Autumn Begins at Ministik

Twelve people came out to hike the Ministik trail. The group was almost evenly split between the “Smell the Roses” group and the regular hikers.

The leaves have suddenly turned colour. Asters seem to be the last flower in bloom. Everything else is seeds and berries.

We discovered the source of those cone-shaped burrs that stick to our socks (it’s agrimony), we found low-bush cranberries at the edge of the bog, and we spotted a huge wasp nest that surely can’t get much bigger at this stage of the season.

Between glimpses of the beaver ponds and the wonders of the enchanting mossy bog, it was a fabulous day with great company.

Visit the Flickr album for more pictures.

Ministik hikers

 

Ministik Trail Clearing

Eleven came out to clear the Ministik Lake trail from Spilstead Access to just past Horseshoe Lake. This is one of the longer sections for trail maintenance because there is no exit point along the way. We pushed the predator 5 km in and 5 km out.

We also used chainsaws to clear deadfall and clippers to clear branches, and we replaced many faded signs.
This tree has a huge shelf fungus that we’ll be sure to point out on the hike on Sunday.

The lunch break was well-deserved. There are more photos on Flickr.