The Passionate Hiker: Goodwood Marsh

Wed. 28 January: Goodwood Marsh Nature Trails

New woodland trails opened in April 2012

The Wednesday Wanderers – that’s the name given to the hikers who turn out each week for a short ramble somewhere not too far from Perth.

Today we strayed a little further from home to Beckwith Township, not far south and east of Carleton Place. This is a mix of flat farming land and wooded swamps. Somewhere in this wilderness is the source of the “Mighty” Jock River, which wanders for 72 kilometres before joining the Rideau River north of Manotick. There was no sign of a stream here.

The people who run Beckwith Township are far-seeing. They have invested in a sports complex which would be a welcome addition to any town or city, and perhaps rare for a rural township of around six thousand scattered residents. Out in the open countryside they have built several soccer/football fields, a hockey arena, and a large indoor soccer arena. They have also invested in building hiking trails. Today we explored the Goodwood Marsh trails, which were opened in April 2012, and are apparently quite popular. A couple of loops have been constructed in the marshy forest, starting from the sports complex.

The snow was hard-packed, making it ideal for icers, or in my case, MICROspikes. For the amount of time that I spend lauding their product, MICROspike Co. should make me an honorary member of their board of directors!

The local church had donated several bird houses which we noticed as we walked around both loops. Each bird house had its own unique design. On the front of one was written “For birds only” just to avoid any confusion amongst the local wildlife. We did see a few chickadees, and apparently one of them was making a spring mating call, which we thought was very optimistic, knowing the Canadian winters as we do.

Returning to our cars, a smaller group of us, reluctant to quit on such a bright sunny day, explored a short section of the Beckwith Trail. This well-signed trail finds its way into Carleton Place, and we plan to walk it in a couple of weeks. Given the snow forecast for tomorrow, we will need snowshoes for this next trip.

Perhaps with a name like "Wednesday Wanderers" we might be co-opted into a game of indoor soccer on our next visit!

Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately

Statistics:

Total Distance: about 7.0 km (hike)

Height Gain: None

Time on Trail: 1 hr. 56 mins.

Start 1^st hike: 10.08 am

End loop 1: 10.42 am

Ret. to cars: 11.37 am

Start 2^nd hike: 11.45 am

Finish: 12.12 pm

Temp: Minus 15 rising to Minus 12C

Weather: Cloudless, cold N. breeze