Deer - Photo credit: J. Ross Mayhew
My hiking partner and I explore a new to us local park and walking trail.
The Canada 150 Trail first opened on November 18, 2017 but neither Ross nor myself had ever had an opportunity to explore this trail. Ross likes trails that he can garner some sort of bragging rights from and as I pay for gas, I like trails I don't have to drive to. Last weekend we decided to correct this and check out this newish trail, I was pleasantly surprised by what we found.
We had a slight difficulty finding the street where the parking and entrance is located, this may have been a lack of signage or Ross directing us, whatever. After leaving the bridge I did not know where to go from there. Ross assured me we turn left onto Princess Margaret Blvd. but then floundered. When it was clear there was nothing between us and Windmill Rd. I suggested it may have been the last street we passed on the right. I turned the car around and sure enough that was where we found the car park. I am pleased to say that although I let Ross lead for most of the day, this was the closest we came to being lost. Not to say that Ross always knew where we were or where we were going but the trail was simple enough and the park small enough that we didn't really have to worry about getting lost. From my side of the equation, I found having a large bridge within sight helpful. Just saying.
To get to the trail you must walk up an old unused road, probably left over from the Shannon Park housing area which had been here previously, the Shannon Park I am familiar with. No worries, I have always enjoyed the aesthetic of urban ruins. For me they seem always to hold the promise of ghostlike memories telling tales of lives lived and people now gone but not yet forgotten. The side of this road looks interesting for exploration but unfortunately is fenced off. I suspect this is the site of the future housing they will build here. Quite frankly, with such a charming little park here, I would be happy to live here but then they will probably build a modern subdivision and I will cringe with horror at the sight. The pictures of what they have planned look promising but I have unshakable faith in Ross to get us lost and humans to get it wrong.
Once on the trail it is probably not a long walk but Ross and I stopped to read most of the signs along the harbour view and took some side trails as well, including a walk along the shoreline. Sadly there is a fair bit of rubbish there from partiers and others along the small pebbled beach. Towards the end of the beach Ross found a Raphanus raphanistrum bush of which we both sampled the fruit. I commented that it tasted "like radish or more likely, radishes turbocharged." Ross informed me that the common name for the plant is, "sea radish." I then collected some of the siliques to take home with me. I planned to offer them to my friend Usha and if she did not want them, use them myself.
After returning to the trail we followed this for a short while before cutting through the woods. I must say it is well worth getting off the trail as the woods here are magical. If you enjoy imagining faeries and elves it is not difficult to imagine them living here. It may be my Celtic heritage showing but a large part of my enjoyment of the forest is in my discovering places where the wee folk would like to set their homes. Upon returning to the trail we soon found ourselves on the old road back to so called civilization. We came out not far behind another person who had been enjoying the trail so I slowed my pace to create some distance between us.
Not long after returning to this road we noticed a deer walking ahead of us in the sparse bush to one side, about 5.75 m or 20 feet away. We walked along, the deer grazing and us admiring her. While she did not allow us to get any closer to her, nether did she try to run away from us. It rather amused me to note that the gentleman ahead of us was about the same distance from the deer as us but blissfully unaware of his shadow. We were able to find a clear area to get the photo above but in doing so had caught the deers attention so we moved on before we could cause it stress. We were soon back to my car and that ended our introduction to the Canada 150 Trail. We had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and if you have not yet been to this small park, I would recommend exploring it for yourself. Thus ends our tale of this adventure, at least until we remember the sea radishes, but that is a tale for another day.
Sea Radishes - Photo Credit: Being Jamie Lee
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