Staying as we are for two nights chez Sue, we ‘slackpacked’ today. Everything came out of our packs to be strewn around inside her home. We carried only water bottles, water treatment equipment, today’s packed lunch (!), and a first aid kit. Oh, and we carried Sue’s wild leek & fiddlehead breakfast omelette in our front food carriers. Sweet! 

We decided that the steep up-&-downhills crossing the Pretty River valley at the end of today should be done with light packs rather than tomorrow’s full packs. And glad we were! Soheil’s steady and slow uphill pace takes the sting out of long uphills. The views from the top of Osler Bluff were that much prettier with slack packs!

Our first view of Georgian Bay was yesterday, a distant blue flatness from south of the Mad River. Today, there were frequent majestic views every time we reached the high edges of the Escarpment. Yes, I understand these puny 200+ metre cliffs are piddling steps in many parts of the world, but in our heavily scraped and old glacial province, these are standouts. To me, who revels in 10 metre bumps in the landscape that show the traces of the last glaciation, these bedrock features are marvelous!

Other joys from today? Almost no bugs! Great weather! 

But the best was sharing a bit of the trail with close friends, Shirley & Sue, as well as storytelling with them over salmon, quinoa salad, and raspberry-blueberry pie as the fabled hiker midnight approached. That was all capped by being joined by my wife, who came up and delivered our next resupply. 

I’m a fortunate man indeed!