Norfolk County - Backus Trail

Back from 2 weeks in Maine and a week in West Virginia and it is now fall at Long Point. So many chores to be done but also some interesting sights to see:

The sun is now setting over the lake resulting in views of beautiful sunsets.

Watercolour

and, on this very windy Thanksgiving weekend, a beach full of kite boarders
getting some serious "air time".

During the summer I bought a set of walking poles as I had heard that they increased the workout value of walking (more exertion and upper body workout). Now that I have booked a trip to hike the Inca Trail, in January, I have to get serious about using them. I need to loose weight and get fit and get used to using trekking poles.

It was too windy to walk at the beach (the sand was even blowing back at the road) so I drove
to the Backus Woods Trail. There is a parking lot a few kilometres from Port Rowan and
an extensive trail system that I have always been curious about.

I chose to start the trail across the road from the parking lot. There is also one on the same
side of the road (another day).

What were once open fields have been planted with native species and left to go back
to their natural state. There were a few flowers still in evidence; black eyed susan, aster
and golden rod, but most had gone to seed.

The sumacs were showing bright reds and most of the trees, yellow.

This is part of the Sand Plains and the path is pure sand in places. It is also
part of the Carolinian forest.

Every now and then there are information boards identifying the trees, shrubs
and plants. They indicate whether it is native or not, what it is used for and what diseases
have impacted it.

I have a friend who never reads these plaques because she says she doesn't retain the information anyway. I only remember snibbets but I suspect the rest gets stored in a huge file in my brain labelled "I read it somewhere" that I used to pull info from periodically and really annoy George with.
I did learn that the Red Pine is native to Northern Ontario and was planted down here for lumber. It will gradually be removed from this ecosystem to make way for the native trees. The Black, Red and White Oaks are all native and the White Oak is impervious to water and therefor used in making wine casks.

The trail I took passed through open fields and then woodland with high, leafy canopy and not
much undergrowth. Small creeks and wet areas had wooden boardwalks. I only passed one other group
and the woods were very peaceful; bird song and the occasional squirrel or chipmunk.

It's difficult to stroll with the walking poles. I guess that because you are swinging your arms it encourages a faster pace. It certainly makes for more of a workout, I had to strip off my light jacket after about 10 minutes. There are a few small hills so the walking is better for me than around the cottage, as that is all flat. I will certainly walk there again, probably try some different routes (hopefully different info boards as I read all these). I walked about 5 km in about an hour, not a great pace but I was stopping to read and take pictures.