Seven of us had a lovely day of sun and cloud, sandwiched between days with lots of rain and wind.  We had 46mm of rain in the previous 24 hours, so we knew that the trail would be very wet, and it was.  The purpose of the walk was not to go as directly as possible, but to walk as many of the trails as possible in two hours.  We started out on the old wide path which crosses to the Heriot Bay Road and then circled back to admire the old Big Leaf Maple on the historic homestead.  We tried to avoid the worst of the wet-walk by not going along the marsh.  We took the Sheppard and Black Jack Trails, with short sections of the Homestead Trail, leading to the Swale Trail.  This is a beautiful, open under-storey forest.  The creek, which is usually dry, was very active.  After the walk we had lunch at the Community Centre, with a few more people joining the group.  We enjoyed the great variety of food and refreshments that the group had brought and had a very social gathering.  It was great to walk in the forest and to see everyone on these short, dark days in December.  (6.7 km; 2 hours)

Debbie

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Hiking – Blenkin Park Loop – 18 Dec 2024