Secord Forest - 2014-11-10
I hope most of you have been able to schedule a few hikes or walks over the past weeks as they were some of the most colourful we have seen for a long time- or do we say that most autumns? The weather has been mild and mostly dry- unless you went on Carolyn Mancey's Eldred King hike last Saturday- light steady misty drizzle- but warm enough for the 18 hikers to enjoy the outing. Check out her regular hikes on the website and in the new year- Carolyn is one of our new hike leaders and has set a pretty full schedule, as has John Fuchs.
Over the last 2 weeks there have been several trail maintenance outings for volunteers to make sure our trails are ready for the winter. I'll try to set a weekend "walk and trim" for those of you who couldn't make the Thursday sessions. ORTA trail captains are busy checking their areas for fall reports but do appreciate extra help for the heavier work when it is identified. Some of our clearing efforts have been in Caledon where we lack regular trail captains to monitor the trail- if you want to adopt a section let us know. Our most recent clearing activity will allow for more enjoyable hikes from Albion Trail/Hwy 9 to Palgrave Forest- I'm looking forward to those.
We had 26 trekkers on our last Monday outing in the Secord Forest. Our first stop was behind the barn on the Secord sidetrail where TRCA have taken out the old dam and renaturalized the stream. Their recently installed info plaque there indicates how effective this process is at maintaining a cooler water temperature which increases fish survival during the summer. It is also an action which allows trout and salmon to migrate further upstream to spawn. Many streams now have both trout and salmon species successfully breeding. Our group hiked about 9km to the Goodwood Tract and back before going to Annina's for lunch.
Take a look at the website for new hikes coming up- eg- Marianne Broome will lead her second hike next Wednesday, Nov.19 in King Township along the Humber River near Kleinburg. Come and join us for a good morning outing- dogs welcome to bring their owners too.
Note- For Stan's next Monday hike, in north Newmarket/Green Lane. There is some construction equipment in the first parking lot, but you can drive past that to the second lot. Stan has checked it out.
Discovery Night- Thursday, Nov. 20- Join Wilma and me for a trip into mystical and historical Turkey and share some apple tea with us.
Keep on Trekking,
Brian and Wilma
Photos courtesy of Bill Patterson. To see additional photos, please click here.