As someone who is not naturally an early riser, particularly on vacation, our plans for this trip to set out around 9 or 10am each day were one of my main worries. Our first hiking day I got up no problem, ate leftover spaghetti for breakfast, and we were out on our way at the planned time.
It was another hot day and a bit of a walk to get to the Friendship Trail, and when we finally did reach the trail we surprised a couple of cyclists passing by who said “we’ve never seen anyone walk up from there before!” As we made our way along the trail it was clear that the trail is mainly used by cyclists. We didn’t see anyone else hiking it until we got closer to Port Colborne, at which point it seemed to be used by some locals walking their dogs or taking a quick stroll. And we received many questions from cyclists and pedestrians alike as our enormous backpacks drew a lot of attention. It seems what we were doing isn’t exactly “normal” and was a source of curiosity to many strangers!
Along the trail we heard many birds, so I got good use out of the Merlin bird app that was recommended by the Bruce Trail Conservancy. After seeing a Baltimore Oriole on a previous hike I was interested in being able to identify birds and the Merlin app is great for identifying by either a photo or sound. Here are some of the birds we heard on the walk that day:
It’s amazing how many different species of birds there are in the trees. Unfortunately I didn’t actually see many of these (I was really hoping to see an Indigo Bunting but never did, despite hearing them all throughout our hike) but knowing they are there is satisfying in its own way.
Partway through our hike we stopped at a bar called Reeb House to rest our legs and get a cold beverage. We arrived a few minutes before it opened so we just took a seat on the patio until they were open. The bar was very conveniently located for us, as it was about half-way to Port Colborne. After our drink, we set back out on the trail. On our way we saw a deer standing right on the path. I tried to get a photo but by the time I got my phone out it had run away. Definitely not something we expected to see!
We made it to Port Colborne, which is a very cute town with lots of nice restaurants and shops.
Upon recommendation from friends who travel through Port Colborne on motorcycling adventures, we went for lunch at Eh Amigos Cantina. We had the cactus dip and shared the vegetarian and beef tacos, all of which were delicious.
We headed back out after lunch but the heat was getting to us so we got a little help from Uber to take us part-way up the Welland Canal. We wanted to walk part of the canal on this stretch of our hike so we got dropped off at Townline Tunnel Road and walked to our accommodations at Rose Manor, a very beautiful bed and breakfast in Welland. We were very tired when we arrived and our hosts made sure we were comfortable and able to relax after a long day of walking in the sun. They gave us recommendations for nearby food and drink options and after freshening up and changing out of our hiking clothes, we headed out to Bridgewater Brewery for a cold drink and a pizza.
We took a quick stroll around downtown Welland and made it an early night since we were out on the trails again in the morning!
