The best made plans ...

The best made plans ...

I thought I had covered all the bases for our first family geocache-hike , I searched the maps for a good location not to far from home with a few caches to find , since there was going to be four of us and the canine brigade I was looking for a not heavily used trail . I settled for a section the Humber Valley Heritage Trail northwest of Bolton with a good parking area on Duffy's Lane that would give us an options for 4 caches on the south side of the road and if we felt so inclined another 4 on the north side .

After the customary coffee and donut at the local Tim Hortons I navigated the construction of an ever expanding town almost getting lost on the old familiar but now not so familiar roads , Bolton being an old haunt of mine. Finally managed to search out Duffy's Lane only to find it blocked with major  construction , signs everywhere stating that access to the road and the trail was closed !

That definitely put a dent in my well made plan !!! , so not to be deterred we parked and tried to see if we could perhaps find the trail amidst the chaos of bulldozers and a torn apart landscape. I realized as we went that we were on the wrong side of the river , so back to the car we went , did the long drive around the block and found our road again with it's abundance of non welcoming signs .

Once again we parked , once again we searched for the trail and luckily ( for me ) we found it . We then had a very pleasant hike through and ever changing terrane , the trail was well marked which was fortunate as there was lots of downed branches left over from this winters ice storm blocking it in many places .

We found 3 of the 4 caches we had set out to find , we spent a good half hour searching for the elusive 4th " The Deers Watering Hole " but to no avail . The weather was perfect around 18 degrees and the sun was shining the birds were singing , spring definitely in the air  , so I have to say in spite of the dicy start and the elusive well hidden cache , our first family geocaching-hike was a success !! 

Finally trail found and we're off for the hunt 

 Balancing act 

 Ice storm damage 

First cache 

 Dexter having a refreshing plunge much to his Mom's dismay !

 There are ducks courting here 

 Another cache 

Every now and then the trail boarders farmers fields 

 Here we searched and searched but could not find the hidden cache 

 Out of the forest into the meadows we go 

 Montana on point duty 

 For the most part the trail was dry but every now and then we cam upon muddy areas 

 Old ruins held the last cache of the day 

 Spring flowers here and there along the meadow 

  It was easier hiking down : )

 More obstacles 

Smiles all around !

Some interesting facts about the Humber River and the trail 

• In 1999 the Humber River was designated as a Canadian Heritage River and included in the Canadian Heritage Rivers System 
• The HVHTA is a not-for-profit organization who have an agreement with the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority to create and operate this trail on TRCA lands along the Humber Valley 
• Around 143 species of breeding birds nest or migrate through the Humber River watershed, 30 mammal species, 61 fish species, 10 species of reptile and 14 different kinds of amphibians  live and breed in the watershed. The watershed is also home to 918 species of plants.
• There is archeological evidence of human life, extending back 12000 years along the river valley .

Facts taken from the HVHTA site