Hello, Bruce!

I’ve decided to go do some shooting on the Bruce Trail this afternoon. Planning to shoot around the Southern Cairn in Queenston.

Putting on my old hiking boots, squeezing my feet into them. Baby needs a new pair of hiking boots. Especially before I go to Machu Picchu.

Going to try out the Cine mode on my camcorder for that dramatic look. I’ve got lots of memory capacity available on my camcorder and about 80 minutes of battery time so that’s my critical operating constraint.

Course to Southern Cairn is plotted and laid in. ETA is 17 minutes with traffic. That’s one thing I love about living in St. Catharines, is its proximity to the Bruce Trail. I would be remiss if I did not drop by and say hello while I was in town.

2:46pm There’s the cairn. For all the fame and celebrity accorded to it yet it just stands there, unassuming, without ceremony, as though it was just plopped into place. Hello old friend. I’m back.

The earth is awakening and she has dabbed on her fragrance, a familiar and warming scent.

It is spring, and spring means mud. I have encountered the muddy side of Bruce.

5:30pm I’m well past the point of no return. This is much harder in my fourties than it was in my twenties. Thank God I’ve been doing those squat exercises!

It’s almost not even fun any more; it’s almost just sheer survival. Almost, but not really. However, I am driven. I want to get to where the trail crosses the highway so I can pick up my shooting from there on the next turn.