Last Friday I had the luxury of having the day off due to Canada Day, and so had planned a day trip out to Lion's Head Provincial Park to do a hike with the dogs. I rented an SUV and loaded up my husband, Kevin, our dog son Wolfie as well as my sister Nerissa and Dash. We drove about 3 hours north of the city to get to our hiking destination. You may think that this sounds like a long way to drive, and it sure is - but after my cross Canada road trip in 2018... 3 hours was not really bad at all. When myself and Nerissa were driving across the country, I think we took shifts of about 3 hours a piece. After all, too much longer after that and your butt kinda goes numb.
The drive to get to Lion's Head was uneventful. I had to get used to driving again, as it had been a while since being behind the wheel. When we arrived at our destination, the tiny parking lot was full so we had to park on the road to get to the starting point. It was super hot that day, about plus 28 degrees Celsius or so. I packed my my backpack with a towel, a sugar free Gatorade, an ice pack and some wraps and protein bars. (The essentials I guess?)
We changed Wolfie into his harness and his bougie leash made by my friend Whitney that says "Prince Wolfie" on it. The harness was much better on Wolfie for hiking, as it meant that I could also help him over obstacles if I needed to and it would be more comfortable for trekking. Dash and Nerissa are somewhat seasoned hikers, and so were already game ready at the onset. The trail had a map at the beginning of the hike, which I took a picture of. There were also markings for the main trail and then offshoots from that trail. I believe that the hike of the entire loop can take about 4 hours, but we only wanted to hike up to Lion's Head Lookout to get some Instagram-worthy looking pictures with #nofilterneeded.
As we started on the trail, we kept onto the main trail. The main trail was super rocky, but it was so cute to see Wolfie in his true element. Climbing up the rocks and finding pathways. Also; this trail is marked as "easy" but I think it definitely is a little more challenging than that. Going up to the lookout we ran into this lady whose husband abandoned her about 10 minutes into the hike. Perhaps it was too hot? She surprisingly kept a good pace and let us know that if we needed to pass her to let her know. The people on this hike were all very friendly and nice actually!
Once we made it to the lookout point (we didn't take any shortcuts; more on that later), we found a spot near the edge on some rocks to have some food, hydrate ourselves and the dogs, and a joint. The pictures I took do not do the vast beauty of that lookout justice. The water was so blue, and had two different hues to it. I thought it had something to do with the temperature but who knows. The strange thing is that I don't really consider myself afraid of heights; but I got a little freaked out being up there. I think it was just because there was no railing, it felt so untouched by mankind, and in that moment ... if you fell, you would die. And nature would continue on. Kevin and Nerissa helped me face that a bit so I could grab my pictures safely.
We had a guy pop out to ask if he could borrow Kevin's abs for the summer. When we told him he could switch spots with us, so he could be near the edge, he balked and said "Only if I want certain death." Which; okay, but it wasn't really crazy dangerous where we were sitting. But I think it is important to go out there and feel that vastness of nature, to face our own mortality and our place in the universe.
The only real challenge we had on this hike was on the way back. We simply wanted to go back the way that we had come, but we started down what I thought was a short cut. Alas, after a while - we stopped seeing the markings. Meaning that we were going in the wrong direction. We ran into a couple and two guys on the way back, the couple insisted that they were going in the right direction. The two guys just wanted to go to the lookout; and so we walked back to that original moot point with them.
Once we got to that point, we booked it back to the beginning. It was seriously like doing the stepmill or treadmill in the gym but add the heat and humidity. Nature's Treadmill, it was a joy to really feel my heart and body pumping. Wolfie kept up like a champ, further solidifying our belief that he is not a pomchi. Perhaps he is an Eskimo? Regardless, it felt like we got home in a snap. Once we got back to the SUV, I probably ate like 3 pieces of ginormous watermelon and pumped the air conditioning to cool the car off. Next time I think we will rent a cottage in the area and spend the night.
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