Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Mill Creek Hike

To continue yesterday's hike, we just kept on going east from the little waterfall all the way through to the next road.  Along the way we saw a lot of the Manitoulin formation rocks, as well as Mill Creek and the famous Mill Creek bridge.  Let's pick it up at the little Pinnacle Rock Waterfall where we ended yesterday.

As you know by now, I tried some 'slow' pictures of the falls, using a tripod, as well as yesterday's 'fast' pictures.  I figure it's legitimate to include yet more waterfall pictures if it's actually part of the hike!

This waterfall drops over the thin layers of the Manitoulin Dolostone, numerous layers only about 1" thick each.  This is a 'flowerpot' of the Manitoulin formation we encountered a little further on, as we followed the trail just below a short cliff formed by this rock.  This piece seemed to have slid down the slope, but stayed intact.

Further on, when we came to the valley of Mill Creek, we followed the Manitoulin cliff for a short distance on top, and then turned sharply to drop down the slope in a long diagonal below the rocks.  You get a really good view looking up at it.

There were several very long steep slopes on this hike, though the trail went gradually up or down.  Hikers in the valley immediately recognize the tall high cliffs of the Amabel formation, as at Old Baldy, but they maybe don't realize that there is an entirely separate shorter cliff lower down in the geological layers.  And it's the one that forms most of the waterfalls.

And then we came to the famous Mill Creek Bridge.  I've heard people praise the bridge for 2 or 3 years now, but never been there, so it was nice to see it.  It's quite long, and has a couple of interesting bends at one end, even with two benches so you can sit and enjoy the sound of rushing water..

As the sign says, it was built as a training exercise by an army regiment in 2011, supported by the two families whose land the trail goes through in this section, and a lot of local volunteers.  I think it's one of the longest bridges, over the biggest creek, within the Beaver Valley section of the trail.

I could have sat there and enjoyed it for a long time, but we pressed on up the hill out of the valley and finished our hike in about 2.5 hours.  The hills slow me down and wear me out, but that's where I get the greatest cardio benefit.  The best exercise I've had in ages, and a hike I will definitely repeat.  

Today has been miserable and cold, ice on the windshield this morning.  I'm hoping for better days to come starting soon!

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19 comments:

  1. More lovely waterfall pics. Beautiful. Yes, today we had beautiful blue skies, bright sunshine, sleet, snow, rain, hail, dark, strong northerly winds, and more blue sky and sunshine. Ah! The wonders of April.

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  2. I can almost hear the water from the picture of the bridge.

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  3. Beautiful. I'm envious that you have places like this so close by.

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  4. What a wonderful bridge and awesome photos . Looks like a great place to hike and enjoy . Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !

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  5. What a pretty bridge -- so much more appealing than the typical utilitarian construction of most bridges.

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  6. The waterfall and the rock formations are fabulous! What a great hike.

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  7. Hard to believe you had bad weather today, when you had such excellent weather for your hike.

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  8. Oh, my, there are no words to thank you for sharing this beauty.

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  9. Oh, more waterfalls! I do enjoy your pictures of them, but I'm also glad to see the rest. :-)

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  10. i never get tired of seeing the waterfalls and your experiments with the images. i especially love these images as i could never walk this far on uneven terrain, the MS effects my legs. these images, all of them, are always a treat for me as i am huge nature junkie!!!

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  11. A truly lovely place for a stroll.

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  12. More lovely waterfall photo's.
    A gorgeous blue sky.
    Looks an a amazing place to walk.

    All the best Jan

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  13. Makes me think of some of the hiking trail bridges our BOMB Squad (Bloody Old Men's Brigade) build here in Powell River. It makes accessing the backcountry so much easier. Love those falls. - Margy

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  14. I love the photos! Amazing area!
    http://momentsfrozentime.blogspot.nl/

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  15. It looks like a "crispy" place :-)

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  16. Wow! Looks like a wonderful hike!

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  17. Such stunning falls of water. I would be mesmerised by their energy and beauty. And love the winding walkway. It invites the curious to keep walking. Beautiful scenes.

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  18. Beautiful! I love the waterfall shots.

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