Favourite Fall Hikes I - Spirit Rock

We're getting to the time of year when I don't get out enough to have current things to post about; yes, 'wheelchair winter' has begun!  But I've got hundreds of photos and great memories of past hikes.  This year I'm drawn to those so I'll be using some of them when I don't have more current things to write about.  Hope you enjoy them. 

It was 9 years ago that I went up to  Wiarton with a friend to hike into Spirit Rock Conservation Area along the Bruce Trail near Wiarton.  Looking back I realize that November and even December were favourite hiking times for me .  I quickly came up with 10 past hikes that I could share with you, so here goes.

 This big tree marked the start of our hike, and beyond it the old barn foundation which we'll revisit later.

It was a typical mid-November day, cold and clear, the trees leafless but the ground covered.

A highlight of this property is a spiral staircase down the cliff!  It's sort of dizzying looking straight down, but one step at a time it's an easy and safe way down the vertical cliff.  And this is the Bruce Trail, marked by that white blaze.

When we got down there we got this spectacular view out Colpoy's Bay, Wiarton out of sight to our right.  This is the narrowest and deepest bay on the east shore of the Bruce Peninsula; you're looking out a good 10 or 15 km..  We walked down the shore trail a fair distance before turning back to that spiral staircase.

Back above the cliff we found the other unique feature of this conservation area, the ruins of the Corran.  Built in the 1880s by local businessman Alexander MacNeill, it was quite the mansion in its time.  

Now it's a ruin, but stabilized so visitors can see it, it reminds you of an earlier era.

Eventually we made our way back to that barn foundation near the start of our hike.  The Bruce Trail has benefitted from many large donations which have allowed the purchase of properties for the trail.  To recognize those donors they erect small plaques like these.  The Peninsula Bruce Trail Club has chosen to group a number of these here beside the old foundation.

The legend of Spirit Rock is that a native maiden fell in love with an enemy chief.  Shunned by her family she leapt to her death from the cliff to the rocks below.

The Sloop Glen G

The sloop Glen G is in harbour again for the winter, tied up at the side of the dock beside Richardson's Marine.  Owned privately, it is used as a 'floating cottage' during the summer, based in Collingwood where it attracts some interested visitors.  But it sits here during the winter season, waiting patiently for next year.

I got these pictures a few weeks back, but was remined of them when I got down to the harbour Thursday.  I love the tiny cabin on the old tug. wooden door and all.

The steel-hulled tug was built in Ohio in 1909 as a fishing tug (it's a tug not a sloop if we're going to be accurate).  The steel hull can withstand the winter ice here in the harbour, unlike modern fibreglass sailboats.

Note the big smokestack behind the tiny cabin.  Originally steam-powered, it has long since been converted to diesel.

I took a few photos just for interest.

Green for starboard, red for port.

It has a small aluminum tender.

Block and tackles have always fascinated me.

Thursday was a fabulous day, hitting 15°C, warm enough for me to ride downtown myself.  The floating docks had all been lifted out at the Sailing Club, stacked onshore.

A number of sailboats were up in their winter storage right across the harbour.

It may be some time before we see another warm sunny blue-sky day like this!

If you want to read a little bit more about the owner of the tug Glen G, google "Little tugboat with big adventures", a nice article in Collingwood Today. 

In Search of Those Elusive Sandhill Cranes Again!

Mrs. F.G. saw another Facebook post reporting a Sandhill Crane sighting west of Owen Sound so we went for a drive in search of Sandhill Cranes, our 4th trip this year.  As Mrs. F.G. said, we're just spoiled after seeing about 1000 of them in a field east of Collingwood at this time of year and 500 in a field west of Owen Sound last year.  She's hoped for the same ever since!

We headed for a small crossroads west of Owen Sound, now a roundabout, and drove north.  Soon there was a small flock flying over.  Mrs. F.G. got the first and ultimately the best shot of a small group feeding, heads all down.

There were more feeding in a ploughed field nearby, and in some nearby pasture.

Driving a few nearby concessions we searched for the elusive larger flock, seeing a few small groups, but ending up back at the same spot.  A few threatening clouds along the way!

Right across the road was this enormous cattle operation, with five huge silos and two enormous barns.  It's cattle country all right!

Looking west we counted about 100 altogether, here with a small flock of three birds joining them.

They are a long distance away and don't stand out very well, but there were quite a few.

Friends have asked how to recognize them.  Well, they're huge for a start, about 5 feet tall and with a 6.5 foot wingspan, about the same size as a Great Blue Heron.  They're grey in colour, with a striking deep red patch on their head.  I think of them as a fat Blue Heron.  But their call is unique, a low clattering sound that you will never mistake once you've hear it.  Google the bird and listen to it!  They nest in single scattered pairs, but gather into huge flocks prior to migrating south.

