At the last minute, the destination was changed for the convenience of the participants. The forecast called for rain, but it held off until later in the day, though the forest was definitely saturated. We started at the entrance to the woodlot on Cape Mudge Rd and walked logging roads until we met up with the trail to the beach. We continued on the trail north along the shore and then up hill at the big sitka spruce tree. We returned to the cars following logging roads. Two hours.

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Morte Lake Loop – 17 Dec 2014

Six people and a dog hiked the bigger Shellaligan Loop, beginning at the parking closest to the water, counter-clockwise. It was a beautiful, cold, clear day with a bit of north wind. This hike took us over rocky bluffs with great views and then undulated through forest with some old growth and lovely creeks.  7 km, about three hours.

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Shellalligan Trail – 29 November 2014

The group was undaunted by a few drops of rain at the beginning of the hike into Newton Lake and was rewarded with clearing skies. We had this beautiful and serene lake all to ourselves, but no one went swimming. It was a bit cool and some leeches kept cruising by. After a leisurely lunch and a bit of exploring beyond the second swimming rock, we returned as many others headed up to the lake.  8.9 km; 3 3/4 hours.

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Hike Newton Lake – 13 August 2014

We had eight people on this short hike on short notice. Starting at the end of Hope Spring Road, we hiked up to the east and west viewpoints of Heriot Ridge on a warm, mostly sunny day. We continued north on the flagged route, which undulates through open forest and mossy bluffs. The most unusual naturalist event of the hike was a dragonfly with a bee in its mouth that landed on the trip coordinator’s shirt. The dragonfly did not leave until the bee was completely consumed, even during walking or close-up photography. The meal lasted at least 15 minutes. We returned by the Thompson Trail, with about half the group visiting the northern viewpoint over Hyacinthe Bay, and then following the road back to the cars.

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Hike Heriot Ridge Route – 29 June 2014

Despite the forecast for rain and gale force winds later in the day, the group of eight proceeded with this hike to an area not familiar to most of the participants. Taking the second logging road on the right after turning onto North Gowlland road, we parked about a half a kilometre down the road, just past a recently harvested area. The mountain bike trail known as Yellow Mud branched to the left and led to a series of meadows and to Wood Duck Lake. The beaver dam, which had failed a few years ago causing some down-stream damage, was in good repair. There were Mergansers with babies on the lake. We continued on and then up on Play Thing trail to an old copper mining site. Finding the Back Door trail we followed this through open forest until we reached a bluff with views of the Chinese Mountain – Beech’s Mountain ridge. We returned via Dick’s Ride trail, making a small loop. 7 kilometres.  The rain and wind held off until we got home.

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Hike Wood Duck Lake & Old Mine Trail 19 June 2014