After camping the previous rainy night at one of few Bruce Trail campsites, I just wanted to escape the mosquitoes in the morning. I was running low on water. South of the Bognor Marsh, I knocked on this woman’s door looking to refill my water bottles. She happily filled them with filtered water and offered me a Gatorade. I told her that her sign at the door drew me in. She said her friendliness was a product of her upbringing in Woody Point, Newfoundland. I forgot to ask her name so Trail Angel seems appropriate. A Trail Angel is a common term used to describe a person who generously assists thruhikers.
I reached the tiny community of Woodford by noon and decided to use the Community Centre’s front deck to dry my tent and eat my lunch. A few doors down, I met Brian on his yard and asked him to fill my water bottles. He grew up in this house and retired back to it from Toronto in 2019. He offered that retirement takes a couple years to settle into.
This was my longest day of hiking. I had booked two nights in a bed and breakfast in Owen Sound starting the next day. Kelly was going to pick me up the next day enroute, join me for a night, and then return me to the trail the following day. I would then continue hiking back to the bed and breakfast for my second night. When I reached my intended camping spot, it was late afternoon and I still felt good. I decided to push on and hike until I could find another suitable campsite. I found a small piece of public land at sunset, set up tent, ate, and crashed.
11 hours: 45.6 km
Jamie