Hike Schedule

PBTC Tree Badge Pilot Hike

Hosting Club: Peninsula

Location (Google Maps): Parking lot at the east end of Scenic Caves Road [44.953282, -81.128023]

Hike Leader(s): Saabir Sohrab Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Leisurely
Terrain: Moderate
Distance: 5km

Description

Calling all badge hounds! PBTC will be launching a tree badge in 2024.  The tree badge will be the next in a series of conservation badges that include the birder badges, fern badge and orchid badge. Before we launch, we want to test the badge requirements in a couple of pilot hikes.  This hike will allow you to test the requirements for the badge.  The badge requirements are at the end of this hike description.  The badge requires the use of the iNaturalist app  – if you aren’t already part of the iNaturalist Bruce Trail Conservancy Project, please get the app before the hike, see details here: https://development.brucetrail.org/what-we-do/#iNaturalist

PBTC volunteer Natalie Mechalko will share her knowledge of trees on the Peninsula to support hikers as they try out the Tree Badge requirement.

We will meet at the parking lot located at the east end of Scenic Cave Road  [44.953282, -81.128023] and hike a loop around the Pease Side Trail and main trail.

Be prepared for variable weather and dress for the conditions on the day of the hike.  Depending on the weather, icers may be required.  As with all winter hikes, we will adjust or postpone the hike if required due to inclement conditions.

Draft Tree Badge Requirements:

There is no time limit for completing the badge requirements. All observations must be from the main trail or sides trails of the Peninsula section or on a PBTC-organized hike.

1. Photograph, identify and document 25 different tree species along the Peninsula section of the Bruce Trail. Your list must include at least 1 tree in each of the following categories:

• Deciduous
• Coniferous
• Mast Tree – produces food for wildlife or human foragers through periodic booms in seed production. A key characteristic of mast trees is that their seed production becomes synchronized across entire populations of the same species, producing an over-abundance of food in some years (also known as bumper crops, which is a crop that has yielded a usually productive harvest), and greatly reduced production in other years. Many mast foods have great storage value, avoiding rot, or freezing on the trees to provide quality food even when everything is dormant. Mast foods also have a high nutrition content, such as fatty nuts, which helps mammals build up fat stores for winter. Periodic booms (typically once every 2-8 years) of mast production trigger a cascade of ecological effects that affects mammals, birds, insects & even diseases like Lyme. Some common types of mast trees include oak, spruce, walnut, butternut and beech.
• Wildlife Tree – standing dead or live tree (also known as snags, den trees or cavity trees) with characteristics that provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Wildlife trees may contain spike, fork or broken tops, cavities, loose bark, large platform limbs and brooms. In Ontario, at least 50 species of birds and mammals rely on snags. Many species of trees make for good snaps, but large conifers such as cedar, fir, larch, and pine, tend to rot more slowly than do deciduous trees such as alder, birch, and cherry. Large deciduous trees such as cottonwoods, big-leaf maples, and oaks can last many years as snags. While alive, large deciduous trees tend to develop cavities in their bulky live and dead branches and trunks.
• Invasive Species – could be an invasive tree species (i.e., Scots pine, Buckthorn, Norway Maple) or identification of invasive pathogen (i.e., Emerald Ash Borer, butternut canker, beech bark disease)

2. Upload photos to iNaturalist.ca and add them to the Bruce Trail Project. New to iNaturalist? Not registered for the Bruce Trail Project? Visit https://development.brucetrail.org/what-we- do/#iNaturalist for details.
3. For one specimen tree in each of the five categories record the following:

• Deciduous
  • Common name
  • Leaf category: opposite, alternate, simple, compound, pinnate, palmate, lobed, toothed, margins
• Coniferous
  • Common name
  • Leaf category: Short needles in opposite pairs or whorls of 3, needles in bundles or 2, 3 or 5, needles in tufts of 10 or more on dwarf shoots or single on long shoots
• Mast Tree
  • Name of fruit/ seed
• Wildlife Tree
  • Wildlife habitat characteristic (spike, fork or broken top, cavity, loose bark, large platform limbs or brooms) and name species that may use habitat
• Invasive Species
  • Common name of tree or pathogen

4. Once you have accumulated 25 species, and your entries have been verified on iNaturalist, and you have recorded the characteristics of five specimen trees, you may obtain your badge. Instructions for obtaining the badge will be available on the PBTC website at https://www.pbtc.ca/badges  after the badge is launched.

Sunday Rambles at RBG (Hendrie Valley)

Hosting Club: Iroquoia
Category: General Hike
Location (Google Maps):

Hike Leader(s): Colleen Mabalay Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Medium – 3 to 4 km/hr
Terrain: Easy – Mostly flat and usually good footing, Moderate – Some hills and/or some poor footing
Distance: 6km

Description

Meet in the parking lot at 9:45am. Bring water and snack. Dress according to weather (icers).

