We have two field trips coming up for October.
Photo by Julia and Arthur of Hiker’s Movement
The first hike, on Saturday Oct. 17 (with Sunday Oct 18 as a rain day), is the 3.7km trail to Skull Rock. It is part of the Admiral Lake Loop just off the Musquodoboit Trailway. This should be a good opportunity to see fall colours, assorted fungi and a great view. Because it is uphill, the difficulty is considered moderate. You can find more information about it here
We will meet at 10:00AM at the parking lot at the end of Bayers Mill Rd. (just off highway 357, which runs north from highway 7 at Musquodobit Harbour.) Even if you don’t want to go to the top, it is still a scenic hike.
Photo by Tom Field, iNaturalist
The second hike on Saturday Oct 24 (with Sunday Oct 25 as a rain day) is on the Le Havre River north of New Germany. Peter Steiner has recently rediscovered part of the only known population of Threadfoot Podostemum ceratophyllum in Nova Scotia– a riverweed growing in the fast currents of the Le Havre River north of New Germany. It was originally found in the 1980s, but subsequent attempts to find it had failed. We will meet at the site and Peter will wade in to pull out some examples. We will also look for the vulnerable Silky Willow Salix sericea and endangered False Nettle Boehmeria cylindrica, known in the area. We will then head down to the Le Havre Estuary to look for balls of plant material which form from the riverweed. This is how it was originally discovered to be inhabiting the Le Havre River. Access is considered to be moderately easy. More details will follow.
Please register for one or both hikes with novascotiawildflora@gmail.com. Carpooling is encouraged, so please let us know if you need a ride or can offer one.
