Revised, August 24 2023
Weather permitting, Bill Rayner will lead a walk at 9:30 AM Saturday August 26 to see 2 old abandoned cars in the Assiniboine Forest. Along the way we will visit the pond, marsh, and boardwalk. With luck, we'll see some interesting wildflowers, deer, and birds.
Please come early! We can't wait very long for latecomers!
Meet at the parking lot (SE corner of Grant at Chalfont). If the lot's full, there's street parking on Chalfont.
There is a port-a-potty near the parking lot.
🌞 ⛅ Saturday's forecast is looking good! ⛅ 🌞
💧💧💧 But in the event of rain, this web page will be the means of communicating to you whether the walk is on or off. If in doubt, check here on the morning of August 26. 💧💧💧
Bill will bring a few printed copies of the forest map, to give you an idea of where we will be hiking, and to guide you if you choose to return to the parking lot early. (You can also print your own - see below).
Those who don't wish to do the entire walk can return to the parking lot at any time, along well-maintained trails. In fact, the path we're taking is paved all the way to the first stop (the pond).
The group who wish to do the full walk will trek on a variety of types of trails, mostly being either paved or laid with woodchips. To a lesser extent, we'll be going on a few minor trails which have a grass or earth surface.
If you're planning to join us for the walk, bring a water bottle. A pair of ordinary walking shoes is OK, but hiking boots are even better. It might be best to bring your older ones, in case there's some water or mud on the trail. You might (or might not) prefer long pants, because of the foliage on the few minor trails we'll be going on. If you have a walking stick or two, they can be very useful for keeping old bones in an upright position.
Bill will bring mosquito repellant (although you might prefer to bring your own). Bill will also bring tick repellant, but hopefully there won't be any ticks in late August.
It will probably be 2 or 3 weeks too early to see the forest in the height of its autumn colours, but we should see some of the early changing colours. But it might be just the right time of year to see some nice flowers such as bottle (closed) gentians.
In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about the Assiniboine Forest, here's the Maps page of the Assiniboine Forest Trails web site. From this page, you can link to scenic pages, plant pages, etc. Best viewed on a computer or tablet. https://a4trails.blogspot.com/p/maps.html.
And by the way, the white trees you'll see in the forest are aspens, not birch. There are no birch in this forest. The trees are mostly trembling aspens and bur oaks, with several varieties of willows (some being trees, and others being shrubs). There are a few other species of trees in the forest, and many types of shrubs.