Text 905-815-7100 if unable to attend on morning of hike.

9:00 am Side Trail Challenge #9 - Jordan Hollow, Jim Rainforth, Mountainview, Beamsville Bench, Angel

Hosting Club: Niagara
Category: In and Out
Location (Google Maps): Park at Jordan Hollow parking lot

Hike Leader(s): Sam Rutherford Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Brisk
Terrain: Strenuous
Distance: 9 kms

Description

This is a loop hike.
Park at Jordan Hollow parking lot. Take Jordan Hollow Side Trail until it reaches main trail. Go left on the Main Trail and continue to km 56.0 where the trail crosses 19th Street.
Shortly after, take the Jim Rainforth ST until it reconnects with the Main Trail. Turn right on Main Trail and follow it back to where it meets Jordan Hollow Side Trail. Take the Side trail back to the parking lot.

We will then drive to Mountainview Conservation Area parking Lot (km 73.5) N 43.157888º, W 79.497415º  and follow the main trail until it meets Mountainview ST. Take Mountainview ST until it ends at main trail. Turn right onto Main Trail until it meets Beamsville Bench ST. Take Beamsville Bench ST until it meets Angel ST. Take Angel
ST out and back. Turn left back onto Beamsville Bench ST and follow it until it meets the main trail. Go left on main trail and follow it back to parking lot.

Participate in all 9 scheduled hikes in the NBTC Side Trail Challenge or hike the side trails on your own. Submit your photos to collect the NBTC Side Trail badge. Badges will be awarded at Angel’s Gate Winery to those hikers that have completed all 9 hikes. Please bring $10 for your badge.

Westfield Village Hike-Rockton- on their new trails

Hosting Club: Iroquoia
Category: General Hike
Location (Google Maps): Westfield Heritage Village 1049 Kirkwall Rd, Rockton, ON L0R 1X0

Hike Leader(s): Cathie Green Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Medium – 3 to 4 km/hr
Terrain: Easy – Mostly flat and usually good footing
Distance: 8-10kms

Description

Westfield is a Heritage Village and Conservation Area with an hour drive from Cambridge/Kitchener and Hamilton. They have added some new trails–all flat so a good beginner level hike or for those who want an easier hike at the start of the week. We will meet at Westfield Village parking lot-free to HCA passholders-$11.00 per vehicle if not a member-according to their website

We will hike around the back of the village through the forest and over the covered bridge to the train station and then do a circular hike through the sugar bush and Westfield trails returning back through the main street of the pioneer village

Bring Icers-bound to be icy patches, Wear appropriate clothing for the weather conditions, water, snack, hiking pole, hiking/ winter boots . Any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at cathiekygreen@gmail.com or text me at 416-931-2095

Nashville Conservation Reserve

Hosting Club: Dufferin Hi-Land
Category: Cancelled
Location (Google Maps): The Nashville Conservation Reserve is located in Vaughan. From Highway 50(Queen St.) and King Street, in Bolton, head east on King St. for 1.9 km, turn right and drive on Albion Vaughan Rd for 3.9 km. Turn left and follow Kirby Rd. for 2.4 km to Huntington Rd. Parking is on the west side of the road 300 m north of Kirby Rd. and Huntington Rd. intersection, immediately past the Humber River bridge.
For carpooling meet at Party City (4th Ave. at Highway 10 in Orangeville) at 8:30 am.

Hike Leader(s): Tony Evangelista, Les Babbage, Inge Eckerich, Julie Daley Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Leisurely
Terrain: Dependent on Conditions, Easy
Distance: Long Hike 7 km Short Hike 4 km

Description

We will hike westward on the main trail for 3.5 km and return to the cars using the same route. The short hike will turn around after 2 km.

Bring snacks and water. Icers may be needed. Poles are recommended.

Optional refreshment stop in Bolton after the hike.

8:30 Niagara Winter End to End #2 Kinsman Park to Glen Road

Hosting Club: Niagara
Category: Car Pool
Location (Google Maps): Meet Parking Area Glen Road Carpool to Kinsmen Park Frost Rd Beamsville.

Hike Leader(s): Sam Rutherford Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)

Pace: Medium
Terrain: Moderate
Distance: 13.2 kms

Description

We will be car pooling, Bring Icers and poles. No dogs. To earn your Niagara Winter End to End badge, it must be completed between December 21, 2022  to  March 21, 2023.
Because of the potential for bad winter trail conditions we have broken this e2e into 6 hikes rather than 5