Category Archives: easy

Hiking – Granite Bay Rd Jct Area – 30 Dec 2016

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Activity Hiking
Destination Granite Bay Rd Jct area
Date 30 December, Friday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info 285-3710 or debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca.  Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description There are lots of possibilities in the area, so we can choose based on the weather and conditions.  We might hike the trail along Open Bay Creek, or the logging roads east of Beaver Lake or the mountain bike trails nearby.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store parking lot for car pooling
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Probably easy, but who knows?
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs?
Notes: Bring a lunch and gear for the weather.

Hiking – Heriot Ridge Route – 30 Nov 2016

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 Start time postponed to 12:00

Activity Hiking
Destination Heriot Ridge Route
Date 30 Nov 2016, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Janis McLean
Contact Info 285-3614;  Please contact the coordinator prior to the trip
Description Rather than the official trail, we will follow routes and old trails on Heriot Ridge.
Meeting Place Thompson trailhead on Thompson Rd
Departure Time 9:00  12:00
Difficulty easy to moderate
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? okay
Notes: Bring walking poles as the bluffs may be slippery.  Maybe a snack.

Trip Report – Karst Formations – 12 Nov 2016

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After yet another night of heavy rain, the weather improved and four of us went on an impromptu walk in the afternoon to see the karst features off the Granite Bay Rd.   We followed a sketchy route along the sinkholes, climbing down into the depressions and exploring the insurgences and resurgences.  There wasn’t as much water flowing as we had hoped, but we enjoyed the water disappearing and reappearing in the Quatsino limestone.  We then walked over to the falls into the really big sinkhole off of North Mtn Hookup. About 2 hours.  On the drive back we stopped to see the Chum spawning in Haycinthe Creek.  Though many were dead, some were still fighting their way upstream.

Debbie

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Naturalist – Karst Formations – 12 Nov 2016

Trip Report – Morte Lake-Mud Lake Loop – 9 Nov 2016

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Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny morning and a great day for a hike.  Six of us  and a dog hiked from the WalCan Rd over to the southeast corner of Morte Lake on the new South Bluff mountain bike trail.  After a steep climb, this joins the hiking trail over lovely, mossy bluffs.  We descended to Morte Lake and took the side trip to the viewpoint.  The Lake was beautiful and Luna swam.  We walked the old logging road to the “tripod” and then decided to extend the hike by taking Ridge Trail to join the path along Reed and Mud Lake back to the vehicles.   6.5 km, 2¼ hours.

Norris

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Hike – Morte Lake-Mud Lake Loop – 9 Nov 2016

Hiking – Morte Lake-Mud Lake Loop – 9 Nov 2016

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 Meeting time changed to 9:00!

Activity Hiking
Destination Morte Lake-Mud Lake Loop
Date 9 Nov 2016, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Norris Weimer
Contact Info 285-3710 or norris.weimer@ualberta.ca.  Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description Hike to Morte Lake and back using a short loop of bike trails, starting from the WalCan Rd.  We will follow South Bluffs and Tripod Connector.  This can be extended into a longer hike if the group wants.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 9:00 10:00
Difficulty
 Short with one steep section
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs?
Notes: Bring gear for the weather and maybe a snack.

Trip Report – Mushroom Hike – 12 Oct 2016

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A dozen club members and guests enjoyed the sunny if cool weather to check out the mushrooms growing along Community Centre trails. After a brief discussion about how to properly collect specimens, we headed out in two groups to collect as many types of fungi as we could find. We then assembled at Marian McMeekin’s home to eat our packed lunches and spread out our finds for identification. (We also enjoyed two mushroom appetizers – Chanterelles Ajillo (a garlicky spicy treat) and a Chanterelle/Walnut pate).

With the help of Marian and Hanna Lewandowski, several mushroom field guides and the identification program “Matchmaker”, we identified a good number of the specimens found, including several edibles (pine mushrooms, chanterelles, milkcaps and honey mushrooms).   It was an interesting and enjoyable day.

Darcy

Naturalist – Mushroom Hike – 12 Oct 2016

Trip Report – Shellaligan – 19 Oct 2016

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Due to the heavy rains recently and the forecast for rain on the day of the trip, we changed the destination of this hike to a mostly flat walk in the forest.  We decided to explore some of the logging roads in the Shellaligan woodlots that are not on the official trail map.

So three of us braved the weather and had a nice walk in the woods.  We made a slightly non-standard loop using a mix of logging roads and trails.  We made a side trip to the bluff at the entrance to Village Bay and the wind and waves were impressive.  We visited the new (replacement) bridge built by the Trails Committee eight days ago and we had lunch on the shore of Village Bay. The rain held off until afternoon, and it was only a sprinkle and the fall colours made it all worthwhile.  8.5 km; 2¾ hours.

Norris

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Trip Report – New Thompson Trail Loop – 5 Oct 2016

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We postponed the hike for three hours to take advantage of the improving weather. Starting at the trailhead on Thompson Road, we hiked up the Thompson Trail to the old B&B trail and then to the logging road that crosses the B&B trail. There has been some fairly recent logging along the way. We followed a few logging roads until we joined up with the North Gowlland Harbour trail, which then led us back to the Thompson Trail and back to the cars. The day was mild and the maples were colourful. The slugs were out and about, and the mushrooms are starting to appear. Since it had rained more than 75 mm in 36 hours, there was a lot of water in the creeks and on the trail. 6.8 km; 2½ hours.

Debbie

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Hike – New Thompson Trail Loop – 5 Oct 2016

Hike – Mt. Sweat – 19 Oct 2016

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Change of destination and meeting time

Activity Hiking
Destination Shellaligan Pass Mt. Sweat
Date 19 Oct 2016, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Norris Weimer
Contact Info 285-3710 or norris.weimer@ualberta.ca.  Please contact the coordinator several days in advance of the trip.
Description Due to the rainy forecast, we will hike one of the Shellaligan Pass loops.  The original plan was to approach Mt. Sweat from flagged routes leaving from Kolker Main.  However, Heather Kellerhals generously offered to have the hike leave from her property.  This would be a longer and more interesting trip.  We will continue from Mt. Sweat to Kolker Main for those that want to know how to access it from there.  This is fairly weather dependent, as this is a view hike.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 9:30 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy Moderate
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? okay no
Notes: Bring lunch and rain gear.

Trip Report – Main Lake – 21 Sept 2016

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Three kayaks toured Main Lake to appreciate the last day of official summer and it was a perfect day, with sunshine, warm but not hot, a light breeze and very clear water. Very peaceful and only a few other people there to enjoy it.  12.1 km; 4½ hours.

Norris

Kayak – Main Lake – 21 Sept 2016