Saturday's hike will start where County Road 29 and Covert Hill Road meet. There is something lovely about starting a hike next to a vineyard.
We'll start with a word to the wise:
Do you see that line on the road? Don't cross it if you are not prepared to come back up that hill 11 km later.
None of us had hiked this route before. We had the PRHC map and Google maps with us. Signage is sadly lacking in the forest. Hmmm... is that Russ Creek Road?
It was.
Along the way we passed by the Boyles Corner tract of the Rice Lake Plains Natural Area (Nature Conservancy of Canada). Might be a good area to explore for a future hike. I love how that tree is being held up parallel to the ground.
More map consultations. In order for hikers to feel comfortable, hike leaders need to know where they are going. 🥴
If you join this hike, you might be able to explain why this pine tree has a twist in its trunk. I wonder if it is a marker tree from the time native folks used this area as a trail.
We were very close to the Burnley Carmel property. "In 2002, Ontario Parks and the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased the 317 ha Burnley-Carmel property for addition to Peter’s Woods Provincial Park."
There was lots of things to wonder about on this hike. Like, why has all of the outer bark of this seemingly healthy pine tree.....
...... fallen to the ground? Been pecked off by a woodpecker?
And another what looks like directional tree.
It looks like this wheat field made it through the winter intact.
About ⅔ of the way through the hike, we returned to County Rd. 29 for a short while. There are remnants of the ghost town of Burnley here and there. According to ghosttowns.com, Burnley: "supported a hotel, a general store, a Roman Catholic Church and school, several blacksmiths, a shoemaker, a cheese factory, and a community hall. Burnley also had stage service several times a week to and from the Burnley Hotel." Ted remembers either a church or school in this spot back in the early 80's.
Not much left now.
After our short stint on 29, we headed south again for one last loop in the forest.
And, remember that line on the road at the beginning of the hike? Clearly, we stepped over it and would step over it again after making our way up the last steep hill.
Almost 11 km.
Saturday, Mar 16 <MODERATE> 10.5 km
Oak Heights area, Hogan Rd
Rural roads, unmaintained roads and forest trails.
Leaving 9:30 am from the Hwy45/401 commuter parking lot (carpooling) OR from the trailhead on Ferguson Rd near Hwy 29.
Bring a lunch and drink. Contact Cynthia at 416-694-7901
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