- Joined
- Nov 27, 2004
- Messages
- 3,124
Hi all,
I managed to escape for some serious trail time this weekend. As usual, I hit the Bruce Trail, and this time I hiked sections of the Kolopore Uplands, Metcalfe's Rock loop, and Loree Forest. The photos, unfortunately, are of Loree Forest only. This is a shame, as the Kolopore hike I did on Saturday was breathtaking - beautiful blue sky, rivers, marshes, cliffs, etc. I left my camera behind for that one, thinking that it was too overcast for good pictures (the clouds all dissipated as soon as I hit the trail, of course).
Here are some shots from Loree Forest. The hike was only a few hours long, as I had to drive back to Toronto this afternoon. Temperature was 4 Celsius going in, and about 10 coming out - perfect weather for a hike.
A 'flower pot' rock feature on the way in:
The sun shining through the forest this morning:
View of Nottawasaga Bay from the top of Blue Mountain:
With all of the leaves down, it's easy to see interesting features tucked away in the woods. This dry root system caught my eye:
As ever, my companion for this hike was Ruby, my lab. Here she is looking intently at the kibble I'm holding in my left hand while I'm taking a picture with the right - this is pretty much the only way to get her to stand still for a picture:
The trail near the top of the mountain:
A shot of one of the gorgeous fields along the way:
Oh, and lest I forget, here's some obligatory knife content! This was my setup for the weekend's hikes. The knives are a JK Anniversary Knife (AK) and a JK Firekit knife. The AK came in handy for clearing some fallen branches and cutting a path for my dog through a dense thicket during some off-trail exploration. See my PSK thread for a bit more on the kit as a whole.
Now for a question:
At one point this weekend, I was hiking through a marsh / forest trail on private property, when I heard what sounded like a baboon screeching at me from an area not too far off the path. I had never heard the sound before, and I decided to investigate. It sounded like shrill repetitive squeals with some lower grunts mixed in. At first, I assumed it to be a raccoon yelling at me from the trees. As I got closer (making a hell of a racket despite my best attempts due to all of the dry sticks and brittle leaves on the forest floor), the critter stopped, making it impossible for me to pinpoint it. I am convinced that the sound was coming from the trees, but when I returned home and looked up various animal noises online, the most accurate match was the noise made by an angry skunk. I had previously been under the impression that skunks were ground-dwelling and burrowing animals, as opposed to arboreal. Do they live in trees as well? I'm trying to decide whether it was a really angry raccoon (possible - those things can make some demonic noises) or a skunk in a tree. Obviously this has a bearing on whether I explore the matter further!
All the best,
- Mike
I managed to escape for some serious trail time this weekend. As usual, I hit the Bruce Trail, and this time I hiked sections of the Kolopore Uplands, Metcalfe's Rock loop, and Loree Forest. The photos, unfortunately, are of Loree Forest only. This is a shame, as the Kolopore hike I did on Saturday was breathtaking - beautiful blue sky, rivers, marshes, cliffs, etc. I left my camera behind for that one, thinking that it was too overcast for good pictures (the clouds all dissipated as soon as I hit the trail, of course).
Here are some shots from Loree Forest. The hike was only a few hours long, as I had to drive back to Toronto this afternoon. Temperature was 4 Celsius going in, and about 10 coming out - perfect weather for a hike.
A 'flower pot' rock feature on the way in:
The sun shining through the forest this morning:
View of Nottawasaga Bay from the top of Blue Mountain:
With all of the leaves down, it's easy to see interesting features tucked away in the woods. This dry root system caught my eye:
As ever, my companion for this hike was Ruby, my lab. Here she is looking intently at the kibble I'm holding in my left hand while I'm taking a picture with the right - this is pretty much the only way to get her to stand still for a picture:
The trail near the top of the mountain:
A shot of one of the gorgeous fields along the way:
Oh, and lest I forget, here's some obligatory knife content! This was my setup for the weekend's hikes. The knives are a JK Anniversary Knife (AK) and a JK Firekit knife. The AK came in handy for clearing some fallen branches and cutting a path for my dog through a dense thicket during some off-trail exploration. See my PSK thread for a bit more on the kit as a whole.
Now for a question:
At one point this weekend, I was hiking through a marsh / forest trail on private property, when I heard what sounded like a baboon screeching at me from an area not too far off the path. I had never heard the sound before, and I decided to investigate. It sounded like shrill repetitive squeals with some lower grunts mixed in. At first, I assumed it to be a raccoon yelling at me from the trees. As I got closer (making a hell of a racket despite my best attempts due to all of the dry sticks and brittle leaves on the forest floor), the critter stopped, making it impossible for me to pinpoint it. I am convinced that the sound was coming from the trees, but when I returned home and looked up various animal noises online, the most accurate match was the noise made by an angry skunk. I had previously been under the impression that skunks were ground-dwelling and burrowing animals, as opposed to arboreal. Do they live in trees as well? I'm trying to decide whether it was a really angry raccoon (possible - those things can make some demonic noises) or a skunk in a tree. Obviously this has a bearing on whether I explore the matter further!
All the best,
- Mike
