*UNSUPPORTED! No caches, no stores etc.
*Daily mileage includes wrong turns, fetching water etc.
*2 LBS/4000 CAL of food carried for day 2-10
*Carried 1 LB of dates and pizza for lunch on Day 1
*Total weight for food carried: 19.5 LBS
*Started with no water
*Base weight: 10.5 LBS
*Total pack weight: 30 LBS
Day 1- 41.59 mi. Sugarbush to New Lowell. Pretty neat to start a 402 mile FKT a half mile behind my house. These trails I obviously know very well. I started on the border of the Barrie/Orillia section of the Ganaraska Trail. 8 AM start. I took off heading east towards The Bruce. There were lots of streams so I didn't really have to carry water at all the first day. I settled into a nice pace. I even stopped and talked to a Ganaraska thru hiker in the Copeland forest section. There's a section near Angus where you are on an old rail line. Except the tracks are still there. That makes for some interesting hiking. First day went well, as it should. Just getting warmed up.
Day2- 42.31 mi. New Lowell to Black Bank. Today's goal was to get to The Bruce. I was looking forward to a well blazed and manicured trail. I also knew The Bruce is pretty hilly. First though, I got to go through the beautiful quiet town of Creemore. No stores for me though so I got through town and kept on moving. I eventually climbed the unmaintained road to get up the The Bruce/Ganaraska cairn intersection. I took a pic of the rock cairn and got on The Bruce. It was nice to have these smaller goals to achieve. Next goal was to get to Oak Ridges Trail. Found a sleep spot a little before dark around 9 PM and set my alarm for 6 AM which would be my routine for most of the FKT.
Day 3- 40.28 mi. Black Bank to Hockley Valley. My right knee was not feeling great today. I guess the downhills were getting to me. I found myself compensating some to relieve the stress. All part of it though. I was thinking before that I may only spend one night on The Bruce. I was off and would have to spend one more night here. This day was really scenic though. I got to go through Kilgore, Boyne Valley, Mono Cliffs and Hockley Valley. I messed up this day while doing my chores near a stream in Kilgore. I filtered my water, washed my socks, filled up my dehydrated meal for later that night, and washed my small absorbing cloth which I use for wiping my feet before bed. While doing the latter, the current took the thing right out of my hands. I instantly panicked and thought now I wouldn't be able to keep my feet clean as planned. I am lucky though, the cloth kind of ended up in a whirlpool near land. I ran down and reached in and grabbed it, getting my whole arm soaked. I was grateful, yet upset with myself at the same time. One little mistake like that can greatly impact an adventure like this.
Day 4- 41.13 mi. Hockley Valley to Mary Lake. This is the day I remember the most. This was the day it was supposed to rain some. I studied the forecast before the trip and made the decision to bring my lighter rain jacket. There was some rain scheduled, but it wasn't supposed to be too much and the temps were mild. Well, it ended up pouring down hard and the temps also dropped. I became completely soaked through and started to get the chills. I checked my phone to see when this would let up. There were still a couple more hours of this. I was really close to tapping out. I was in a bad spot. I knew though if I could just weather the storm, I would eventually dry out and be fine. It was also supposed to be sunny and warm the next day. I attempted to run some and hike extra fast to stay warm. That was a long few hours, but I got through it. The rain eventually let up and I began to dry up. I am really glad I stuck it out.
Day 5- 42.13 mi. Mary Lake to Glen Major. I got to see some really amazing houses and properties today. I went through the town of Aurora which is a very nice place. Eventually, I crossed the 404 highway which is another minor goal. It felt good because I was slowly leaving the craziness of the populated areas north of Toronto. I also went through Mussleman's Lake which is a cool spot. I felt like I was getting lucky finding great sleep spots right off the trail. Tonight was no exception. I did my usual nightly chores and then proceeded to have another great sleep.
