After a very long hiatus we are back on the G2G! We picked up right where we left off, about 1 year ago! We have gone back to the G2G to hike sections over again. But we lost our focus on our section hikes. This is something we hope to improve in 2024.
Overall Condition
After being away from the trail for a year this is exactly what we needed. We hiked the Livingston Line to Road 174 section on February 3, 2024. The day was overcast, cloudy and grey. Most of this section was snow covered. But with temps around -4° we were mostly able to walk above the snow. We started with a good pace and found the snow did not add much difficulty.
Admittedly Goderich to Auburn has been our favourite sections of the trail. Hiking along the water and in the trees, makes for beautiful scenery. Now that we have entered Perth County, we are in for some more open, farm field views. This is not a negative thing, although the summer sun may be a factor. This is part of the charm of the G2G Rail Trail. Hiking the trail takes you through different terrain as you pass through each region. We also like trying to spend some extra time in the area we are hiking to get a feel for the culture. It may, or may not, be surprising to learn just how different life can be just a few miles down the road, or the trail.
There is a definite pattern in the spacing of scenery now that we are in Perth County. I mentioned that there is more farm land in this region. So we notice that from the road the trail is less tree covered. You have fields directly along the trail. Then in the middle part of the section there is a stretch of bush. This is interesting if you are into how land is divided up. I find it interesting and familiar being a farm kid myself.
Even though this section was snow covered it was well maintained. The only "ruts" we came across were from the tracks left by wildlife. Hiking in/on the snow definitely slowed us down but we still made excellent time, approximately 30 minutes there and back.
This section of the trail was nice walking this time of year. However, I think it would also be really nice in the Fall with the farmers in the fields.
Traffic
You can see the road, Blyth Road and Walton Road from the trail. I don't know if the time of year resulted in less traffic on Blyth Road but we did not notice the traffic at all.
I mentioned above that the Fall would be a good time to hike this section, because it would be nice to see the farmers in the fields. However, it would be important to note that traffic would increase as well.
Parking
We parked on Livingston Line, same as when we hiked the previous section: McNaught Line. Once we made it to the end of the section, we knew it would have been better to park on Road 174, because it is not a through road, so there was less traffic. All of the roads in the area of this section are gravel, accept for Blyth Road (and McNaught Line). The last two times we parked on Livingston Line we noticed a lot of mud, but a little dirt never hurt.
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