airport the trail went through some fields and forests. We spotter a wild turkey, but couldn't get a photo in time.

Then the trail went down two ladders to get to the bottom of the escarpment.

The trail emerged on to the roads in Wiarton just as it started raining heavily. We reached the waterfront park where the families were waiting for us.

Because of the thunderstorms, we decided to stop here for the day. It seemed like a good spot as it's the exact end of the Syndenham section, and the start of the Bruce Peninsula section. We hiked 7.47 kms total.

Took some time to take some pictures and look for Willy (who was nowhere to be seen).