Favourite Fall Hikes I - Spirit Rock

We're getting to the time of year when I don't get out enough to have current things to post about; yes, 'wheelchair winter' has begun!  But I've got hundreds of photos and great memories of past hikes.  This year I'm drawn to those so I'll be using some of them when I don't have more current things to write about.  Hope you enjoy them. 

It was 9 years ago that I went up to  Wiarton with a friend to hike into Spirit Rock Conservation Area along the Bruce Trail near Wiarton.  Looking back I realize that November and even December were favourite hiking times for me .  I quickly came up with 10 past hikes that I could share with you, so here goes.

 This big tree marked the start of our hike, and beyond it the old barn foundation which we'll revisit later.

It was a typical mid-November day, cold and clear, the trees leafless but the ground covered.

A highlight of this property is a spiral staircase down the cliff!  It's sort of dizzying looking straight down, but one step at a time it's an easy and safe way down the vertical cliff.  And this is the Bruce Trail, marked by that white blaze.

When we got down there we got this spectacular view out Colpoy's Bay, Wiarton out of sight to our right.  This is the narrowest and deepest bay on the east shore of the Bruce Peninsula; you're looking out a good 10 or 15 km..  We walked down the shore trail a fair distance before turning back to that spiral staircase.

Back above the cliff we found the other unique feature of this conservation area, the ruins of the Corran.  Built in the 1880s by local businessman Alexander MacNeill, it was quite the mansion in its time.  

Now it's a ruin, but stabilized so visitors can see it, it reminds you of an earlier era.

Eventually we made our way back to that barn foundation near the start of our hike.  The Bruce Trail has benefitted from many large donations which have allowed the purchase of properties for the trail.  To recognize those donors they erect small plaques like these.  The Peninsula Bruce Trail Club has chosen to group a number of these here beside the old foundation.

The legend of Spirit Rock is that a native maiden fell in love with an enemy chief.  Shunned by her family she leapt to her death from the cliff to the rocks below.