Blue Mountains

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Hosting Club: Blue Mountains
Category: Organized Hike
Location (Google Maps): Tim Hortons on First St. in Collingwood

Hike Leader(s): Richard Edwards Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Leisurely – 3 km/hr. or less
Terrain: Moderate – Some hills and/or some poor footing
Distance: 6 km

Description

Please join us for this birding hike, led by birding enthusiasts Dick Edwards and Kate Jaczko. We will carpool to Cty Rd 9 west of Dunedin (map 22, km 10.6) and follow the trail north past a beautiful meadow where bobolinks nest in early June . We will look for singing males defending their territories. Past the meadow, the trail skirts a farm field and descends through forest to the Dunedin Nature Reserve. Here a mix of hardwoods, cedars, and a sparkling stream should provide more birds and spring wildflowers. The trail loops back to con. 10 where we back-track to bobolink meadow and then to our cars having completed 6 km double loop.
Spaces will be limited to 30 hikers, so please register in advance.

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Hosting Club: Blue Mountains
Category: Organized Hike
Location (Google Maps): Tim Hortons on First St. in Collingwood.

Hike Leader(s): Annette Sandberg Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Medium – 3 to 4 km/hr
Terrain: Moderate – Some hills and/or some poor footing
Distance: 7.1

Description

This badge is earned by hiking each of 8 hikes outlined in Beth Gilhespy’s first Bruce Trail Geology book, Walking Through Time, and then submitting a log which includes the required
photo taken during each of the hikes. This is a great opportunity to boost your knowledge of the geology of the Niagara Escarpment. Gather some hiking buddies and become rock
hounds!

Visit and take a photograph of 8 features profiled in Walking Through Time:
1. June 14 – Len Gertler Memorial Loree Forest: Natural Arch at Stop 4 (Pages 47/48)
Natural arches are created when water pounding against a cliff face exploits cracks and crevices, gradually
wearing the rock away. Natural arches can become flowerpots if erosion continues. Thousands of years ago
the level of the Great Lakes was significant higher and lapped up against the promontory of Loree Forest.
2. July 5 – Margaret Paull and Indian Brook: Flowerpot at Stop 2 (Page 52)
Flowerpots are created by water that exploits cracks and eventually removes the material between the flowerpot and the main rock face. The water smooths and rounds the rock of the flowerpot. The flowerpots at Indian Brook were created several thousands of years ago when lake levels were significantly higher than they are today.
3. July 23 – The Mill Creek Valley: “Castle Ramparts” at Stop 8 (Pages 63/64)
The Manitoulin Dolostone layer of the Niagara Escarpment forms a steep edge along the valley of Mill Creek.Over time the thinly bedded rock breaks away from the cliff face and lies scattered along the slope. Many shell and horn coral fossils can be found in these flat, shingle-like rocks. Note that when leaves are fully out
in the summer months the “castle ramparts” may be hard to see. A photograph of the talus rock below the cliff will be sufficient for this badge location.
4. August 2 – Fox Ridge and McClusky’s Rock: Badland at Stop 4 (Pages 72/73)
Queenston Shale is the bottom-most layer of the Niagara Escarpment. Where vegetation is removed, the shale appears as a “badland”. The brick-red shale has long been excavated along the Niagara Escarpment to make bricks.
5. August 20 – Falling Waters: Waterfall on Stew Hilts Side Trail at Stop 3 (Page 86)
At the lovely waterfall on the Stew Hilts Side Trail water trickles over the hard Manitoulin Dolostone layer and falls onto the soft Queenston Shale.
6. September 3 – Wodehouse Karst (Southern Route): Rock Outcrop in Bowles Gully at Stop 9 (Pages 98-100)
At Bowles Gully two Escarpment rock layers – the Amabel Dolostone and the Manitoulin Dolostone – outcrop along the sides of the steep ski hill.
7. September 20 – Wodehouse Karst (Northern Route): Fossil in the Barn Foundation on Stone Foundation Side Trail at Stop 6 (Pages 95-97)
Barn Foundations are wonderful places to see many different rock types, including the Escarpment’s Fossil Hill Dolostone layer, which is full of coral and other fossils.
8. October 1 – Griersville to Webwood Falls: Erratic boulders at Stop 4 (Page 109)
Glacial erratics are rocks picked up by glaciers and transported great distances to be left behind as the glacier melts. These erratic boulders are 1 billion years older than the local sedimentary bedrock, and originally came from the Canadian Shield.

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Hosting Club: Blue Mountains
Category: Organized Hike
Location (Google Maps): Tim Horton’s, First Street, Collingwood

Hike Leader(s): David Little

Pace: Medium – 3 to 4 km/hr
Terrain: Moderate – Some hills and/or some poor footing
Distance: 9 kms

Description

This is a loop trail located near Wasaga Beach. Lots of hills and options to
take. This will be an exploration of some new trails to hike! Be prepared to explore the
variety within this hike. Bring a snack or lunch and water.

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Hosting Club: Toronto, Blue Mountains
Category: Car Hike
Location (Google Maps): GPS N:404107, W: 80.263577 Meet at km 42.4, Map 23, Edition 31. Park on the North end of Osprey-Clearview Townline at Eagle Crescent.

Hike Leader(s): Ross Estrella (4163056771) Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Brisk (4-5 km/hr), Moderate (3-4 km/hr)
Terrain: Hilly, Rocky, Variable
Distance: 13.4km

Description

The beauty of hiking give us the oppurtunity to come close and connect with nature and other living souls. From the jumpstart will hike the Main and Side Trails reaching the highest point of the Bruce Trail. The cliffs, crevices and ravine inhabitants along the forested slope area of Pretty River Valley Provincial Park and Nottawasaga Lookout Provincial Nature Reserve offers scenic the cross section of the Escarpment topograhy. Navigating the Standing Rock and Caves will make your mind ponder the power of erosion during the melting of ice that once covered Southern Ontario over eons ago. So join us and experience nature’s work of art. Please bring enough H2O for hydration, break and lunch fuel to sustained our body and spirit. Sturdy and comfortable hiking shoe and poles are highly recommended. Please equip yourself with sunscreen, hat protection and bugspray as we may be welcome by our nasty mosquitoe friends. Please dress appropriately as to weather forecast and have your personal medications and health card at all times.

Please arrive fifteen minutes early to allow time for car shuttling.

Note: Please be on time as we will not wait for latecomers.

My cell number during hike – 416-305-6771