Wed June 3 - Lakefield to Young's Pt thru Smith Twp

On a gorgeous spring day we met in the municipal parking lot off Queen St for a 33 km ride thru the Smith Twp countryside. From the parking lot we cycled on Water St to Queen St, over the bridge to Young's Pt Rd & NE to Preston Rd, continuing north to the 12th Line, Cty Rd 12. Pete Gardner & Blake wanted a shorter route so they cycled east on the 12th to Young's Pt Rd & a ride to the canal before continuing to Lakefield.. The main group cycled west on the 12th to Northey's Rd for an uphill ride to the 14th Line, east to Jopling Line & north to the 15th Line for a ride east to North Schoolhouse Rd & a ride south to Hgw 28 into Young's Pt. From there we cycled south on Hgw 28 over the bridge to the Douro 4th Line where we split into 2 groups, one continuing on Hgw 28 to Lakefield Rd, while the others cycled south on the 4th which has 2 moderate hill climbs to Cy Rd 6 west to Hgw 28 & Lakefield Rd for a return to the cars. After the ride we had a picnic lunch in Isabel Morris Park on the Katchewanooka shoreline.  

                                            Preston Rd, poison ivy roadside

                                                              Young's Pt 

Young's Pt

May 26/26 - Ennismore Rd

On an ideal day for cycling we met at The Ennismore Curling Club for a 27 km ride thru the rolling Ennismore countryside. From the curling club we cycled west on Ennis Rd thru Ennismore for a hill climb before passing by the Tamarac Golf Club on the way to Boundary Rd for a ride north & a short but steep hill climb before cycling down to Pigeon Lk & a ride on Edenderry Rd east to Innascara Rd, north to Kerri Line, east across Tara Rd to Youngs Cove Rd for a ride along the Buckhorn Lk shoreline to Tipperary Rd & south to Edenderry for a ride east to Robinson Rd, south to Listowel Line then east to Brick Rd & south to Ennis Rd where we cycled east to The Ennismore Waterfront Park on Chemung Lk before cycling west on Ennis Rd across Robinson Rd to the curling club. After the ride we had lunch at Jessie's Bar & Grill. 

                                                          downtown Ennismore

                                                 Boundary Rd after the hill climb

                                                                   Chemung Lake

Wed May 20/26 - Christine Bentham Wetlands Trails

 On a gorgeous spring day we met in the Harper Rd parking lot to carpool before driving east on Hgw 7 then north on Hgw 28 to Juniper Pt Rd ( just south of Burleigh Falls) & the small parking lot at the northern entrance to the magnificent Christine Bentham KLT Wetlands. We walked south on the Juniper Pt trail to Michael's Limestone Ridge trail where we started on what I thought was the Wetland trail but turned out not to be a park trail so we returned to the Limestone Ridge trail & continued south to the Kawartha Park trail which takes you to Ruth's Wetland trail & down to the Clear Lk shoreline for a walk beside the lake to a large wetland with several boardwalks as you return to the Limestone Ridge Trail a loop around a high limestone ridge to the Juniper Pt Trail & back to our cars. Pete, Gordon & Blake had lunch in Lakefield at The Canoe & Paddle pub.  

Dale & Bill identifying wild flowers, we saw trilliums, mayapples, columbarium, violets & others 

                                          Clear Lake - this property includes 1200 ft of shoreline!

Blake & Bill with a group of trillium between them, believe me!

Wed May 6 - Bethany Victoria Rail hike

7 hikers including Fred Meade met in Bethany for a 6.3 km walk north on the Victoria Rail trail. This section of trail is in good condition & there was evidence of recent maintenance including grading & brush trimming. However as one photo shows there were a few puddles that we had to walk around. We lucked out on the weather as it was sprinkling on the drive to Bethany but cleared during the walk then started to rain as we were driving to Millbrook for lunch at Moodie's Bar & Grill.  We saw  a large swath of marsh marigolds, a few trilliums & the Fleetwood Creek wetland provides a beautiful vista of the rolling countryside.

Recently groomed  section of the trail

Fleetwood Creek wetland

some puddles we had to navigate around