Report by Alan Day

First of all, many thanks to the large number of volunteers (over 30) who logged over 500 man-hours keeping the trail clear and well-blazed, inspecting and writing reports on each section, and/or repairing or constructing bridges and boardwalks. Thanks to your efforts the trail is in excellent shape.

Special thanks to Tom Friesen who assisted me in coordinating efforts on the wilder northern sections, Dave Potten who looked after similar sections in the south, Bob McGee who kept our blazes fresh and of course to the Trail Captains (TC’s) and Trail Maintenance Leaders (TML’s) who are the backbone of the maintenance system.

Special note. It’s not too late to join this group of volunteers and look after your own section – the work involved could range from inspecting and reporting twice a season (TC) to doing some maintenance, calling in for help when needed (TML). Please email me (aday@uwo.ca) if interested.

Construction and repair of our bridges and boardwalks. During the year we:-

• replaced 3 narrow metal bridges with boardwalks,
• strengthened the bridge off Bell’s Rd,
• repositioned the Sharon creek bridge (damaged and moved by floodwaters),
• cabled several bridges in Komoka P.P. to prevent them being washed away,
• replaced handrails on the stairway in Komoka P.P. (thanks to Dayton Hypes),
• built new handrails on a bridge that previously only had a rope support,
• repositioned a bridge in the north displaced when a ravine got washed out,
• built a new small bridge over another ravine in the north.

We hope to complete the seasons’ work by installing steps in several steep locations with treacherous footing

Inventory of structures. All of the 43 structures – bridges and boardwalks - that have been built on our trail – many in the last few years have been cataloged and labeled. This will be useful in reporting on and fixing any problems as they age.

Trail clearing. Maintenance ‘blitzes’ were held in mid-June, mid-July and early September in which a number of volunteers as well as regular TC’s and TML’s cleared the entire wilder parts of the trail outside the city. Our volunteers are now well versed with mowers, brushcutters, weed whackers, scythe, loppers, bowsaw and chainsaw!

Hogweed Report. Virtually all potential Giant Hogweed plants that have been reported so far turned out to be less noxious relatives such as Cow Parsley or Angelica - so at present we do not seem to have much of a problem.

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Alan Day, Trail Maintenance Director.