Thursday, May 8, 2025

Wed May 14 - Ride from Beavermeade

Breaking news, Barry's angioplasty procedure was successful & is now resting at home!  Next Wednesday meet at 10:00 in the Beavermeade parking lot. Ken Powell has an e-bike for sale, contact me if interested.

May 7 ride - Lang Grist mill




Wednesday, May 7, 2025

May 7/25 - Beavermede to Lang

From Beavermeade we cycled on Ashburnham Dr to the PHTCT & east to Nelson Rd, north to Allandale Rd for a ride into Lang, out to Heritage Line & back to the TCT for a ride of 30 km. Andy Pedersen joined us for his 1st Dudes ride. Left click to enlarge the photos.

                                   PHTCT - Keene station rest area beside the Indian R
                                         Osprey protecting it's nest on Nelson Rd
                                                        PHTCT sign @ Heritage line
 

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Wed April 30 - Port Hope Waterfront Trail walk

 Pete MacLoghlin, Gordon Powell, Blake Frazer & Bill Hardwick met John Ambler in the Caldwell St parking on yet another gorgeous day for a 7 km walk. From the parking lot we walked east on the pedestrian Waterfront Trail for 3 km along the Lake Ontario shoreline that has a long boardwalk beside the Sculthorpe Marsh before ending at Gage Creek where we took a trail north beside the creek to a side trail for a walk on Lake St west past the wetland then north crossing over the railway tracks & Cty Rd 2 to continue north on Rose Glen Rd to a trail that borders the TCS property & west to Francis St then William St where we stopped for coffee & cookies at the Ambler home before walking south on King St past many beautiful heritage homes to the car.  On the way home we couldn't resist stopping at Doo-Doo's for buttertarts.  Photos by Blake.

                                                                     Gage Creek
                                                      Coffee time at Ambler's
Waterfront trail



Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Wed April 23 - Ganaraska Trail Hike

Pete MacLoghlin, Blake Frazer, Peter Hamley, Arndt Kruger, Dale Standen & Rod MacIsaac met Bill Hardwick who led us on a 5.27 km hike on another area of the Pine Ridge section of the Ganaraska Trail, starting at the southern end of Glamorgan Rd off Cty Rd 21 west of Millbrook. We had another ideal day for a walk on a hard-packed dirt trail that winds it's way up & down thru a 2nd growth forest where there were numerous fallen trees & branches from the recent ice-storm that we had to navigate around. The Ganaraska Trail is a 500 km walking trail from Port Hope to the Bruce Trail in Collingwood with side trails to Wasaga Beach & Midland that is managed by The Ganaraska Trail Association. After the walk we met for lunch at Moody's in Millbrook 

                                    Blake beside a drywall foundation in the middle of the forest


Thursday, April 17, 2025

Thursday April 17 - Hogsback Road hike

 On a gorgeous spring day Peter Hamley, Bill Hardwick & I walked 7 km on the Pine Ridge section of The Ganaraska Trail between Omemee & Bethany, an esker ridge overlooking the City of Kawartha Lakes countryside. We started from the south end of the trail on Ski Hill Rd (Cty Rd 38) across from the Buddhist Garden complex. This is a challenging hike with many "hills & valleys" including a long steep rocky slope near the start. However there are lovely vistas of the surrounding countryside as we made our way to the Pigeon R where we stopped for a break before turning back. There are 2 other access points, one at the end of Hayes Line & the other  at the north end off Mt Horeb Rd. 

Pigeon River - the trail is heading towards Mt Horeb Rd 

                                         Hogsback trail with a hill climb in the background 
countryside view from the trail

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Dec 19 - John Earle Chase Memorial Park hike

Pete Gardner, his brother Tim, George Post & Pete MacLoghlin met Thursday morning for a hike on the Red Trail in J E Chase Memorial Park a magnificent 400 acre KLT property at Gannon's Narrows. The trail was safe for walking with firm footing & the weather was ideal, -4 C, sunshine under clear blue skies.   

                                                   Pete Mac on the Red trail
                        view of Gannon's Narrows bridge between Buckhorn & Pigeon Lakes
Tim, George, & Pete facing Gannon Narrows

 

Thursday, December 5, 2024

Thursday Dec 5 2024 - Warsaw Caves Hike

 After a 15 cm snowfall 5 intrepid hikers met at Warsaw caves for a 6 km slog in powder snow on  the Caves & Scenic Lookout trail to the Lookout over the Indian R gorge that we reach from Rock Rd on our Warsaw bike ride. From the entrance take the road on your left past the flagpole to the big parking lot, not the road to the boat launch & campsites. The trail starts in the SE corner of the parking lot & was a bit challenging with deep snow covering the uneven terrain, 1st photo, takes you down to the bridge where the river goes underground, 4th photo. From there we had difficulty finding the unmarked trail, head a bit right & follow a narrow path that widens as you approach Cooper Rd. After a 1 km walk you reach a side-trail, K, that takes you to a lower lookout. From there marked L it is another 2 km walk up to the Lookout where we took a break before retracing our steps.  

                                      Caves & Scenic Lookout trail - a winter wonderland!
                                                      Indian R gorge view from the Lookout
  Blake Frazer, Bill Ingram, Dave Messervey, Barry Diceman at the Lookout
Indian R from the bridge