A place for reflection, peace, tranquility, friendship, stress relief and a return to nature.
Oro-Medonte Hiking Trail Section in Copeland Forest.
There has been a water surge in Copeland Forest creating a major washout of a small section of the Oro-Medonte Ganaraska Hiking Trail. Anyone walking the trail will have to make a short detour to connect to the other section. Hikers will not be able to walk the trail in the destroyed area near the small pond midway between P1 & P2.
Some people just keep on giving – and this year we are recognizing Stan Muldoon for being one of those people in the Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association, Inc.
Stan has been a member of the Pine Ridge Club for years and has served as its President and representative to the Board. As well, he chaired the 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee – and during that time he prepared and delivered a history of the organization from its inception, bringing recognition to the founding members. At the 50th Anniversary celebration, Stan also delivered a workshop on stretching, much appreciated by the attendees!
Stan joined the Executive as Vice President for a few years as well and more recently has stepped up to Chair the new Mapping Committee, as well as the Indigenous Engagement Committee.
Well done Stan – you are a great example to us all – and we want to show our appreciation by presenting you with the Volunteer of the Year Award for 2022.
This year’s Trail Maintenance Award is being presented to the Wilderness Club, under the capable leadership of President Rob Halupka, for their outstanding work to provide a floating bridge over Montgomery Creek. The process took at least a year, with many club members involved with the project, helping in the planning, design, partnering with Parks Ontario, pivoting when something didn’t work, and generally getting the job done! Installation was on Aug. 26 under the guidance of the Ontario Parks team, and the bridge was in place until late October when as planned, it was removed for the season. It served the purpose beautifully and was much enjoyed by many hikers.
Without the bridge it was sometimes impossible to get across Montgomery Creek due to fluctuating water levels, making this section of the trail occasionally unusable.
Well done, Wilderness club. That will be a tough one to top!
Our map names in the Ondago mobile app catalog have been changed to make it easier to see the trail section names and to give each section it’s own map. Previously, our maps in Ondago were listed as follows.
Ganaraska (0 of 8) – End-to-End
Ganaraska (1 of 8) – Pine Ridge
Ganaraska (2 of 8) – Kawartha
Ganaraska (3 of 8) – Wilderness
Ganaraska (4 of 8) – Orillia
Ganaraska (5 of 8) – Barrie
Ganaraska (6 of 8) – Mad River
Ganaraska (7 of 8) – Wasaga Beach , Tiny
Ganaraska (8 of 8) – Oro-Medonte, Midland
We removed the Ondago end-to-end map and made Wasaga Beach, Tiny, Oro-Medonte and Midland individual maps rather than having them grouped. The new Ondago catalog of Ganaraska trail maps now looks like this.
Ganaraska – Barrie
Ganaraska – Kawartha
Ganaraska – Mad River
Ganaraska – Midland
Ganaraska – Orillia
Ganaraska – Oro-Medonte
Ganaraska – Pine Ridge
Ganaraska – Tiny
Ganaraska – Wasaga Beach
Ganaraska – Wilderness
Previously downloaded maps will still work, but over time you will want to update your downloaded Ondago maps to the latest versions. Enjoy the trails!
This is very exciting news! History in the making!
The Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc. is extremely pleased to announce the launch of a new Trail Guide that will complement our Ondago mobile app maps of our beloved Ganaraska Hiking Trail. The last edition of our hard copy trail maps was in 2013 and included only some minor revisions of the original 2006 edition.
Our new maps offer much more detail and are a far cry from what used to be just a “red line on a map”. A lot of effort has gone into the production of these new maps, and we are very pleased with the outcome.
Our new Trail Guide, with downloadable and printable maps and trail descriptions, has now been posted on our www.ganaraska-hiking-trail.org website. You might remember that early in the project (December 2020) a survey was sent out to Ganaraska and other hiking group members asking questions about what they wanted to see in the new ‘Guidebook’. The key points in the feedback that were used to steer the work in this project were:
Internally we also decided that we no longer wanted to inventory map books and ship them as required, so we opted for FREE downloadable/printable maps. In addition, all the key points of feedback from the survey were implemented, and our new Trail Guide combined with our Ondago mobile device app provides hikers of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail with the information they need, in whichever format they choose, to learn about and enjoy the approximately 500 km long Ganaraska Hiking Trail from end to end.
