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

Maintenance at Battle River

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On Wednesday May 4th 10 of us cleared the trail from A62 east. One group worked from the campground at A62  to the end of the grassland, signing, clipping and mowing. One of the mowers died halfway back and had to be towed by the other.

A second group went in at RR210 through the road allowance to chain, clip and sign to the beginning of the grasslands and back.

A third group was to load up lumber and tools on the cart to fix the stile on the side of Rest and Be Thankful hill, except the wheels on the cart were forgotten so we carried it in only to find the fence gone and no need for a stile!  So like convicts ditch digging in a row, Brad and John picked and dug the side of the hill path to sort out the narrow slant (I mostly supervised), until it was decided to quit because of the heat.We will go back on a cooler day with more equipment and people.

So the two RR210 groups drove over to the campground and cleared trail going west in the cool woods.

We refreshed at McDonald’s in Camrose before heading back to town. Excellent work on a too hot day!

Karen B.

 

Big Lake, Butterflies, and Birds

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Our hike last Sunday was at the Big Lake area west of St. Albert. It’s a wonderful place to visit in the spring. We started with a walk through the Grey Nuns White Spruce Park. The trees were just starting to leaf out, and the growth on the forest flower was only a few inches high. Most remarkable was the white butterflies—they were everywhere.

Then we went on to the lake, where we saw ducks, geese, and snipe.

We were very fortunate to run into Dale Scott, a wildlife photographer, who had set up a tripod and giant camera on the boardwalk over the marshes. He was photographing Phoebes.

Eastern Phoebe by Dale Scott

Unless you are an experienced birdwatcher, you don’t notice these birds until someone points them out to you. And then suddenly you see them everywhere.Song Sparrow by Dale Scott

Dale has very generously provided the two photos on this page—photos which he took that day. The one above is an Eastern Phoebe and this one on the right is a Song Sparrow. You can view more of his beautiful pictures on Flickr.