18.06.2017
These trails are reached via the horse corral in Golden Ears Park. From the corral take the Alouette Lake trail to the little "one horse at a time" bridge that crosses over Mike Creek. Instead of going over the bridge go down on the side trail to check out Mike Falls. Many people miss these falls by not going down the side trail! Once down there you'll see a small white sign with an arrow pointing off to the right. This is the Allco horse trail which initially is a leisurely stroll through the forest. I found some brand new puffballs, an unusual black orange spotted beetle (it's at the top of the photo) and some beautiful maidenhair ferns sticking out delicately from a rocky cliff. The trail soon divides into the Trapper on the left, the Allco continuing on the right. I went down the Trapper first, narrower, steeper, more rocky, and with devil's club sticking up on the left side. I soon came to a sunny sort of clearing but with blackberry vines and then salmon berry bushes encroaching on the path. Using my poles I pushed through these, eyes peeled to the ground for fear of losing the path, making noises as I went. The trail again cleared to reveal some small trees with that pale green old moss hanging from them. Eerie but lovely. Shortly after was the South Alouette River and, looking across you could see a gravel area. Equestrian maps indicate that the Trapper trail continues on the other side. Given the state of the trail however I don't think many horses have been down here lately, and they wouldn't like it much if they did! I explored around a bit and spied a tree with letters and numbers on it, old logging info possibly.
Heading back but before the salmon berry gauntlet, there is a bit of a clearing on the left of the trail. This leads to another nice river view and a long metal pipe apparatus tossed in the bushes. Have no idea what this is but it looked old and abandoned!
Heading back up the Trapper my little dog suddenly stopped and growled a low growl. I whipped out the bear spray, blew on my mini foghorn thing and tried to stay calm. There were no sounds or movement and after a bit and a few more hollers, I inched forward. Didn't see anything scary thank goodness but was unnerved by this. I did give myself a pat on the back though for not running amuck screaming through the woods!
Got back up to the fork and continued along the Allco trail. This is where the horses mainly go as the trail is wider, smoother and takes you again to the South Alouette. The trail continues across the river and heads to the Allco Park area where people get on their tubes to float down the Alouette.
Retraced my steps back to the horse corral, no cougars or bears en route. It was a pleasant, a bit exciting at times, sort of hike.
176 x gelesen 1 Kommentare 1 gefällt das
fullscreen