Describes a 5-week backpacking journey along the Bruce Trail in Ontario, Canada, highlighting the flora and fauna of the region and providing survival tips and techniques for long-distance bsckpacking.

When they retired, Nick and his old friend Mike both moved with their wives from Regina, Saskatchewan to southern Ontario: Nick to Dundas and Mike to Hamilton's lower city. Nick (65) had been a university professor and Mike (70) a senior civil servant, and in spring 2018 both were in need of a new challenge. Though neither had any experience of long-distance hiking, they decided to take on the Bruce Trail end to end. The Bruce, which follows the devious course of the Niagara Escarpment for 890 kilometres/553 miles through southern Ontario, is Canada's oldest and longest waymarked hiking trail. Two and a half years later, after battling rocks, roots, heatwaves, mud, ice, noxious insects, and their own mortality, they managed to complete the Trail ... in the middle of a pandemic. Was it all a nightmare? No, it was one of the greatest experiences of their lives. This book, illustrated with more than 300 colour photographs, is Nick's opinionated photo-documentary of what they encountered and endured on the long, hard, but utterly inspiring journey from Niagara to Tobermory. If these two could do it, perhaps you can too.

Hike, explore, discover, and learn! There are endless wonders to uncover along the Bruce Trail, Canada’s oldest and longest marked foot path. This beautifully illustrated book invites kids and families to unearth the trail’s many treasures, from a blue jay’s feather to an acorn to a droplet of water. Thoughtfully chosen facts will light up the imaginations of children and grown-ups alike, encouraging love, appreciation, and respect for the natural world and all it has to offer.

Travel the Bruce Trail in day hikes with Loops & Lattes author Nicola Ross Best known for her detailed Loops & Lattes hiking guides, Nicola Ross has inspired tens of thousands of people to lace up their boots and explore Ontario’s trails. In 40 Days & 40 Hikes, this adventurer, author, and environmentalist sets herself a new challenge: to hike the Bruce Trail from Niagara to Tobermory in her own creative way. In 40 cleverly crafted day-loops, Ross covers over 900 kilometers mostly following Canada’s longest marked trail, taking you with her on an insightful journey to the Niagara Escarpment’s remarkable sights. As Ross walks, she reveals stories of the trail’s flora and fauna, geology and history. The Bruce Trail becomes the central character as she ponders her role in protecting the fragile corner of the planet that, she contends, is entwined in her DNA. Despite long days on the trail, encounters with bears, ticks, and a deadly derecho, her passion for her beloved Niagara Escarpment mounts as she explores Ontario’s “ribbon of wilderness.” Perfect for hikers, non-hikers, and anyone who loves an adventure, 40 Days & 40 Hikes is both a captivating travelogue and a useful companion for those who Ross will undoubtedly inspire to follow in her footsteps.

Born in 1933 in Fukuoka, Japan, Yutaka was a just a boy when WWII began. National turmoil was joined by personal turmoil when he and his brothers lost their parents, and along with them, their home. So began the first of Yutaka’s many moves, which took him all over Japan, then to Canada, where he moved with his family in 1973, and even China, where he did business in the last part of his career. Through determination and perseverance, he became an engineer and entrepreneur—designing, amongst other things, hockey sticks and booms—a career path that was beset with threats of bankruptcy and betrayal by partners along with unexpected kindnesses. Beyond the Billows is a detailed portrait of engineering in the 20th century and the Japanese immigration experience in Canada. It is also an expansive memoir, telling Yutaka’s personal story of hard-won success in business over three continents.

An 885-kilometre trail, 53 hiking days over 4 years. Think mild, not wild. Reflections on the walking, the talking and, ultimately, the losing of friends. Pam and Marg stepped away from their "to do" lists and onto the Bruce Trail. Read their tips for packed lunches and no-nonsense fashion, then follow the author’s subsequent journey as she steps back to weave together the disparate topics of friendship, loss, and the value of forests. Lyrical and insightful, these essays will engage anyone who loves nature and people, who prefers moving ahead to sitting still. People who hike, on local or distant trails, will relate to the specifics of contour maps, shuttling, buying the right size boots. People who enjoy activities accompanied by a good friend will relate to the bond that develops and deepens. People experiencing loss will relate to the restlessness and confusion that follows heartbreak. This book begins as “How to” but develops into “What now?” as Marg turns to words as a way of making sense of the world around her, steadying herself after the loss of a close friend.

Four short novels that go together the way short steps can make a stairway to heaven, describing a year of living vibrationally, which lead to a lot of ecstasy. It was not a year of living Biblically, it was a year of living ecstatically.