Landowner Rights & Trail User Responsibilities

The Waskahegan Trail is a unique resource that exists only because of the generosity of landowners. Before you set foot on the trail:

  1. Know the landowner rights and the trail user responsibilities.
  2. Check the trail conditions

2022 Annual General Meeting

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You are invited to attend, elect new board members, socialize, and hear from our guest speakers at the

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Friday, April 8, 2022
Join by computer or by phone on Zoom

Agenda

  • Business meeting: reports, elections to the board
  • Guest speaker: Wayne Oakes, Nature Photographer
  • Social time: catch up with old friends and meet new ones who share your interests
Register now

Wayne Oakes

Photographing the Whitemud Nature Reserve

Wayne Oakes is one of our region’s true enthusiasts of natural areas.

Having grown up in the woods of Nova Scotia and then serving 33 years in the RCMP—where he developed and honed his superior photography skills—it was only natural that upon his retirement he would return to nature with camera in hand. But beyond taking pictures, he also observes and studies the habits of the fascinating animals, birds, plants, and more.

The Whitemud Ravine Nature Reserve (North) has been Wayne’s focus over the past six years, just over 9000 hours. Wayne will share with us some of his images that illustrate the beautiful and majestic…the big and small…and the odd and unusual. He will also show us some of his gear—both typical and unusual—that he uses to enhance his visits in the woods.

Frosty Hike on the Laurier-Hawrelak-Whitemud Trails

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Nine people came out, in spite of the predicted high reaching -17 Celsius. Many weeks had passed since we had held a scheduled hike, and we were all eager to be out again in the famously friendly Waskahegan companionship.

Laurier Park has had some enhancements. Here is the new modern washroom, with an all-glass front and all-stainless surfaces. It even has a water-bottle filler.

The space feels clean and safe and it’s a decent place to warm up a little.

No doubt, the birds appreciate the feeders, such as this one in Laurier Park.

From Laurier Park we walked into Hawrelak where the Silver Skate Festival was still on. No pictures as the camera froze up. We ate our lunch outside in the open-air pavilion around a large gas fireplace that actually threw some heat on one side. But we had to go to the main building to warm up before we could go on. As we were leaving the park, we saw the blacksmith setting up for his demonstrations. On a day like this, hammering iron over a raging fire seemed like it would be a fine outdoor activity.

We walked along the south side of the river and Keillor Road to return to Whitemud Park. A mist rolled into the river valley, creating a beautiful sight.

There are not many pictures as the camera battery seized up in the severe cold. The Flickr album contains these few photos plus a some interesting ones from the scouting of the trail the week before.