The new Trail Guide maps consist of a series of 33 maps plus an index map, as well as written Trail Descriptions (with latitude and longitude coordinates) of each of the 9 club sections of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail. All maps and descriptions can be downloaded for free and are printable. Our website also contains information on how to navigate the trail and the maps. See The Trail/Trail Sections with Maps for the maps and descriptions, organized by club.
We were very pleased with the work of our cartographer, Lyle Wood of Barrie (wood_lyle@hotmail.com) and my personal thanks go to Stan Muldoon, John Sloan, Gary Norton, Steve Broomfield, Heather Briant and a number of other people that have been involved in the making of this new Trail Guide.
Happy hiking!
Frieda Baldwin
President, Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc.
Effective immediately, our Covid protocol changes as follows:
Vaccines are no longer mandated;
Hikes are available to non-members, with the requirement that they complete the GHTA Inc. waiver every time they hike.
Covid is still present and still a possible threat, albeit less life-threatening than 2 years ago – so if someone is not well, it is expected that they will not attend a hike.
With the change in Provincial restrictions, group hikes can be up to 100 persons.
Otherwise we continue to require that attendees be fully vaccinated, wear masks when they cannot maintain distance, and not attend if they have possible Covid symptoms (even if negative on Covid-19 Rapid Antigen test).
Car-pooling recommendations remain in place – maximum 4 per vehicle, windows cracked, wear masks. If you do not feel comfortable car-pooling you are not under pressure to do so.
This protocol is effective as of Feb. 17, 2022.
As you all know, the Ontario Public Health Regulations regarding COVID-19 are being eased as of Monday, January 31, 2022, which includes the ability to return to larger group hikes of up to 25 in the outdoors. The Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc., however, still wishes to restrict participation in group hikes to fully vaccinated (preferably including the booster) individuals and to give priority to Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association members.
Carpooling remains “tricky”. However, we believe that we can support carpooling as follows: Max of 4 people per car
Mask wearing
Windows cracked
All fully vaccinated
To improve ventilation, consider using the vehicle climate control system and the car windows to improve fresh air intake/air circulation. Increased airflow can reduce contaminant buildup. Avoid using the recirculated air option.
Some hikers may still feel hesitant to drive with others, and others may still feel hesitant to share their car or may want to limit passengers to one person only in the back seat. Let’s be sensitive to these concerns and leave it up to the individuals to decide what they are comfortable with.
And lastly, space permitting, fully vaccinated non-members may participate in our group hikes; hike leaders should have them fill in the Waiver of Liability and Assumption of Risk, as posted here. On the form, non-members need to provide their contact information and emergency contact name and number. (Members already confirmed that they read and will abide by the terms and conditions listed on the waiver when they renewed their membership or signed up for a new membership.)
Thank you all for your cooperation. Happy Winter Hiking!
Frieda Baldwin
President, Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc.
While being cautiously optimistic, we are looking forward to the loosening of the Ontario Health Regulations with respect to Covid, which – as announced yesterday – will be effective as of January 31, 2022. At that time, we expect that outdoor group hike attendance can be increased to 25.
However, until that time, strict guidelines have to be followed by all hike participants:
– max 10 for group hikes; social distancing, including mask wearing if within 2 m of each other; only fully vaccinated hikers can participate in group hikes; car-pooling not recommended, unless with members of your household.
We have no provincial guidelines regarding carpooling, but we set our car-pooling guidelines to be logically consistent with the tightened restrictions currently in place. Thus, in keeping with the “loosened” restrictions expected Jan. 31, at that time we think it is reasonable to resume carpooling within the previous guidelines – windows cracked open for ventilation, and masks on, max 4 per vehicle.
Delay in the Launch of the New Trail Guide
The Trail Guide committee had planned to introduce the new downloadable Trail Guide in early 2022. The new guide, which replaces the 2013 Guidebook, will contain updated trail descriptions along with 33 maps of the trail. The production of the Trail Guide has taken longer than expected. It is hoped that it will be completed and launched by April. Stay tuned!
Stan Muldoon, Committee Chair