The Silent Hill

the Niagara Escarpment is a beautiful, peaceful place to be. especially in the winter, and especially at night. for reasons yet unknown, my good homie Kevin and i only ever choose nights when it's well below freezing to head out long after midnight with our camera gear and tripods.


we hit many spots that night, using his car as transportation between. by 2 in the morning we had parked the car on a road out by Brock University, and walked up to the Bruce Trail head at the top of the hill. we chanced the snowy trail and slightly slippery slopes in the dark to get up to the top for the best view. light pollution from the city below reflecting off the clouds, then off the snow on the ground makes it possible to see well enough at night for a winter hike.. and makes for some interesting photographs.


once at the top we set all our gear down for a moment of quiet reflection. looking down upon the city it seemed so distant.. no specific sounds were distinguishable, nothing but a quiet slur of white noise of muffled friday night traffic. it's so peaceful up there in the woods. no signs of other people, wind blockage from the tall stands of trees.. a good friend and some herbs to share. what more could i ask for?


of course, the excursion has re-sparked the urge to go winter camping. it's so quiet out there at night in the winter, so still. i'm hoping to get a chance before all the snow is gone and the bugs return. another awesome thing about sleeping outside in the winter- no mosquitoes!

The Bruce

i'm a firm believer that we're all born in our place and time for a reason. it happens to be so that i live in a city that is surrounded and dissected by the longest complete footpath in Canada, the Bruce Trail. the day i was born i lived in a house right on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment... as if hiking the trail was etched into my destiny.

the Bruce Trail is over 800km long, starting in Niagara Falls Ontario and ending in Tobermory, with over 200km of side trails through parks and nature reserves. it is here that i fell in love with the forest at a very young age. it was all too convenient that every house i moved to since was within walking distance of the trail.

when i was 8 my father built a log house out in a place which at that time and age, seemed like the middle of nowhere. nothing but trees, a trail and the highway. our bi-weekly visits were most usually spent doing something in the outdoors. i was introduced then to the Bruce, which just so happened to cross the end of our driveway where it came into town. fifty paces in, and the sound of the road disappeared in the background. soon your ears pick up the subtle sounds of the birds and the bugs and the breeze in the trees, broken up by the occasional babbling stream or raging river.

it was here that i learned the appreciation for the feeling of fresh mud beneath my feet, and the smell of the forest after an autumn rain,.. where my whole little world was blown wide open when i realized the ease and simplicity of traveling to the next town by foot. i wondered why we we don't have more paths and less roads. it seemed to me to be the preferred method of travel.

to this day it's still one of my favourite places.. and i hope to some day cover the trail from end to end in one solid go. but for now i'll savour all the tastes i can get, and you can expect more words and photographs from my journeys along it so far. every journey begins with but a single step, and a heartbeat♥