Hikes

Until just days before, we didn’t know what kind of hike we were going to have on Thanksgiving Sunday. The forecast was for snow. The slopes of the trail from Fort Ethier along Bigstone Creek, while picturesque, are best taken in dry weather. Besides, the Fort Ethier/Bigstone Creek hike had already been cancelled in mid-September, due to the infamous early dump of snow that made the slopes unusable for weeks.

So, for this hike, we changed the route to start at the easier slopes—along Pipestone Creek going west.

For the four people who came out, it was a beautiful autumn day.

There are more photos on Flickr.

Twelve people came out for a fall hike in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary and the Berg-Triple B Ponds trail. You could tell it was early fall. A kaleidoscope of yellow and orange foliage clung to the bushes, while freshly-fallen aspen leaves carpeted the ground.

Days earlier, a trail maintenance crew had just spent the longest workday this year clearing the trail of deadfall like this.

On the road to the Triple B Ponds, we passed a pond with ducks, including buffleheads.

 
On the way back from lunch, the sun suddenly broke out, producing a brilliant reflection on one of Ministik’s larger beaver ponds. We stopped to watch as three industrious muskrats paddled silently in the water, creating smooth ripples that intersected like chemtrails in the sky.

The total hike was just under 10 km.

For more photos, see our Flickr page.