Day 6- 44.89 mi. Glen Major to Ganaraska Forest. Today consisted of a lot of unmaintained, mostly flat roads. It also had no water until around 4 PM. I was lucky to start the day with 2 full smart water bottles. I was trying to conserve the best I could. It was also pretty hot for this time of year. I drank what I had, when I had to. I saw on the map that eventually I would run into a creek. What a great feeling finally getting to a great water source. I took full advantage. I camelled up and did all of my chores. I knew I would have lots of sleep spots when I got to the Ganaraska Forest so I wasn't worried. I ate my cold soaked dehydrated meal and then brushed my teeth on the go which was my usual routine.
Day 7- 47.08 mi. Ganaraska Forest to Fells Bay. Today I had the easiest terrain of the entire loop. I started off with a long road section. Then I got onto the very long section of rail trail. The trail goes through Lindsay and Fenelon Falls. I wanted to get past Fenelon Falls because I didn't want to set up my tent where anyone could find me. So I made it past there, but was having some trouble finding the right spot that worked for me. It was getting dark and my legs were tired from the monotony of the day. Any reasonable spot would have to suffice now. I found a spot which at the time I thought would work out OK. Unfortunately, some critters kept me up way longer than I wanted. I actually woke up at like 1:30 AM due to the noise and thought I should just pack up and get going. I gave it another chance then actually got some deep sleep until 6. So not the sleep I wanted, but no complaints. I'll just be extra tired the next night.
Day 8- 35.85 mi. Fells Bay to Victoria Lake. So I go from the easiest day, right into the hard stuff. I quickly finished off the section of rail trail then soon after, things started getting gnarly. My goal was to get part of the wilderness section done. The wilderness section is the highlight or lowlight of the Great Ontario Loop. Just depends on how you look at it. Up until now, there were no bugs. That started to change in the wilderness. I had no bug net, I didn't even bring the inner of my tent. This meant I had no bug protection for sleeping. Yikes. First the rain jacket and now this. Oh well. I eventually got to a campsite on Victoria Lake. I set up and did all of my stuff. I knew this would be rough with hundreds of black flies swarming around in my tent. I knew the temp was going to drop off though and was praying that they would eventually disperse. So I lost a couple hours of sleep, but eventually they must have subsided since I feel deep asleep. Phew.
Day 9- 53.49 mi. Victoria Lake to Scout Valley. I woke up early due to the bugs coming out at first light. I packed up and was ready to tackle this wilderness and get it done. The wilderness is harder to navigate and is unmaintained. Luckily it was spring and the vegetation wasn't too bad yet. I crossed many beaver dams and swamps. I really had to be careful out there. I didn't want one wrong step to end the trip. I eventually got to the Montgomery creek crossing. I had done this before and hopped across rocks to get to the other side. This time those rocks were covered with rushing water. Damn. I had to go a little further down to wade across. I was about chest high in water. I even slipped at one point so the front of myself and face got soaked also. I made it across safely though and I could take some time to dry out at Victoria Falls. At the falls I also had to get a whole bunch of ticks off of myself. So I took my clothes off, shook them, turned them inside out and just checked everything. I had some slightly embedded but got them out. I also did the rest of my chores. I also made the decision that if I pushed through the night, I would be able to break 9 days. I gave it the old college try, but slightly after midnight, I decided to get some sleep even though I was roughly 15 miles from the end. No regrets, that would have been a very long 15 miles. Looking back, I just mistimed my finish. It is finishing that matters though, and that I planned on doing!
Finish- 14.72 mi. Scout Valley to Sugarbush. 4 hours of sleep and it's time to get this done. Also nice since I'll now be able to really soak it in and enjoy the last miles. I have been on these trails many times before. I felt really great. I knew my family would be there at the finish line and I was really looking forward to seeing them. And of course, showering, eating and resting. It was all magical. The kids had a sign made up for me. It felt so good to get to the spot where it had all begun. I got my photo taken and then even got a ride back home. I was then spoiled with pancakes and other goodies. Shower felt amazing. Chantal only had to get one tick off of me. I guess I did a decent job removing all the others. I actually thought I would have more embedded. Pretty soon after I hit the wall and took an amazing nap. I'm a blessed guy to be able to do an adventure like this! This was a project I had thought about doing for a while and to make it become a reality was pretty cool. I hope someone else will give this a go at some point. It is quite the adventure!