Seventeen hikers came out on this beautiful sunny day for the hike along the west part of Battle River. The air was brisk when we started, but soon we were shedding layers as the weather warmed up.
Early in the hike, we stopped to view the remnants of Low’s Bridge, a Waskahegan landmark structure put up by volunteers with donated materials (power poles, rail ties, and steel cable). For the last few years, the bridge was too dangerous to use…it seemed ready to fall in. Last week, trail maintenance and the landowner worked together to take the bridge out.
We stopped at the remnants, which will be removed next week. Then we walked further down to the riverbank to the spot where the bridge had existed for over 30 years. It is a relief to have the bridge removed, but we will still miss it.
You can view the photo albums of our bridge building and bridge repair adventures from the early 80s to 1993.
After some challenging slopes, we arrived on the plateau of Schnee Hill. We dropped our packs and nestled in on the soft, clean grasses to rest and eat our lunch.
Among the early fall colours, we found high bush cranberries, chokecherries, and an elderberry. We also spotted white-tailed deer and on the way back, a bald eagle soared above our heads.
Total distance was 12.5 km.
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Sixteen people arrived at the boat launch to begin our trek on the particularly sunny morning. The stillness of the air made the lake look like glass. The rain from the previous day had filled the dips in the trail, but it barely slowed us down as we stepped around, aiming our boots for the lush grasses.
