I had a busy weekend on August 26th-27th. I joined 9 other cyclists at MacGregor Provincial Park for a 16 km ride lead by Don Andrews. We had a very pleasant day for the ride, and most riders stopped at the park store for an ice cream afterwards. Four of us then hiked a 4 km loop trail that had a wonderful variety of mushrooms. On Sunday three of us hiked 15km on the Maitland Trail from River Line to Cherrydale road, again with great weather, no rain and not too hot. Two interesting sights were the beech blight aphids on a beech tree, and a Great egret on the Maitland River. I saw the Egret again on Wednesday at the river near Forster’s bridge.
Last trail talk I did not think Himalayan Balsam was a problem in our area. I have now found out there are large patches on the Maitland Trail at about 21.6km, on the GART at the North end of the Menesetung bridge and also near the grain silos. The recommendation for Himalayan Balsam is to remove it before it goes to seed.
On Wednesday a Giant swallowtail butterfly was in our greenhouse. This butterfly is spreading Northwards and has been seen as far North as Ottawa. The caterpillar looks like bird droppings. It eats prickly ash leaves which occur in our area. It also likes leaves of citrus fruit trees , Hop tree, or rue (rue graveolens which is a balkan ornamental shrub with yellow flowers)
Notes.
Saturday September 9th 9 am Mindfulness meditative walk at the Wawanosh Valley Conservation area trails. For registration and further details contact Janie van Essen via emailjvanessen@hotmail.com or text 519.955.4402. This hike is Level 1, easy pace, 1.5 hours.
Saturday September 9th 10am-12 pm A BRVTA hike at Naftel’s Creek with Michele Martin.
Saturday September 16th and Sunday September 17th Maitland Trail El Camino hikes Register through the Maitland Trail website maitlandtrail.ca You can sign up to hike the whole 50.6 km in two days or opt for shorter hikes. Registration fee ($30 adult, $10 if under 18) must be paid by September 8th .
Sunday September 17th 9 am- 12.30 pm –Cycle on the G2G from Blyth to McNabb road and back Contact Sally Brodie 226-378-1648
Sunday September 17th Terry Fox Run. A 3km walk will be lead by BRVTA volunteers from Clan Gregor pavilion at 10 am.
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
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.
