Just over four weeks after my knee surgery and I was dying to get out into nature. To be completely accurate, I was dying to go camping, but for now, a hike in the woods would suffice. The last two weekends I’d Ridden my bike over 10 km’s each day and my knee felt really awesome! I was hiking with a friend and a five year old so I figured I should be able to keep up and go slowly, and I did just that.
I was so excited to go hiking, not only because I love it, but also I needed to test out my hiking boots.
The last time I hiked I had an issue with my boots and I was unsure if the problem was my boots, or me?
As my knee was injured, I was not walking properly and I was hoping that was causing the issue and my hiking boots were still good.
We headed to Rockway Conservation Area , one of my favorite close by places to hike. I hadn’t been there since early July and was looking forward to it at this time of year.
It was very pretty as expected. There was a 40% chance of rain forecast, so I thought it would look dreary and bleak, but it didn’t at all.
I was hoping to see a deer. I’ve seen a few here now an then and it was always such a magical experience. We found lots of fur on the ground, so I knew they were here somewhere!!
We came up to my favourite part of the hike, the water!
There were lots of treasures to be found in the great outdoors today!
Honecomb, fantastic funghi, flowers with interesting features underneath the petals!
and then I saw this!!!!
It was so amazing and beautiful! I tweeted a photo to see if anyone knew what it was and was told it was a Hemlock Varnish Shelf. I’d never seen anything like it! Isn’t it pretty? It was fairly large also, probably the size of two of my hands.
We came up to an open area where the shelters are. There is one made of wood and another made of rocks. Both are very cool and a good place to stop and have a snack.
After our snack we decided to head back the way we came and return to the car. I hiked for about three hours, with a lot of doddling and stopping along the way and my knee felt pretty good, tired, but it didn’t hurt at all. YAY KNEE!!!
It felt so good to get into the woods for a while, shuffle through the leaves and listen the sounds of nature. I believe it renews my soul and after spending some time outdoors, I always feel content and that all is right with the world. Hopefully, I will be able to hike another trail very soon!
I hope you enjoyed my post and are able to make some time to get out in nature and enjoy the outdoors yourself. But if not, come for a virtual outdoors session here anytime!
Ontario Trails Council does a great job of taking care of all the the trails in Ontario. Find out how you can help today!
If you have any questions, comments or just want to say ‘hi’ please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able to.
Happy Hiking! 🙂
Camper Christina
Yay! Glad ur still doing ok!! So how were ur boots then? Did they work out ok?
YUP! I think they are alright! They didn’t hurt at all so I think it was just from walking wrong with my knee before my surgery. I will be wearing them again in Algonquin in a few weeks for sure, possibly for a bit longer, (hopefully snowshoeing in them? fingers crossed as they have no snow in the north here yet either!! urg! ) so that will be the big test. Thanks for asking and for commenting. 🙂
Hi Christina. 🙂 That Hemlock Varnish Shelf was pretty cool looking. Glad your knee is feeling better. 🙂 I’ll be tagging you tomorrow morning. LOL. 🙂 See ya on Twitter 😉
haha tagged you first my friend! Thanks, isn’t it so cool! Thanks for reading and for commenting! Have a super duper day!