A place for reflection, peace, tranquility, friendship, stress relief and a return to nature.
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
Barrie Police put out the following
What3Words Technology Available for Use by Barrie Police | Barrie Police
Besides being an extremely useful tool in case of emergency, in the Midland Ganaraska Hiking Club, we also use the What 3 Words app to give hikers directions to a trailhead. What 3 Words is linked to Google/Apple Maps to get specific driving instructions. It really works well and our hikers love it. Example: If you want to come and hike at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland, type compressed.lantern.rotate in the What 3 words app and click on Navigate. Super easy.
The app is also very useful to report trail maintenance issues, such as fallen trees, bridge out, etc.
Frieda Baldwin, Association President
The Midland Ganaraska Hiking Club reports that unfortunately the western blue-blazed side trail loop of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail is currently under water. There is no access to the lookout tower or the boardwalk until the water recedes. As an alternate trail, go east of the Visitor Centre, and complete the 6 km loop along the Carolina and Trotter Dykes, and enjoy the beautiful view along the way.
The Executive of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc. is pleased to announce that they have awarded a special award to David Francis, in recognition and appreciation of his past contributions to the GHTA, at the club level, the association level, as well as at provincial and national levels. His leadership, commitment and overall enthusiasm for hiking has been recognized, as over the years, he contributed his time and skills as:
– founding member of the Alliston-Angus GHTA club, later more appropriately renamed Mad River club (he actually suggested the name!)
– first Mad River club president- dedicated and wonderful hike leader, especially as it relates to hiking with children and young adults
– GHTA Wilderness club president
– GHTA association president
– Hike Ontario president
– Director with Hike Canada
We also appreciate and currently hugely benefit from David’s past involvement and management of the Hike Ontario Certified Hike Leader program.
As the Executive realized that David is not a lifetime member, we agreed to offer him a lifetime membership. It seems that the recognition was well received by David, who wrote us back as follows:
Frieda, It was with great surprise that I received your letter on behalf of the GHTA Executive Committee bestowing on me a lifetime membership of the association. My relationship and service to the hiking community have brought me great joy and satisfaction as well as a great sense of achievement. It has been my privilege of meeting many wonderful and remarkable people who have worked together to build and maintain a remarkable network of trails. These have been put in place by some visionary founders. They have brought immense pleasure to millions of people over the years and it is with great delight when I use these trails to see how many other people are also using them. When I see a white blaze, I think of the many hundreds of volunteers who have painted these iconic trail markers, enabling many to hike from end to end, or just a short casual stroll in nature. It is heartening to see that so many new younger people are taking over and carrying on the noble tradition of trail management. Long live the Ganaraska Hiking Trail and our many other trail systems. David
Well deserved, David!
Frieda Baldwin, President
Effective November 5, 2021, the bridge segments will be disconnected and heaved up onto the bank to keep them high & dry over the winter season. After the bridge is out, we can still cross safely on the fallen tree (aka the “Four Brothers”) that spans Montgomery Creek about 250 metres upstream from the private bridge. The bridge will be replaced in the spring.
West of North Smudge Lake near campsite 12, a number of beaver dams including one that is part of the Ganaraska Trail have blown out recently. Please follow the temporary reroute (not flagged) to a beaver dam that is still standing. The reroute is 1.2 km, adding .5 km to the total distance of the trail.
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