Short, but Sweet

Wed. 18 March:  Glen Tay Trails

Alien tourists have landed in Glen Tay

As our hike leader said:  “Short and Sweet”.  Although we were out on the trails for less than an hour, this was one of the quirkiest places I have ever visited. 

The Tay Valley trails meander through woodland, dropping down from the road to the edge of a creek which feeds the Tay River, a short distance upstream from Perth.  

The owners of the area have a unique sense of humour.  They have put to use old bikes, and random pieces of metal and wire, to create a slightly scary alien zone.  Here, gigantic mosquitos, caterpillars and woodpeckers cling to tree trunks, and an alien visitor stands by his crashed space craft, with a real camera hanging from his wrist. 

There is a little playground, and two rope ferries across the small creek.  Nailed to trees are tiny trail signs, with descriptive names such as “Longshadow Trails”, “Gopher Knoll”, “Sugar Bush Road”, “Privy Hill”, and so on.  In the centre of the woods is a post to which a mail box has been attached, with a small visitor book inside.  What a great idea!  We should have more visitor books on other trails which we visit.

Despite this being a cloudless day, it felt very cold, with a biting breeze, and so after one circuit of the park, the vote was unanimous:  time to repair to Perth for a hot coffee. 

Our adventure in this alien playground had been short, but sweet. 

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

Statistics:

Total Distance:     2.5 km (hike)

Height Gain:         Say 20 ft.

Time on Trail:       0 hrs. 52 mins.

Start:                      9.38 am

Ret. to cars:         10.30 am

Temp:                   Minus 8C

Weather:              Cloudless, bitter N. breeze

All manner of quirky objects in the woods

Caterpillar

The visitor book (great idea - should have
more of these along the trails)

Actually, I think we are the Wednesday Wanderers,
but we felt more like warriors in a strange land today.

Mechanical mosquito?

Joining in the fun at the playground

Ying and Yang

This creek runs into the Tay River not far downstream

Lots of little trail signs pointing all over the place

Woodpecker (or metalpecker?)

Pretty woodland scene