Report: Don Valley Trail Building Project

Well we have finished building a new trail enterance at Pottery Road in the Don Valley. See a google map of the area. The first section of trail took an entire weekend to build. IMBA Canada put on a trail building course where I learned the ins and outs of sustainable trail building. That weekend is well documented on the IMBA Canada website as a mini slideshow. Thanks Mark, I hijacked your image for the blog :) Today (Oct. 15th) we extended the first section of trail to complete the bypass of the old, washed out section of trail. Check out this slideshow care of Jason. See photos with comments here. It was a shorter build with fewer trees, roots and wire fences to cut through, but we also had a fast-working crew.







Before: During:

After:

Seaton Trail

The Seaton Trail is located about 12km west of Markham on Highway-7 in a village called Green River. The northern entrance is just east of Sideroad 32 on the south side of the highway. You can see it on this map care of the Seaton Trail Mud Puppies running club or this google map of the north entrance.

With about 10km of trails and a few loops, there is enough for an easy day hike. It is open to skiing in the winter, although mostly for classic by the looks of it.

I didn't get to explore the whole trail...only the first few km's. I did see some white tailed deer but wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch them! The trail is quite nice, but (on the northern section) there is enough highway noise to remind you that you're not too far from civilization. It looks great for running, the Mud Puppies site suggests there are technical sections, steep climbs, river crossings and all that fun stuff.

It's a nice walk, close to the city. Certainly worth checking out!

These shots taken in early October 2006.

Frontenac Park

Frontenac Park is a provincial park about an hour north of Kingston Ontario. With back-country camping sites, portages, lakes, rivers and natural features, it's a great place to get out and explore the outdoors. It is open year-round, with great canoeing in the summer and nordic skiing in the winter.

If you are interested in becoming involved and helping out, visit the Friends of Frontenac Park website. They organize volunteers, all kinds of events, training programs and park maintenance.

There is a trail maintenance session this weekend (October 15th, 2006) and I'm sure they can use all the hands they can get.

These photos were shots at camp site 10 over thanksgiving (2006).

Trail building in the Don Valley

I will be helping out at a trail building session in the Don Valley in October just off of Pottery Road. Details are as follows: We will be completing the new Pottery Road trail! Sunday, October 15 10am - whenever Meet at the Pottery Road parking lot We will supply gloves and tools. If you have your own tools, bring them along. We will supply lunch and snacks. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS EVENT, PLEASE CONTACT: LAURA WHITE (cc'd here): lwhite3@toronto.ca, 416-392-0373

Humble beginnings

Welcome to my blog! My motivation behind the creation of this page is the ability to add a text element to my photographic works. What direction this site will ultimately take remains to be seen, but I look forward to the challenge. Thanks for reading, check back soon! Damian