Frame of Mind

When I became the webmaster for Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club (CHBTC), President Bob Ferguson asked me what my favourite part of the Caledon Hills section was.  I looked up at my dining room ceiling, hoping to find the answer there and managed to come up with something, but I really didn’t know the answer to that question.

I’ve now come to realize that there were three reasons why I didn’t know.

At the time, though, I thought there was only one, pretty obvious, reason I couldn’t answer the question, which was that I just hadn’t spent enough time on the trail.  As a result of that assessment, I decided to make it one of my goals to hike the whole section again.  And so, last fall I started an End-to-End with some colleagues.

What I learned from starting (at our pace, we are nowhere near done) this oh-so leisurely End-to-End, was the other reason I had limited recollection of the trail.  In the past I’d spent most of my hiking time keeping my eyes lowered on the trail and my feet, and not raised to the scenery around me.  Clearly slower was better for me if I wanted to lift my head and get acquainted with the beauty of the trail.

Part of the reason my personal End-to-End is going so slow is because I’m taking more photos on those hikes.  I’ve also been on a few solo hikes specifically to take photos for the website.  They weren’t long hikes, either, but they did make me more aware of the trail.

There is actually a special kind of hike that gets you out on the trail like any other hike, but the primary purpose is to take pictures.  As such, the pace on a Photography Hike is more leisurely, with more frequent stops.  This means that if you want to take photographs, you won’t spend the whole hike keeping the “sweep” at the end company, as photographers often do on regular hikes.

Some photography hikes provide guidance on the technical aspect of taking pictures, while others focus on the subject matter.  We are fortunate to have a Photography Hike coming up on May 11, lead by former CHBTC Land Steward Co-ordinator Hamish Duthie.  He’ll be taking you out in the Hockley Nature Reserve to identify and photograph spring flowers.

Recently, I was asked by Ross McLean, inspiring volunteer and frequent writer for CHBTC, about my favourite part of the trail.  This time, I had an answer!  It wasn’t, however, a specific place on the trail, which was probably also why I didn’t know the answer when Bob had asked me that same question last year.  But, by keeping my camera handy on my more leisurely hikes, I have come to realize that my favourite places on the trail are the panoramic views.

So now I’m going to ask you:  what’s your favourite part of the trail.  Let us know, we’d love to hear from you!

Photo Credits:  Heidi Bischof

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