The Elgin Trail runs 41 km from Port Stanley on Lake Erie to Southdel Bourne, following Kettle Creek and Dodds Creek, along some country roads for several kilometres, and then goes over the 401 and crosses a forest near the Green Lane landfill site. The trail is well marked with white blazes, but is not well-used, so it is overgrown at times.
This new series highlights the best hikes around the world, trails that we would someday like to hike on and enjoy. There are an assortment of caches along the Elgin trail commemorating these other trails.
Not to be confused with the far larger Dominican Republic, which sits 1000 km northwest and shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, Dominica has the beautiful beaches and ocean views you’d expect from a Caribbean paradise. But beyond lies a rugged, wild interior where crystal clear waterways flow through dense rainforest, and volcanoes which tower over deep valleys and gorges also heat hot springs - and globally-significant boiling lakes. Running through all of this is the 14-stage, 185 km Waitukubuli National Trail - the Caribbean’s first long-distance hiking route - which starts at Scott’s Head in the south of the island and finishes in the Cabrits National Park in the north. Dominica is only 47 km long and 26 km wide, but the Waitukubuli Trail runs 185 km, weaving and winding through the varying landscapes of the island. “If you’re looking for jungle, coral and whales, and other wildlife, you can find it all here in one place,” says the trail founder. “We’ve been called the Jurassic Park of the Caribbean. There are nine active volcanoes, which means we have a tremendous mountain mass running along the central backbone of the island, and with that, we have gorges, rivers, waterfalls and lakes. We have steam caves and sulphur pools, and the largest boiling lake in the western world. Dominica also has the last remaining indigenous people of the Caribbean.” A boiling lake is exactly what it says on the tin; a bubbling lake of greyish-blue water, with steam rising off the boiling water. Reaching it involves a hike through the paradisiacal Titou Gorge and the comparatively rough land of the Valley of Desolation. While swimming is strictly prohibited (for obvious reasons), hikers are welcome to dip into the hot springs elsewhere on the island.
Opa Norshley helped me with the hides and the listing. Hope you like these.
The cache is in a tree just off the trail.