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AGM – Wednesday April 19th

Avril and DJ aka The Canadian Flowers in front of the Shrine to St. James.

Be sure to attend our AGM and hear about the adventures of club members Avril and DJ as they relay the story of their journey to Santiago this January. The event is held in the Carnegie Room of the St. Thomas Public Library, 153 Curtis St. Doors open at 6:30pm and business meeting starts at 7pm, then the Way presentation. You will be able to renew your membership or new members may sign up at meeting. There are open positions on the executive available, talk to any current executive if you are interested in joining. Look forward to seeing you all their.

Upcoming Annual Dinner

The annual dinner for the Elgin Hiking Trail Club is at 5 pm on Saturday, January 21st. Please let any executive member you are planning to join us. We look forward to seeing you there for a great meal and social hour. DJ will not be able to join us she is backpacking the El Camino in Spain.

Fall end-to-end

Wendy, Phyllis and Tom at Santa's way station in Union.

Wendy, Phyllis and Tom at Santa’s way station in Union.

We had a total of 15 people out for the fall end-to-end. Four people completed the whole trail with new member Joan being one of them. Congratulations Joan. We had three regular hikers miss the first hike which was cut short due to rain. The rain make up hike was also poorly attended due to slippery conditions. The trail was in pretty good condition and everyone enjoyed themselves. We saw a buck on second hike. Nine new people jointed us on at least one of the hikes and we hope to see them out on our winter hikes. Thank you to all who came out and made the hikes so enjoyable.

Dec 3rd, 2016 Spirit Walk

spirit_walk_web
The annual Spirit Walk in coordination with Catfish Creek Conservation Authority is the first Saturday in December. Bring your children and follow the candles for an evening of caroling, magic and visit with Santa in the forest. Hot chocolate, apple cider and cookies will be available for all to enjoy. Hoping for mild weather.

Great day at Backus Woods

Backus Woods in the fall season.

Backus Woods in the fall season.

There were only 5 of us but the trip was very worthwhile, with a clear blue sky and the leaves changing colour.

I originally planned a 8 km hike but half way through the weather was so nice we decided to add some of the Flood Plain Trail along Dedrick Creek where we saw the huge puff ball. The water was crystal clear. The forest had many young Sasafras and Tulip trees. The paths were quite wide and maps were at every intersection. You could hear the turkeys, but they did not show themselves.

After the hike we all went to the Boathouse in Port Rowan, surprisingly we saw Roseann and Wilf there. After lunch Loretta and Wendy headed to the Pumpkin Festival in Waterford and Tom, Joan and myself went to Long Point where we saw mute swans and sandhill cranes and a praying Mantis on the deck of Long Point Bird Observatory. All in all another wonderful excursion.

Pat Turow remembered

Pat Turow and fellow hikers at end of 900 km hike on Bruce Trail in front of Northern Cairn in Tobermory showing special badges made for the unique hike.

Pat Turow and fellow hikers at end of 900 km hike from Port Stanley to the Northern Cairn of Bruce Trail at Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory. Each showing special badges made to commemorate the unique hike. Fall 2001.


Picture above shows Anne Faubert of London, Ann Hoover of Aylmer, Loretta Vaughan of Port Stanley and Pat (seventy at the time) after they hiked 900 km from Port Stanley to Tobermory over five years. Pat’s favourite memories of the trip were using ladders and ropes to traverse the escarpment at Devil’s Pulpit near Orangeville.
Pat and her husband Joe volunteered many years fundraising and other duties for the Elgin Hiking Trail Club, especially at the Spirit Walk.
Her funeral is today.
Loretta talks of this hike regularly and how much they all enjoyed the challenge, well maybe not the waist deep snow and wicked thunder storms.

Sincerest condolences from the Elgin Hiking Trail Club.

Card of thanks to trail maintenance crew.

Card from Elgin Court Public School Way-2-Green Environmental Club.

Card from Elgin Court Public School Way-2-Green Environmental Club.

Received this week and it is nice to see that the teacher and students took the time to thank our trail maintenance crew. Nice to know others outside the club appreciate the effort put forth by our volunteers. Good job to our trail maintenance director Tom Beharrell.
Pretty cool!

Installing bench at Bluebells

Jim holds the new bench steady while Brian pours cement and Richard spreads it around.

Jim holds the new bench steady while Brian pours cement and Richard spreads it around.

Weather was great for the crew to install the bench at the bluebells off Lyle Road. Special thank you to Green Lane Environmental Fund for providing grant to purchase the materials and Richard for getting the steel frame welded up.

Boardwalk installation

Boardwalk completed in record time with help from eighteen cadets.

Boardwalk completed in record time with eighteen members of St Thomas Army Cadet Corps help.—Photo by Brian Wilsdon

The weather could not have been finer, when 18 army cadet volunteers and their leaders showed up to assist in setting the 45 eight foot panels into place for the new boardwalk. Due to the excellent prep work done by Loretta Vaughan and Richard Wright everything went smoothly. Loretta figured all day and many hands made light work. The installation was completed in a little over 3 hours. The cadets were mindful of each other and when one saw another getting tired, the other quickly stepped in. The cadets truly made their leaders proud.
Cathy, Jackie, Debbie and Loretta prepared a nice lunch for everyone, which we enjoyed at the Trout Hatchery. Special thanks to Kit for allowing us to use the facilities. Just a great setting for lunch and the cadets really enjoyed it. Special thanks also go to D J for supplying home made cookies for everyone.
Parkside Collegiate Institute students under the supervision of Mr Haskell assembled the 45 panels. Richard Wright and Brian King brought them down to the location. Four by five inch locust was used for the base and all the panels were two inches thick and 32 inches wide on 2 x 8 frames. It looks amazing. Thank you to all the volunteers. We could not have done it without you. Splendid job!