Last November, when we were visiting Tobago, I had a real desire to go hiking for some waterfalls. Especially with all of the craziness in the world; I had a real need to be "cleansed" and really get grounded again. Also - I have been taking an astrology course and learning so much. Most interestingly, just how based on my natal birth chart ... I am an earth sign, Taureans are also ruled by the Earth and Venus. More on what I have been learning about astrology at another time.
Back to the waterfall chasing. I didn't know this, but Hamilton is actually home to about 150 waterfalls (!!?) and there are a few of them you can just get right up close an personal with. There are many falls that would be considered risky to climb or get close to, and those are usually marked by a fence. Also due to our current pandemic situation, I had to make sure that the falls that we would visit would even be open to the public. Many of these picturesque sites will end up having loads of people, all there to get a pic "for the gram".
We had a friend on Instagram who had taken a pic from right behind the falls and it was tagged with "Smokey Hollow". I was immediately intrigued. When we were in Tobago, we hiked to some falls. You actually had to swim to the falls in order to see them. One of the guys who had hiked with us insisted that there was some secret passageway behind the falls, and suggested that Kevin carry me back there. Alas, the pressure of the water of the falls was intense. I also had lash extensions on... and was worried about their ability to stay on with the incredible pressure of the falls. We were unable to find this ledge he was talking about behind the falls.
As such, seeing the fact that we could in fact go behind the falls at Smokey Hollow - I searched it up and found that there was a hiking trail there. We decided to make a trip out there the Friday before the long weekend. I rented a super cute compact SUV and we drove about an hour out of Toronto to get there. This was much less time than it took to get to Lion's Head.
Myself, my husband Kevin, my sister Nerissa, my longtime friend Alice and the dogs (Wolfie and Dash) got to the falls in record time, as we wanted to leave early to avoid any potential crowding. We wanted to be able to get nice and close to the falls and just get back in touch with Mother Nature again. The trail at Smokey Hollow starts and ends at the falls, and so you really don't need to go that far to get there. There's a lookout right next to the parking lot, but to get to the falls - there is a bit of a hike down a hill to get there. This hike just to get to the falls wasn't easy, when we had to go back and forth for drinks and food and stuff it was truly a workout to go back and forth.
Once we found a spot right next to the falls, Kevin went on his shamanic way and took the bong behind the waterfall. We actually both climbed back there when we first got there; it was really really cool to be behind there. People came and went, but everyone was very respectful and just wanted to grab the pictures of the falls. Wolfie managed to swim for the first time ever!! I wish I had grabbed a picture / video of it, but it's like they all have this ingrained ability to swim - so wonderful the way that nature works isn't it?
Once we hung out and swam for a bit, we ended off our waterfall chasing journey with a hike on the actual trail. This trail was gorgeous, with a few staircases and followed the creek. We didn't do the whole trail, but I would recommend it to any of you hikers that are looking for a cool trail that is scenic because of the creek from the waterfall that it follows.
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