In the past week, the leaves have suddenly turned, and I thought it would be a good time to return to the Saw Whet Trail to see the fall colours before the leaves drop. Christine came along for the walk. We decided to only walk the Saw Whet Trail and leave the Deer Valley Trail for another day.
Another couple pulled into the parking area at the trailhead just before we arrived. They were carrying bicycles on the back of their SUV. “Is the trail okay for riding?” the woman asked me. I was noncommittal; if you’re a serious stump jumper, it would be okay, but I think it’s too difficult for casual cyclists, and I wasn’t sure what kind of riders they were. “Once you get out of the forest, it should be okay,” I replied. They set off, walking their bikes up the steep hill from the road. Later we came across their bicycles leaning against a fence. They had decided that the riding was too difficult, apparently. A while later we met them walking back along the trail. “It’s kind of hard to ride,” I said. “Yeah,” the man said, “we’re going to ride somewhere else.” That was the first time I’ve seen anyone else using the trail.
The colours were beautiful: the ash trees bright yellow, the chokecherries and Manitoba maples a rusty orange, the little bluestem on the south-facing hills a reddish purple. Despite the warm weather over the past week, the harvest has not advanced at all; the swathed canola is still swathed, the wheat and flax remains uncut.
There were lots of grasshoppers. One found its way up Christine’s pants; another was in my boot when we got home. And, of course, there were lots of mosquitoes. I saw one hawk–I wonder if it’s one of the pair I saw earlier–but it paid no attention to us.
We walked past a corral along the Seven Bridges Road. For the first time the horses were close to the road. One of them is lame; the front of his hoof needs to be trimmed and he’s having trouble getting around. I’ve never seen anyone around the corral and it looks like the horses are pretty much left to their own devices, eating on the adjoining pasture and drinking out of a slough. When we were walking back, though, both horses had returned to the pasture up the hill, so despite his discomfort that gelding is able to get around. We’re going to call the Humane Society but I doubt their jurisdiction runs outside of the city limits and I’m not sure how to describe where the horses are located.
It was another beautiful day for walking. Once again I found myself very grateful to the Trans Canada trail people for organizing this trail. The fall colours are lovely; I hope I can go out for another walk there next weekend. I wonder what the trail would look like in the spring. I guess I’ll find out in six months or so.
