It is difficult to escape the busy bustle of daily life as the hours of the day do not always seem to provide enough time for everything. It is even more challenging to find break away from the concrete jungle and find solitude in nature alone.
For as long as I can remember, I have spent many hours of my summer hiking. Though I had no specific physical destination, these experiences took me to many places in my life that I can never fully express.
The Bruce Trail runs close to my rural home, and has served as a Sunday afternoon pastime for my family. As a young child, I perceived the trail as a jungle safari that I miraculously stumbled upon on a lazy afternoon.
As I grew older, the meaning of the trail began to evolve. I suddenly envisioned the trail as a living encyclopedia that enabled me to learn as trees became the blackboard in my outdoor classroom. My father and I would walk the trail together and he would teach me the names of all of the trees. He would quiz me while we hiked and I diligently studied the beautiful trees that surrounded me.
Nothing was more satisfying than being able to identify nature in such a personal way. This experience has proven priceless as I recognize the depleting knowledge of nature among youth.
As a resident of Meaford, I am fortunate to live in an area that enables me to escape into the depths of the natural world. It is incredible that the mere geographical location of our small town allows for the residents to enjoy the sparkling water of the bay and the explorative hiking trails that surround Meaford.
The Bruce Trail stretches alongside the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara Falls to Tobermory over a distance of over eight hundred kilometres. The idea for this hiking trail that would allow for people to experience the magnitude of the escarpment was established in 1960. Clubs that eagerly supported the Bruce Trail efforts were founded in order to make this vision a reality.
The significance of the trail is easily overlooked as it runs throughout the back roads of the municipality. It is easy to foresee, yet vital not to overlook, the importance of the Bruce Trail as it preserves such natural wonder.
The uniqueness of such a trail, that follows something as profound as the Niagara Escarpment, is absolutely priceless. The importance of the escarpment is difficult to express as the height of the magnificent cliffs surpass even the largest words that might attempt to do justice in illustrating its glory.
Although the trail is home to such great natural wonders that can make one feel inferior in comparison, it allows for people of small communities to connect. It unites towns and cities that share the commonality of having the escarpment as a neighbour. It brings committees and clubs together that strive to preserve the natural beauty of the trail and to ensure its existence for their grandchildren to enjoy. It allows teachers to take their classroom to the outdoors where some of the finest learning is done. It connects family members as they wander through the rocky paths together in solitude, exploring each other and the trees that surround them.
It limits the distance between humans and nature as trees become canopy rooftops, strangely shaped rocks become comfortable chairs, moss on tree trunks become a compass, rivers become a source of bathing, and the birds become the radio station.
Whether it is a lazy Sunday afternoon or a wide-eyed weekday morning, with company or alone, the Bruce Trail is a very special place to spend the day reconnecting with self, friends and family, and nature.
A life-long resident of Meaford, Stephanie Rennie loves to live in and write about the community of Meaford. Stephanie is working in the Children’s Department of the Meaford Public Library this summer. In the fall she will be completing the final year of a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History at the University of Guelph.
Stephanie is the new Assistant Editor for The Meaford Independent.
