Backpacking the Bruce Trail, Cyprus Lake to Stormhaven

This will be a short backpacking trip along a challenging section of the Bruce Trail on the north end of the Bruce Peninsula. The trail follows the Niagara Escarpment, with stunning views of Georgian Bay. The pace will be slow to moderate.

Itinerary

Friday: Drive approximately 3-3.5 hours to Bruce Peninsula National Park, Cyprus Lake campground. Camp in Cyprus Lake campground for the night.

Saturday: 8:30 a.m., after breakfast in camp, hike the Georgian Bay trail from the Cyprus Lake campground to the Bruce Trail (approx. 1.5 km). After an optional detour west to the Grotto, turn east and hike along the Bruce Trail to Stormhaven campsites (approx. 2 km). Set up camp at Stormhaven. Spend the rest of the day exploring along the Bruce Trail toward High Dump.

Sunday: Reverse Saturday's route (with optional detours), arriving at the parking lot at Cyprus Lake campground. Lunch may be en route or at a restaurant after we are off the trail. Arrival time at KW will be approximately early-to-mid evening.

Difficulty: Novice+/Intermediate

This trip does not require a lot of backpacking experience, but this should not be your first backpacking trip. While this route is short (3.5 km with full pack), this section of the Bruce Trail is classified as difficult due to the ruggedness of the trail--rocks, tree roots, rocky beaches and steep ups and downs. No rock-climbing skills are required. Sturdy backpacking boots are required, and trekking poles are recommended. Participants should be in good enough physical condition to carry a full pack over 5 km of rough terrain.

Cost Estimate

The $2 RSVP fee goes to support the KW Backcountry Travel Meetup. This fee will be refunded if you drop out before the RSVP deadline or if the trip is cancelled.

Cost of campsites (assuming 12 participants): $3.92 (Friday night car camping) + $9.80 (Saturday night backcountry camping) = $13.72

Additional cars cost $11.70 each (1 car parks free per campsite at the campground). An overnight parking fee of $11.70 must be paid for each car for Saturday night. All parking fees will be shared by all campers.

Actual cost of campsites and parking will be determined by how many people come on this trip.

Shared gas is extra, arrange with your carpool driver.

Gear

See Tim's Backpackers' Bootcamp Packing List (v2) (http://files.meetup.com/1606190/Backpackers%20Bootcamp%20Packing%20listv2.pdf) for a list of what to pack. Expect cool weather at this time of year, and pay special attention to Tim's tips about layering clothing. If you need to borrow or share gear, please notify the trip host.

Note that cans and glass bottles are banned in the backcountry.

No campfires are allowed at the Stormhaven campsite, so stoves are required for cooking. We will get drinking water from Georgian Bay, but it should be purified before drinking. Tents should be free-standing, as the tent pads are wooden platforms. Metal cables are provided at Stormhaven for hanging food bags.

Ride and Tent Sharing

Carpooling is encouraged. Feel free to use the comment space below to organize carpooling and sharing tents, stoves, water filters, etc. When RSVPing "yes", please add yourself to the linked shared document (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jPH0GS3ha6sfiDhJ4vjYprw-FnuqJKiOW-4Vq4359k4/edit#gid=0) and include the following information:

• whether you can offer or need a ride, which city you live in and when you can leave

• whether you have a tent to share or need a spot in someone's tent

Tent sharing is also encouraged. In the Cyprus Lake campground, we are limited to 3 tents per site. At Stormhaven, each campsite consists of a 12' x 12' wooden platform that should hold at least 2 tents.

Please record arrangements in the shared document. The event host will assist in matching drivers and passengers during the week leading up to the trip after registration is closed. Participants are welcome to discuss arrangements and modify them.

Nearer the date of the meetup, I will send at least one logistics email. Please have email notifications turned on so you can receive these emails.

Waiting List

Because we are charging members a fee to RSVP for this event, there is no waiting list. This is a feature of the Meetup.com system.

If the trip fills up, members who have not RSVPed will see, in the top right corner of the page for this Meetup, text saying "This Meetup is full. Want to know if a spot opens up?" and a button saying "Notify Me". If you click this button, you (along with everyone else who has clicked the "Notify Me" button) will receive an email if a spot in the trip opens up. The first person to RSVP gets the open spot. No consideration is given to the order in which people requested notification. This is how the system handles Meetups where an event fee is charged. To ensure your spot in a Meetup, RSVP early.