MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2018

18 ML BLUE WINTER 2018 The Grotto—by now the secret about the Bruce Peninsula’s turquoise waters and towering Niagara Escarpment cliffs has been out so long that it’s hard to remember it ever being a hidden gem. Whether today’s visitors were tipped off by their buddies on Instagram or a top 10 blog on Narcity, visiting The Grotto during the summer months has become a much different experience than it was even five short years ago. When I first started hiking to The Grotto, I was in high school in Wiarton. We would skip school, sometimes to cruise the local gravel roads, but more often than not, we’d take a pass on math class for a different kind of geography class at Bruce Peninsula National Park. Like many teenagers, we really didn’t realize how lucky we were. We didn’t realize that not all teenagers could take a pass on school to THE GROTTO, REDISCOVERED GUEST ITORIAL ALLISON KENNEDY DAVIES chill out in one of the most unique places on the planet. As an adult, I realize that those were truly amazing times. But the world turns and things change, people unearth gems, and sometimes they tarnish them. In recent years, we’ve developed a new Grotto tradition—one that doesn’t involve demerits on report cards or battling crowds during the summer months. We’re “grown-ups” now (or so we’re told) and every March Break we make the pilgrimage to The Grotto along with our school-age children. It’s become a ritual, one that involves pushing kids to their limits and a few trailside tears but one that even our kids have penciled into their increasingly scheduled lives. For that one day, we pack snacks, drinks, layers and snowshoes (although that last two years we haven’t needed them) and drive up to the Park. Each year is different—if there’s one thing that The Grotto has earned it’s our respect during the winter months. Let’s be clear, we’re not in charge of how this day goes. We can prepare, we can pack well, we can fill our pockets with treats that will fuel that extra mile, but Mother Nature will let us know what we’re up against. One year, the sun shone brilliantly and there was no wind. We were able to unroll the Therm-a-rest my brother-in-law had packed and spend several sunny hours at Indian Head Cove appreciating this place. Other years, we could hear the waves from the car, still over an hour’s hike away. That year, we huddled together on the trail, sheltered by the trees, and ate a few snacks before picking up our pace in an effort to keep warm. Last year, the wind was down but the waves had clearly been fierce the week before. The ice was thick along the shore and while we could sit at Indian Head Cove, we had to tread very carefully and make sure the kids understood the risks. Over the years, they’ve learned to treat this place with the respect it deserves. They’ve learned that when an adult says stop, there’s no time for discussion. This year, we’ll check the forecast on the Friday before March Break and we’ll exchange a flurry of texts around work/life schedules. We’ll nail down a day and we’ll head north. We don’t know what this year’s excursion will bring, but we’ll be as ready as we can be—armed with an open mind, a healthy respect for the weather and a pocketful of candy. —Allison Kennedy Davies