Annette Sandberg

Woodford & Lord Sydenham

This is about a 14 kms hike through crevices, bogs, amazing forests, and all along the escarpment ridge. I began my hike in Woodford, a very small hamlet on Hwy 26, in Sydenham Township near Owen Sound. The Township was named in part for Lord Sydenham, governor of Canada from 1839 to 1841. Sydenham TownshipContinue reading “Woodford & Lord Sydenham”

The Wood Wide Web

The Magical World of Forest Fungi I hiked Skinners Bluff in Wiarton where the fungi are out in huge numbers & varieties right now, likely thanks to the rain and humidity. Fungi play an intricate part in our ecosystem, providing nutrients to the trees in exchange for sugars. But even more, beneath every forest, thereContinue reading “The Wood Wide Web”

Silent Valley and the plane crash site

Tucked between the gentle slopes of a long-vanished glacial landscape and the Niagara Escarpment is an oasis of peace and tranquility on the side trails of Silent Valley. It has a past that extends 12,000 years to a time of glacial retreat and the depositing of its rock and silt on the gouged land. TimeContinue reading “Silent Valley and the plane crash site”

Paleozoic Era

“I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopuses garden in the shade…”Well, did you know that you actually are living under the sea? This land that we live on was once called the Laurentia located at the Equator and covered by ancient warm water shallow seas, 500 million years ago! The evidence isContinue reading “Paleozoic Era”

The Wonderful World of Fungi

The fungi that you find on the Niagara Escarpment descended from one common ancestor that probably colonized the land during the Cambrian Period in the Paleozoic Era, over 500 million years ago, (Taylor & Osborn, 1996), but terrestrial fossils (land) had only become uncontroversial and common during the Devonian, 400 million years ago. It is probable that these earliest fungi livedContinue reading “The Wonderful World of Fungi”

Eugenia Falls – Hoggs Falls via Cuckoo Valley

Fun Facts 1. In 1852, an early settler named Brownlee near Flesherton, discovered a waterfall falling 30 metres over the Niagara Escarpment to the Beaver River below – Eugenia Falls. He saw some glittering in the rock and thought that he discovered gold, but alas, it was “fools gold”. It triggered the areas first andContinue reading “Eugenia Falls – Hoggs Falls via Cuckoo Valley”

Tom Thomson Trail

April 30, 2020, I began the 41 km hike on the Tom Thomson Trail, from Meaford to Owen Sound. I finished on May 3. The North-Grey Railway was originally planned for Collingwood – Owen Sound, but the line between Meaford (completed 1872) and Owen Sound was never finished. The Tom Thompson Trail begins at theContinue reading “Tom Thomson Trail”

Trout Hollow Trail

Meaford, ON The Bighead River runs through Trout Hollow in Meaford (first called Peggy’s Landing), named after the Trout family who built the sawmill there in 1850. The entrance to the trail is beside Bakeshop Bridge and has the remains of the Wm. Moore & Sons Flour Mill; originally built by Jessie T. Purdy inContinue reading “Trout Hollow Trail”

Bognor Marsh and tale of the The Turkey Tail

I hiked a 5.1 km loop around the wondrous Bognor Marsh, which features an open marsh, semi-flooded wetland, grassy meadows, and the Niagara Escarpment. The Marsh was originally a hardwood forest, but was continually flooded, creating a swamp, then a marsh. Once on top of the ridge, the world changes into a place of variedContinue reading “Bognor Marsh and tale of the The Turkey Tail”

Devils Glen Provincial Hike Bruce Trail

Situated on the Niagara Escarpment 518 m above sea level, this park features rock outcrops, forested slopes and wetlands, and protects a geologically significant incised river valley. Meltwater from the last retreating glacier carved the steep gorge of Devil’s Glen, where the Mad River now winds its irregular route. Today, I did a 7 kmContinue reading “Devils Glen Provincial Hike Bruce Trail”

The Glen Management Area and the Black Stone Creek

Natural area of varied forests, beaver ponds, marshes, and abandoned pastures; Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail; remnants of an early sawmill from the area’s historically important logging industry; geologically interesting features such as glacial marks on bedrock, ancient shore boulders and walls upon walls of deep ancient crevices that seem to never end. WhatContinue reading “The Glen Management Area and the Black Stone Creek”

Webwood Falls, Fairmount Passage, Grey County

The Webwood Falls Nature Reserve is located north of the Town of Kimberley in the municipality of Grey Highlands. A true cascading waterfall, although not a ‘bridal veil’ falls such as you find at Indian Falls or Hogg’s Falls, it’s much more akin to Walter’s Falls in style. The water flow is definitely not heavy,Continue reading “Webwood Falls, Fairmount Passage, Grey County”