We left the cranes behind and headed home, but were surprised to see a small flock of swans,  These would have been the native Trumpeter or Tundra Swans, also gathering to migrate, here gathered around a low wet depression in a harvested soybean field.

Too far away to even get a clear picture, let along identify which species, but nice to see.

We drove through Kilsyth again on our way home, passing the old general store where my dad grew up.  A very successful adventure, even if we only saw about 100 cranes!

A Close Look at Soybeans

Reluctantly we left those Sandhill Cranes behind and continued on through the village of Kilsyth.  We pulled into a small parking area right beside the church where my grandad used to be the minister (before I was born), to finish off our lunch and take a break off the road.  As luck would have it there was a small field of soybeans not yet harvested about 20 feet away.  Mrs. F.G. got out of the van to take some pictures.

At this time of year the soybean leaves had pretty well dried up and fallen off, leaving just the seedpods on the stalks, ready for harvest.

The leaves you see here are mostly Sugar Maple leaves from nearby trees, but the seedpods of the soybeans are obvious.

And this is what the seedpod and beans look like.  When they are harvesting soybeans these beans are the harvest they are getting - millions and millions of them!

We drove on home after that, avoiding Owen Sound and heading straight east on Grey Road 18.  This is a road we've been avoiding all summer as it was under construction.  We decided to risk it and see if we could get through, and we could - so glad to have this road back, our favourite short-cut.  You can see here where they built the road up considerably with those wide white shoulders of fresh boulders; it has flooded at this low spot in the past.

After that we drove past this classic farmhouse and barn high on the slopes of a drumlin.  I've always thought that this home must be pretty windswept at times!

Around the corner we came upon a beautiful stand of European Larch.  The native tree that you see around the edges of wetlands here is the Tamarack, but if it's in a plantation, it's undoubtedly Euopean Larch like these.  It takes an expert to tell the difference.

Off in the distance to the south were what I call the Walter's Falls 'bumps'.  These are isolated small bedrock hills, possibly pinnacle reefs in the Amabel Formation, along the top edge of the Niagara Escarpment, and this is my best picture of them - one of those features you have to be a long way away from to get a good picture.

Another Sunday Afternoon Drive

It wasn't Sunday and I'm not sure it was even afternoon, but we went for another drive to our usual haunts and I got some more interesting pictures.  We were keeping our eyes open for those elusive Sandhill Cranes, but I wasn't really expecting to see any.  Still it was nice to get out of the house.

We did our drive in reverse this time, heading north after Owen Sound, turning at Copper Kettle and driving to the hamlet of Shouldice.  This 'hamlet' consists only of the small church (apparently still in use), and an adjoining old one room schookhouse, now a residence.

After that it was down the narrow little-used road we enjoy.

This was the field we saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes in last year; this year it's a field of winter wheat, just emerging from the ground.

Then we drove down through the marsh, but the Swans and Egrets had left or were hiding,

In the more open water portion we did spot a pair of ducks, though personally I found the stumps and their reflections more interesting.

The bulrushes were thick along the road.

We then drove a bit further west, turning south until we caught the road that would eventually take us east through Kilsyth.  These cattle looked pretty peaceful relaxing in the rough pasture.

Then the eagle-eyed Mrs. F.G. spotted them - 10 Sandhill Cranes in a field some distance away.  Can you spot them?

    

Fall Has Rushed Past Us Quickly!

I hate to say it but fall is suddenly over.  November has arrived with its grey colours; there's no sign of colour on any trees in the countryside.  Only in town are the Norway Maples now changing to yellow.  It all happens so quickly when the change comes.  Here the entire change from the first hint of colour on our own trees until most of the leaves have fallen (and the temperature has dropped a lot) took just two weeks.  It's such a special season, but only lasts a short portion of the year.

The first hint of yellowy/orange on Oct. 17th.

Quite a bit brighter orange over 3 days.

And a few very red leaves a day later.

Soon our entire Sugar Maples were orange, as well as those remaining out on the golf course, with a lot of leaves on the ground.

The peak of fall colour here in our own yard was gorgeous, but only lasted little more than 3 days.

Four days later only a few leaves were left on the trees and the colour was definitely faded.  

This roadside as we drove home yesterday shows you how little colour is left in the trees.  Some people find November depressing with all its grey colours, but I find it restful, a time of peace and quiet before the busy holiday season and then winter closes in.