Hikes

For the nine of us who hiked the Middle Battle River section west from Hwy 21, it was a fun day.

Those who drove from Edmonton saw tundra swans and snow geese—as well as ducks and Canada geese. Those from Camrose saw tundra swans driving back.

Participants arrived early, so we got off to a prompt start. The weather was cold to start with, but by afternoon it turned  beautiful and sunshiny.

Along the trail, we saw an abandoned campsite, a cabin complete with biffy, and a nice pond formed by a gravel pit.

This happened to be grouse day. Those at the front of the line got to see a grouse on a log, and later, a grouse flying. Sherry, who was at the back of the line, wondered if she was hearing a motor. We also saw two other grouse, one of which was landing on the high branch on a tree.

For our lunch we stopped at the Troutman campsite, which is lovingly maintained by the Troutman family. The outdoor toilet is a thing of beauty and there is a new fancy set of targets.

Half the group went on to Fidler’s monument. Along the way, we met a neighbour boy of the Troutmans, who was delivering a birthday cake on his motorcycle. He apologized for the noise of it.

On the way back, we had a rest break at the nice pond.

Thanks to everyone who came out to hike, to Trail Maintenance for their fine work maintaining the trail, and to the landowners for their continuing permission. You can find more photos on Flickr.

Find out where we’re going next.

A dozen hardy hikers drove through the fog to check out the new route on the section of the Waskahegan trail from the Battle River valley near Duhamel to the top of the valley at the famous Rest and Be Thankful hill. It took until noon for the fog to lift, the sun to come out and the hikers to shed a layer of clothing,

The hike crosses six river lots before climbing out of the hill. River lots are narrow, surveyed pieces of land stretching from the river and extending back from the river to give the farmers access to good land, wooded area and water. The area was settled in the late 1880s before Alberta was a province and the prairies were divided into its more common quarter sections.

In the last few years many of the river lots on the north side of the river have changed hands. Houses have built and fences have been erected. Luckily for us, the new land owners have happily let us continue hiking over their fields and pastures with a few minor changes. In September two stiles were built over the new fences and a new route was built to hike from the river valley to the top of the hill. This section of trail now has five stiles to climb over.

It was on this Rest and Be Thankful hill we ate our lunch in the sun and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather. On our hike we saw plenty of geese flying overhead and saw evidence of a beaver, or beavers, building a resort along the river.

Thanks to Trail Maintenance for building the stiles and to the landowners for their continuing permission. You can find more photos on Flickr.