Mount Nemo – Not Nemo from Finding Nemo-but just as awesome!

At 7am on Saturday, still dark outside, I got up and got ready to enjoy a long awesome day of hiking!!!  It was to be a beautiful day out and who knows how many of those we have left before that crappy fall weather hits us. You know the stuff, rain, wind, cold, damp, dark, dreary ….  weather.  I was dreading it, although giving me time to write posts would be a  big benefit of it.

I sat at my desk last night for hours online, researching the places I wanted to see today and had an awesome agenda.  My first hike of the day would be at Mount Nemo Conservation Area!

I had only once before visited Mount Nemo Conservation Area. It was about 6 or 7  years ago and a friend showed it to me.  We explored for hours and I thought the rocks there were simply amazing.  I was anxious and excited to see it again and also check out the fall view from the top!  On the way, I saw the sunrise in my rear view mirror. I had to take a cutoff and drive down a ways to get a shot. It was still good, but sadly I missed the pink waves by a few minutes.

It was almost 8:30 when I arrived at Mount Nemo.  The conservation area didn’t open until 830 so I had taken my time getting ready and driving as I didn’t want to arrive and have to wait.  Fortunately, there was an automated system in place and the gate was open, so I filled out the envelope as advised, put my $7.00 in, took the slip for my dashboard and headed to the parking lot which was already quite full.  Guess I wasn’t the only anxious hiker in the area?

There is a small trail from the parking lot to the gravel road i drove in on.  It continues a ways into the park and is used to get to the actual hiking trails. The trail comes up on the left after a few minutes of walking on the gravel road.

This trail is actually part of the Bruce Trail and this particular section is called the Iroquois Bruce Trail.  The loop here is 4.6 kilometers, however, you can continue on the Bruce Trail otherwise if you don’t choose to return to the parking lot via the Mount Nemo Side Trail.

I was super excited to be on the Bruce Trail as I had  just downloaded the Bruce Trail App a few days ago and I LOVED IT!!!  It’s like mapquest or GPS for hiking trails and I loved that I could see exactly where I was on the trail at any given time!

So far I was enjoying this trail immensely. The forest was quiet as it was still early, and the leaves that had already fallen, made a shushing under my feet. It was at this point, after hiking about a half hour today and two hours last night, that I realized, I was alone!!!!   I had never hiked alone until yesterday and i didn’t even notice until now?  I found it so odd but so comforting at the same time.   I guess my solo backcountry trip, sleeping in the forest alone all night, made me unafraid?   I could now hike alone and not even have the slightest fear of doing it!!!! SO AWESOME!!!

At this point I started seeing lots of roots and even more rocks.  There were rocks on the trail and pretty much everywhere around it.

In between the larger rocks and boulders, there were crevices. Some went down a few inches and some many feet!

From this point, the trail turned right and I was able to catch small glimpses of the overlook below.  So far so good!!

At this point, I had only seen 3 people in my travels, 2 in the parking lot when I headed out and a lady walking her dog just ahead of me, but then she disappeared. I thought it was a bit odd that there were so many cars in the lot and I felt like I was here all alone, but I was definitely happy about it as I loved the solitude!

After a bit more climbing up and over and around a lot more rocks, more lookouts appeared showing off the view of the town below and the beautiful fall colours.

I saw where I remembered sitting years ago for a photo and took a timed selfie there. Due to the sun being behind me and not up high enough it came out as a silhouette shot, but I thought it looked cool. The photo below is the one from my first visit here.

This was the view from my seat.

I started hearing voices and knew I’d found my group of people at last.  They were actually a photography class on a field trip and they were learning how to take pictures from the top of the mountain.

I took what I thought was a neat silhouette shot of them and then headed to the last lookout before the side trail would take me back to the parking lot.

I saw a Timmys coffee cup, of all places, stuck on a tree branch.  URGGG! I didn’t get why people couldn’t just take their garbage back out with them?  I grabbed it to pack it out myself, another picture for #CleanUpOurParks !!

Coming up on your left, there is a nice lookout area with a really cool rock wall and some benches.  I could picture this place full of people in the summer and even later in the day perhaps, but currently, just a little boy, his dog, and his parents were here.

Unfortunately, with the lighting the way it was, I couldn’t get a good shot of this area.  Guess you will have to go there yourself and check it out now!

I took a couple more shots of the beautiful view, had a rest and a snack on the bench nearby, and then headed down the Mount Nemo Side Trail towards the parking lot.

En route I noticed a washroom and stopped to check it out.  I have colitis and even though it is in remission at the moment, I still love to see public washrooms while I’m hiking and do my best to tell people about them in case they have similar issues.  There have been times in my life when knowing that washroom was there, would’ve made the decision for me whether or not to go hiking.  So if this is the case for you, I want you to know, you’re covered! 🙂

I returned back to my car around 10am, an hour and a half after I’d arrived.  There was a lineup now to get into the park at the gate, which was now attended also,  and the parking lot had twice as many vehicles as when I arrived only an hour and a half ago. This is part of why I love getting up and out early in the day.  It really is the best time for so many reasons!

Well, this concludes my hike at Mount Nemo Conservation Area. I really hope you enjoyed hiking along the Bruce Trail with me and you will join me on my next adventure!

Ontario Trails is an organization that handles all of the trails in Ontario and does an incredibly wonderful job doing so, but, like everyone, they can always use a bit of help!  Click the Link to find out how you can help out today!

If you have any comments, questions or just want to say hello, please leave a message. I love to hear from people and share their experiences of the places I’ve visited as well!

Happy Hiking!

Camper Christina