Racetrack Road Pre-Hike

What a perfect morning for a pre-hike! I'll be busy with other things between now and next Saturday's hike, so this morning it was!

The Racetrack Road>Leach Road>Rose Road>Ferguson Road hike is one of my favourites to lead. It's short. It's not too hilly. It goes through some very productive farmland and it feels historic. Starting with the old bank barn where we will park.

Next Saturday, corn harvest will be well underway. We will need to stay out of the way of farm equipment on the roads.

Some corn silage has already been harvested.

I've hiked this route dozens and dozens of times by myself over the years. I never spotted this tree until today. PlantNet tells me that this is a spindle tree. How lovely! What look like red flowers are the four lobes of the fruit.

This is the first of three small hills on this route.

Beef cattle may welcome you next Saturday.

And, if you know where to look, you'll see some history.

You may not see our mayor next week. He was out on his tractor this morning.

You'll probably see his cattle. I always quote to myself, "The cattle on a thousand hills...." when I see these ones.

If you know where to poke your head, you may see this yellow view.

The barn below is on Rose Road. I've never photographed it from this angle. I love how the field behind it is littered with maple leaves.

Leaves were letting go this morning. Next Saturday, you'll probably have a less colourful view than what I saw today.

The last of the hills is on Ferguson Road. Shadows were long this morning. It's that time of year.

Sumacs were putting on a show. This morning they were pretending to be fireworks and doing a great job of it.

This hike is the best kind of hike, IMHO.

It ends on the flat.

Below is AllTrails' map of our hike. There are two options for meeting:

Leaving 9:30 am from the Hwy 45/401 commuter parking lot, Cobourg (carpooling). OR meet and park at the trailhead on Racetrack Rd near Dale Road at 9:40 am.

https://what3words.com/motors.gazing.handshakes . Bring a snack and a drink.

Please don't get confused by the part of the route that shows us walking from my home on Dale Road.