Niagara Km 45.1 to Km 55 - 26 May, 2015

Hikers: Helgy, Christine, Andy and Case

Leader:  Karen

Section and Distance:  Niagara Km 45.1 to Km 55

Weather: Hot and windy

Actual Distance hiked: 12.15 km

This hike is a make up hike for Christine, Andy and Case.

After parking one car at the Balls Falls Conservation Area, we drove to Rockway Community Centre and started the hike.

Starting the hike

 Because we had not completed the previous hike we hiked down Rockway Rd back to the spot that we had hiked to on the previous hike and turned left into the trail.  The trail was re-routed in August 2014 with the completion of bridge which allowed us to cross Fifteen Mile Creek within the Rockway Conservation Area.  This new route wound through the forest by the creek surrounded by steep cliffs just before Rockway Falls.

Dry Stream

Dry Stream

New Bridge

After crossing Ninth St. we entered a mature hardwood forest.  We crossed several creeks which were basically dry.  The usual swampy area, which we followed to a road allowance was also dry.  We passed a vineyard and re-entered the bush to the Louth Conservation Area.

Tarzan Case

Elevensies

We continued along the picturesque high ground above Sixteen Mile Creek past a pretty waterfall which was dry.

We climbed the escarpment and and headed southwest towards Staff Avenue.  We headed northwest along the road and turned right onto seventeenth street.  After following the road for 1.3 kms we turned left and went half way down a hill onto a switchback.  We crossed several creeks and streams which were dry before climbing steeply to the top of the scarp and headed through a bush to nineteenth street.

We headed into the woods and descended into the valley of Twenty Mile Creek. We followed the creek for a km and climbed steeply up a set of steps into into Balls Falls Conservation Area.

We entered the park through the arboretum and descended a flight of stairs.  We used the road bridge to cross Twenty Mile Creek to our parked car.

We used the facilities as the Ball Falls Conservation area and after enjoying an ice cream bar and settling the costs, we drove back to Rockway to pick up the second car and drove home.

Beaver Valley Km 98.7 to Km 113.8 - 22 May, 2015

Hikers: Steve, Helgy, Christine and Case

Leader:  Karen

Section and Distance: Beaver Valley Km 98.7 to Km 113.8

Weather:  Coldish and windy

Actual Distance hiked:  16.3 km

After our breakfast we positioned the cars and started the hike.  It was another perfect hiking day - coldish and windy with no bugs.

Starting the hike

We followed Sideroad 25 to the west and entered the Webwood Falls Property.   This property was donated to the BTC in 2011.  The property contains the Webwood Falls which is fed by five coldwater streams that successfully spawn many species of fish.

On the property is the site of an old mill, of which a small stone wall is still visible beside the stream above the waterfall.  The water is falling over the Manitoulin Formation, a fine-layered dolostone and cutting into the Queenston Formation shale below.

Endering Webwood Falls property

Webwood Falls

Webwood Falls

Ruins of Old Mill

From here we turned north through a regenerating meadow where a buckthorn removal experiment is underway.

Buckthorn (also known as European buckthorn) is a small shrub or tree native to Eurasia. It was introduced to North America in the 1880s as an ornamental shrub and was widely planted for fencer rows and windbreaks in agricultural fields. Since then it has spread aggressively throughout southern Ontario and in other provinces.
Buckthorn can thrive in a wide range of soil and light conditions, enabling it to invade a variety of habitats. It is most often found in woodlands and open fields, where it forms dense stands under which few other plants can grow. Buckthorn can spread widely with the help of birds and animals that eat its fruit, carry the seeds long distances and deposit them in their droppings. Stands of buckthorn can invade roadsides, riverbanks, mature forests, farm fields and hydro corridors.

We continued northwest and followed a row of walnut trees and a small stream to an open field and headed north.

We reached the Fairmount Wetlands complex and entered a sugar maple/hemlock forest passing between several types of wetlands.  These wetlands include both open marsh where wood duck boxes are maintained and an unusual sedge fen.   As we left the forest we crossed an open field to Grey Rd. 40.

We crossed the road and followed a lane north through some dampish terrain to the top of the Escarpment.  We skirted deep crevices in the rock and at one point briefly entered one.  We continued through old fields to Grey Rd. 7.

We passed an old farmhouse and followed the Escarpment through a cedar bush and turned left to Euphrasia-St. Vincent Townline.

We followed the Escarpment edge through bush and open fields continuing west past some of the many deep crevices that are prevalent in this area.

The Green forest floor

Columbia

We crossed 7th Line and meandered south and west through cultivated fields and hardwood bush.  We crossed a creek at Anthea's Waterfall, named in memory of Anthea East, daughter of Dr. Tom East, one of the founders of the BTC, who was killed in France in a cycling accident.  We then emerged from a small plantation and reached Grey Rd. 12 in the historic hamlet of Blantyre.

Anthea Falls

This completes the Beaver Valley section.  We have now completed eight sections and have two sections left to complete the whole Bruce Trail end to end.

We picked up the other car, drove to Tim Hortons and drove home.