Walters Falls Hike

My days have mostly been occupied by sorting a million little things in our garage, as we downsize prior to moving.  But I did get out for a hike around a loop of the Bruce Trail at Walters Falls last week.  Turned out to be a nice walk on a nice day.

We started right at Walters Falls, which I've shared pictures of before.  The Bruce Trail crosses the little bridge where I take pictures of the mill pond dam and old woollen mill.

After that we headed north-west.  Fairly quickly the trail descends from the top of the cliffs at the falls down into the ravine, running beside Walter's Creek.  

We followed the creek some distance downstream until we came to a concession road, still there with its bridges, but no longer open to traffic.

Crossing the bridge we headed east briefly before turning south-east again toward the falls.  It was a gradual uphill climb through the woods.  Parts of this trail looked like the remnants of old cart tracks, perhaps headed up the hill to the mills in the village.

This picture won't mean much to you without the explanation.  This is the contact between two different geological layers, the thin Cabot Head limestone layers above, and the Queenston Shale below.  The water can percolate down through the limestone, but once it hits the shale, it travels sideways until it emerges on the slope as a spring.  This geological contact accounts for thousands of springs all along the slopes of the escarpment, but the limestone layers are rarely visible like they are here, usually covered by glacial debris.

Just before we got back to the falls, we looked down on this big moss and fern filled crevice below the trail.  You can almost see the falls now in the background, and we could certainly hear it.

We finished at Walters Falls again, and headed for coffee at the local coffee shop.  Getting cold here, expecting frost tonight.