Belly of the Beast

It caught my eye and peeked my curiosity , a cache with a name like that must be worth visiting , and it was the main reason for our trip out to Everton to the banks of the Eramosa Creek . 

To the eye we had arrived to a tranquil serene landscape , to the ear the roar of surging water told a different story.

No signs indicating if there were trails or scenic points of interest except for this one , so we parked on the side of the road/dam . The beautiful lake stretched out to the east and as it meet the dam it cascaded down the spillway to the creek on the west side where I knew was hidden the Belly of the Beast . 

But before heading to our encounter with the beast Ev spotted mom and dad goose out for a swim with there very young goslings .

There is no marked trail here , I knew that the cache was on the north side of the river so we ventured that way until  we found a worn path that took us back towards the roaring creek and we entered an enchanting wonderland.

The creek weaves its way through the limestone rock , gorges and potholes abound formed during a period long ago by glacier movements 

These glacial potholes are everywhere , more the 150 can be found along the creek 

The route I took to the cache brought me to this gorge with it's cedar root bridge and way at the cool bottom the last vestiges of winter could be found : ice !! 

Hidden in one of the potholes we found the Belly of the Beast

A spectacular few from the cache

We were so mesmerized by this place that we lingered for well over a half hour exploring all the nooks and crannies and taking way to many pictures 

Brinx looking over the creek 

The old abandoned Mill stands on the other side of the creek 

On this side of the creek the ruins of an old stone Grist Mill lay buried in the undergrowth 

The pups loved investigating the ruins 

Tree roots exposed gripping the rock searching for substance in a struggle for survival .

As far as I can tell from the limited information I could find online this forest is called the Everton Scout Forest and is part of the longest continuous cedar forest in Ontario 

The creek widens and calms after these last rapids

  

Finally we tore ourselves away and crossed over to the other side looking for a way around the old mill to the next cache , at the feet of the Mill we found this carpet of yellow flowers 

Hartop Mill was constructed in 1865 . 

Both mills were build around the same time and in 1874 were purchased by Henry Hortop Jr , one was a sawmill and the other produced flower that was exported around the world by the name Lily White Flower 

In 1966 the Mill was purchased by the Grand River Conservation Authority  

 The banks climbed as we went along, trees precariously hanging to the cliffs 

 The Eramosa river flows southwards through Guelph joining the Speed River which then enters the Grand River , it's headwaters are found in the northeast of Eirn Township

 A bit of climbing was required as we searched for Candlelight Cache our goal in the area

 A beautiful view from the lookout on our way back from our second successful find

After Candlelight we headed back to the Dam and headed out on the opposite side for a short hike to pick up Ridgerunner's Individual Multi-Cache-Main Stage . Along the way we ran into this lean-to teepee style shelter .

Even though the temperature barely reached 11 degrees and the clouds kept hiding the sun we had a extremely enjoyable day !