Local trails mapped in new Loops and Lattes

Several hikes in Creemore and Singhampton are included in the newest instalment of the Loops and Lattes Hiking Guides series by Nicola Ross.
The Blue Mountains and Beaver Valley edition includes the Creemore Nature Preserve (known locally as The Mingay Tract), Nottawasaga Lookout and Nottawasaga Bluffs in Singhampton, and many others. In total, the book features 35 hikes that range in length from two to five kilometres and take people to some unique rock formations, panoramic views, caves, a keyhole and even the crash site of an airplane.
This latest edition is the sixth in a series that explores area trails. It all began with a book about Caledon hikes, published in 2015. Ross, an author and freelance writer, is from the area but was working at a lodge on the French River owned by her partner Alex Stachan, two years earlier when she received a most generous birthday gift. He said to her, he would pay her expenses for the following two years so that she could write another book. She let that percolate for a while as she continued to work at the lodge, all the while Strachan was cheering her on to get started on her book.
“I call it a hiking love story,” said Ross, adding that first book was dedicated to Strachan.
Ross said she never intended for it to develop into a series but it has now grown into a successful full-time endeavour.
It was a publisher friend who suggested she write a guide, and the idea stuck. The following summer she began hiking with the intent of gathering information for the book. Ross creates the maps and takes most of the photos. Additionally, each hike includes the length, level of difficulty, elevation, and highlights. As the name Loops and Lattes would suggest, each hike also includes suggestions for where to get a good coffee or a bite to eat in a nearby town. Ross relies on a group of beta testers who go out to test the routes to make sure the map and descriptions are accurate, and for each book, she commissions a local artist to create a cover, and this one is by Nottawa painter Kara McIntosh.
Ross said she likes to hike with friends but also enjoys to wander solo, with her dog Frida.
“Just getting away, seeing new sites, breathing fresh air,” she said of what draws her to the trails.
When asked if hiking has grown in popularity during the pandemic, Ross says, “Sales have gone through the roof if that’s any indication.”
The book sells for $27.95 and is available at loopsandlattes.ca. It is also for sale at Curiosity House Books in Creemore and Maple Grove Farm in Mulmur.