Fri, Apr 6 2007 - Trail Run - Luther Marsh (View Original Event Details)
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The day started off great! Kind of cold, a wee bit of snow, perfect trail running conditions, all in all. Bryan and I dispensed with the formalities of heading up north to Downsview for the carpool, since there was just the two of us, and met in the city instead before heading out to the Luther Marsh Conservation Area.
As we drove towards LM, we saw more and more snow, until we got on backroads with blowing snow, though Bryan was up to driving it! Yay! We got to LM in good time, noted the only maps they had available were for hunters, and cursed ourselves for not wearing orange vests.
Luckily no-one else was at LM, so with the prospect of accidental shootings (I'm joking!!!) postponed for another day, we headed out along the trail next to Luther Lake. Now, the ground was perhaps slightly marshy, and the snow a lot deeper than in Toronto. It was very powdery, and filled in and covered (hid) holes in the marshy ground quite well, as Bryan and I discovered when we both pitched to opposite sides at the same time. But we had lots of fun jumping little creeks, figuring out where was safe to run as we went along the lake. Eventually the trail headed onto dirt road inside LM, and we followed that and over some small ponds, scaring all the birds (they must know about the hunters) except for a pair of Canadian Geese that screamed at us non-stop as we went past. Those two were not the birds to be messing with! We also saw a hawk.
We then decided to run the bike trail, past the dam and the *probable* headwaters of the Grand River (LM is important b/c of it's place in the headwaters of the Grand; I'm not sure if what we saw was the actually birthplace of the Grand River but we decided to tell people it was). Bryan saw a heron here (I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I indistinctly saw the backside of the bird). The bike trail was....well, I'm not gonna lie, it was more dirt road. Why they call it a 'trail' wasn't very clear. But it was beautiful, snow covered, through the forest, with views of the lake and marsh, and for about 2k, the tracks of a large bird (doesn't it know it can fly!!!!).
On the way home we stopped in Orangeville for some eats (yum!) and then headed back to Toronto. We even entered a church! (OK, the parking lot....but it was Good Friday) when Bryan was turning around.
Thanks very much to Bryan, for both coming (and putting up with me!) as well as driving. Much appreciated!
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