TRAIL TALK 392

I have been hiking in Huron County for nearly 20 years, and I was reflecting on the changes in the trails during tat time. The most important observation is that despite changes in landowners, a tornado and landslides that the Maitland Trail has continued to exist without any major reroutes onto roads.  All the local trails have seen improvements in fixing wet spots, often with additional boardwalks, and better signage.

The two largest changes in the Maitland Trail have been the reroute, just west of the Robertson  Tract. Due to some inconsiderate hikers peering in the window of a private home, the owners required a reroute around a field to avoid the home.  This could have easily resulted in a major trail closure and reroute, but ended with just over a two kilometer trail extension.  The other change has been the planned southward extension of a Sharpes Creek Line gravel pit it has resulted in a two kilometer extension, mostly through forested property, which also reduced the length of a road walk from 1 km to 200m. Four of use hiked on this newest part of the Maitland Trail at the West side of Sharpes Creek Line on Thursday Morning November 26^th. Taking advantage of a lull in the weather before the winter storm arrived.

This trail extension was only possible due to the generosity of landowners and the Miller Lavis group.

There have also been several other changes. The trail used to leave the G2G just before the 3km mark down some steps, but windfalls resulted in a reroute through the Tiger Dunlop grave area.  Windfalls also caused a minor reroute in the Glen Maitland Natural Area.  At Benmiller the trail used to go straight across Benmiller Line but between landslides and windfalls the trail had to be rerouted along roads to the steps at Cherrydale road.  This also added over one kilometer to the trail. The Maitland trail in 2000 was estimated at 44.5 km, compared to the present estimate of just under 54 km. 

Maitland Trail improvements have included two additional outhouses, and several boardwalks.  The Maitland Woods trail, has had an additional six boardwalks and four boardwalks have had the old boards replaced with newer ones. The #15 boardwalk was replaced by one that was higher so that it was well above the water in that area.

In the 2006 Huron County guide 23 trails were listed, this increased to 43 trails in the 2024 edition, but excludes the Woodlands Arboretum and the Hay Swamp trail listed in 2006. The biggest increase in the number of listed trails is the inclusion of 11 trails in Forest Tracts. The well loved Lobb trail was listed in the 2010 guide, but closed at the end of 2023 due to a change in ownership. More details on these changes in the next Trail Talk.

I have recently seen quite a few fungi.  I am no expert but iNaturalist suggests the large white ones are probably flowery blewit and the grey ones are grey knights.  There are also many mosses and ferns.  

The Menesetung bridge across the Maitland River at Goderich is closed to pedestrians and cyclist until December, with a probable opening on Saturday December 13^th.

Deer gun hunting December 1^st-7^th when the majority of the Maitland Trail will be closed. The Maitland Woods, Millennium Trail and the G2G trails will all stay open as hunting is not allowed on them.

Sunday December 7^th 1pm the Bayfield River Trail Association is holding a candy cane hunt on the Varna trail.

Saturday December 20^th 9 am.  Hike the Maitland Trail and the Robertson tract trails for about 1 ½ hours. . For more information and to confirm your attendance, please contact Susan Ethelston at susan.ethelston@gmail.com. This is a Level 1, moderate to brisk paced hike - some uneven surfaces.

Tuesday Trompers meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday to hike for about an hour. If you wish to be on this email list, send an email to mta@maitlandtrail.ca

Midweek hikers meet at 9 a.m. and hike for 1 ½ to 2 hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact Patrick Capper at pcapper99@gmail.com

LIFE hikers meet every Friday for a hike of about 1 1 /2 hours, with a choice of of pace, striders moving a little faster than te strollers.  The hikes now start at 9a.m. and can be joined through One Care.