Today was another misty morning filled with possibilities: will it be foggy? rainy? sunny? Will we find our way back? Six hikers decided to brave the grey skies to tour the Blue and Yellow trails at the Sanctuary. We started at the Hydro substation near the Westview Trailer Park. The trail had recently been cleared by Jean Guy , John V and the Youth Rangers. Great job.
As usual, there was an amazing array of topics of conversation among the hikers as we marched along: pie recipes, legends of the area, travelling salesmen jokes, health issues, the beauty of autumn in this area and discussions about identification of various plants, scat and rocks along the trail.
We saw lots of different colours and sizes in the mushrooms. Some we were sure had popped up along the trail just this morning during our hike. We saw a great blue heron, a crayfish at the beaver pond, beaver lodges that were high and dry due to the low water in the pond, water skaters ( insects) in the creek below the skidoo bridge and signs of bear : ripped up old logs; bear scat; and smells in the heavily wooded areas along the trail. However, the ultimate sign of the proximity a bear was a yearling near the drive through at McDonald's when we were finished our hike!!!
No photos are available to protect the innocent and the not so innocent."
As predicted by the hike leader at the circle, we were back to our cars at noon. Just that it was noon in the Central Time Zone not the Eastern Time Zone.. "
