In the last part of July I was first in Kelowna and then in Calgary. My daughter in Kelowna took me on a hike in part of the Mission Creek Greenway, but with a temperature in the 30s I found it too hot hiking in the sun, so instead we then went to the KLO trail which was in a deep canyon leading up towards angels falls. This was a beautiful shaded trail with trees of around 150 ft tall. There were many places where the trail crossed the creek, sometimes on a bridge or just stepping stones, but the interesting option was a strap with a rope about four feet above it which made for a very swaying route. It would certainly be a very challenging system for crossing a wide river.
In Calgary, staying at Mount Royal University I would always see at least two magpies, some house sparrows and a flicker. There were Richardson’s ground squirrels popping out of their burrows in the lawn, and often a jack rabbit nibbling the grass. I joined a tour of the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, where there were many plants not seen in Ontario such as the purple prairie clover, Alberta wild rose and fringed sage. However, a familiar sight was some white tail deer. The Glenbow Ranch Park has 3200 acres of grassland with trees in the coolies. In the late 1800s it was home to a millionaire who had over 6000 cattle brought up to the area. Most of the cattle died in a winter with deep snow because they could not reach the grass under the snow. Apparently he was not too bothered as he was in the leather business!
On August 9th the Tuesday Trompers enjoyed a hike at Wawanosh Nature Centre. There is a beautiful patch of wildflowers at the side of the trail, which includes sunflowers, coneflowers, wild bergamot and showy tick-trefoil. However, this year no butterflies were in sight, compared to the same time last year when there were numerous ones there. We crossed over the Belgrave creek on the new permanent bridge.
Notes
The bridge on the blue Sugar Bush trail is now completed.
The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority are about to (or have already started on) replacement of the long boardwalk on the Naftel’s Creek trail. A completion ceremony is planned for Saturday October 15th. Details are in the Maitland Trail Newsletter.
Sunday August 14th 11 am a BRVTA Ice Cream hike on the Bayfield Woodland trail for 1 ½ hours Meet at the David Street entrance. For details contact Ralph Blasting 519-525-3205
Friday August 19th 6.30 p.m. Sunset shoreline walk near Goderich. Join the Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s restoration technician, Holly. for a sunset walk along the shoreline to learn about beach-dune ecosystem processes, native and invasive coastal plants, and how the LHCC restores degraded sand dune environments. Level 1, leisurely pace. Contact Cristen for details and to register (cristenmwatt@gmail.com, 226-234-6231).
Sunday August 21st 2pm for 1 ½ hours Historic Cemetery Tour with Dave Gillians. This for BRVTA association members only with a limit of 20 people. Register by contacting Ralph Blasting at rjblastingjr@gmail.com or 519-525-3205.
Saturday September 24th and Sunday Sept 25th Hike the Maitland Camino event. Instead of the Saturday Harvest supper there will be a Saturday pot luck supper at a pavilion. Details to follow.
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 All hikers must sign the waiver, preferably the Online waiver at www.maitland trail.ca
Uneven Hikers hike for 1 ½ to 2 hours on Wednesdays or Thursdays, contact Patrick Capper. Both groups meet at 9 a.m. and are open to non-members provided they sign the MTA on-line waiver.
If you have questions or something of interest for Trail Talk email me Patrick Capper at pcapper99@gmail.com.
