June 6, 2013 hiking in Middle McIntyre Creek

It is so great to be hiking along the trails, with the green leaves, and all the flowers bursting from the earth.   I am looking forward to the arrival of the wild roses, as they give off such a wonderful scent to the hiking trails.  The birds chirping in the trees remind us of how great it is to have this wonderful area to enjoy.

For the first time in quite awhile, I spotted a small, very red fox and a coyote today.  It is nice to see the wild life out and about, and I am sure they are happy to have some warmer weather, as are we. I wasn't close enough or quick enough to get a good photo of them, so will have to start carrying a longer range camera, now that I see the animals are more active.

I noticed some new signs posted along my route.  One new sign by the bridge closest to the College, has sadly replaced the original sign.  I did think that the post that was put up last year across from the original sigh would be where the new sign would go, but instead, it replaced the sign that was telling about the trail and the salmon stream.

The trail just below the seniors residences has deteriorated even more this year, with extreme erosion.  People are beginning to walk a little higher above the original trail, creating a new one. It is hard to tell whether this erosion is natural, or whether people are intentionally damaging the fragile edge.

This is the area where the eagles have perched on the cropped tree.  In previous years there was rarely a day that went by that I would not see an eagle perched there or a couple in a neighbouring tree, but I have only see one eagle on the perch once this spring.  Perhaps the Bird Club will be more successful when they do their hike this week.

 

Further along the trail, where people take their dogs down the trail to swim, another sign is posted.

Last week, in the above area,  I saw a couple of tents where people had set up camp, including a fire pit.  Also a couple of kids were panning for gold near the multiple user bridge. So with the warmer weather, we don't just have hikers, cyclists, dog walkers, fishers, bird watchers, canoeists and rafters along with various motorized recreational vehicles enjoying the area, but new uses of the area as well.  I know the fire pit isn't legal, and likely neither is the camping, but people will do what they can get away with.

I know we are all hoping for a warmer summer this year, than we had last year, but I am sure we will be taking advantage of whatever summer we get, as the winters are very long.