Peter was instrumental in laying down the initial route of the Wilderness section through the QEII Wildlands, and coached many hikers across it. He completed the entire Ganaraska Hiking Trail 5 or 6 times. He also served as Trail Director, Membership Director and Secretary for the Ganraska Hiking Trail Association Inc. Peter passed away in 2019. There is a memorial plaque for Peter in the Wilderness section of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail.
Frieda Baldwin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some want to see rivers, some want to see fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lakes, hillsides or forests are what others wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever the wonderful pleasures you seek,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Follow the trail of Peter Verbeek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In theory we start the Trail at Port Hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In practice we walked to the town down the slope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever direction it’s twentyfive k.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By anyone’s measure that’s quite a long way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stop along the way to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter always has a jest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of bears that like pepper, bears that like bells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the favourite whopper he tells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Lindsay we saw a fish get hooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad held it up while all his kids looked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Fenelon Falls the firemen play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hikers have to dodge the spray!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond Burnt River the bugs do swarm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And wearing a bugnet can get rather warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even though the bugs are biting,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a bear can be quite exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wilderness part is the hardest by far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this is somewhere that you can’t go by car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s tough but it’s lovely and well worth the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’d miss most of it if you went by float plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, there is always much more I could say,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of railtrails and forests and towns on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But “Zoom, Zoom” I’m going, no more time I will take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unless we stop for a trivia break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There’s a last stream to cross without getting wet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some think tree trunks, or bare feet, may be the best bet,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Peter, our leader, has “water wings” brought<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we’re walking on water, with never a thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our trail is completed at Wasaga Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all are delighted this target to reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A very fine welcome the Wasaga Club make,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With speeches and photos and even a cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some want to see rivers, some want to see fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lakes, hillsides or forests are what others wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever the wonderful pleasures you seek,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Follow the trail of Peter Verbeek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poem by Wilf and Mary Bradnock from Ottawa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Peter was instrumental in laying down the initial route of the Wilderness section through the QEII Wildlands, and coached many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ghta","post-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2233"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2235,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions\/2235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ganaraska-hiking-trail.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}