On a bright September day, we resumed a tour of the Sydenham section, covering two side trails while avoiding the road walks. Both routes were well forested and peaceful.
We opted for a late lunch that would give us a view. No bench, but some large rocks provided good enough spots to admire the scenery.
All in all we covered about 7 kms. A visit to Pom Pom in Meaford ended the outing.
Looking for a classic fall hike, we decided to revisit a route we had taken in 2019 when the Fox Ridge Trail near Duncan had just opened. We discovered a newly build bridge over a small stream and a large plaque recognizing support of the new Fox Ridge Nature Reserve from a donor. The plaque stands on a grassy knoll with lovely views. This would be a nice spot for a bench.
The terrain includes open meadows with apple trees gone wild and some forested areas with tall sugar maples.
On October 28 with Sandra and Bruce, we covered the section we are responsible for as Bruce Trail Land Stewards. A week before, we had difficulty locating one of the boundary markers for the property, but we found it easily this time (instructions from Glenda and fewer yellow leaves helped). We crossed the creek using the alternate route (easier) and stopped at a bench for great views before turning back. A stop at Heathcote on the way to the cottage resulted in a blueberry pie which we enjoyed for dinner that night.
Only 2 days later, conditions had changed significantly. Snow overnight left frosty hiking conditions and pretty snow covered branches for our visit to Hoggs Falls. With Louise, we admired the 3 new bridges and fresh boardwalks. The Beaver Valley BTC volunteers earned an award for this work at the recent AGM.
We have joined the Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club's team of volunteer Land Stewards and have been assigned a 37-acre property which fronts onto Sideroad 16C near the Sligo Side Trail named Leverty. We toured the property today with Jamie Upton, the Land Stewardship Director and learned about our responsibilities. It is a beautiful section with varied terrain including meadow, deciduous forest, and a section that was reforested years ago by several youth groups. Removing plastic from around the bottoms of the trunks of those trees and cutting back the invasive buckthorn are priority projects.
After the tour, we walked south into the McConnel Forest, visiting an area we hiked with Sandra and Bruce last fall. A bench appeared only a few minutes after we had lunch sitting on the ground - something to remember for next time.
It was a warm day and the bugs were out. Steve took full precautions, Barb took none. We heard a number of birds and could identify red-eyed vireo, ovenbird and blackthroated blue warblers by their calls with the help of the Merlin app.
For our first hike of 2023 (except for snowshoe hikes) we chose a loop of about 10k that took us clockwise from North of Metcalf Rock, around the Mill Creek Valley to Pinacle Rock and through the Duncan Crevices. It was an unusually warm day for April with surprisingly little mud. Coltsfoot and Bloodroot where the only wild flowers we saw, but there were areas carpeted with trout lilly shoots that will bloom soon. The trail is very well maintained with a number of solid bridges and boardwalks.
We enjoyed our lunch on a bench looking across the valley towards Metcalf where we could make out a few hikers but no climbers. We continued along a fairly flat path towards the parking area on 9th sideroad but turned off to follow the Chuck Grant Sidetrail back to the car. The side trail starts with a smooth section, but the ascent at the end was a workout. If we were to bring guests that prefer flat terrain, the section from the 9th sideroad to Pinnacle Rock would be a nice route.
The "G to G" is a former rail line that has intrigued us for some years. We covered the part from the outskirts of Guelph to Elmira in the spring about 4 years ago. August 16 to 18, 2022 was an opportunity to cover most of the rest. We booked 2 nights at a BnB in a century home in Goderich and cycled the first and second days.
May 23, 2022
Although we had done this hike before in the fall, we chose it again as we were looking for something high and dry. We headed south from Woodford on an out and back route that ended at the Waisberg side trail.
Highlights were the ferns, red and white trillium, and rose-breasted grossbeaks. We encountered two enhtusiastic couples who were hiking together and were knowledgeable of the flora. The trails were much greener than they were just a few weeks earlier.
