Winter Time @ The Edge

Things have been moving at ‘winters pace’ around here lately. Yesterday morning the mercury read -35 degrees and everything was laying pretty low waiting for the morning sun to break the deep freeze that has set in the last couple of days. Imagine being one of the many animals that live in the forests here, what would you be doing in these temperatures. It made me think of the Native Algonquin people who are the original habitants of this land. Traditionally this area including Algonquin Park was utilized by small family groups who would break from the larger villages and spread out across this bountiful land to hunt for the winter. Would they be ready for the winter to transition into spring? What kind of shelters would they be living in? What would thier daily routines be like? These people blended with the landscape and were a natural part of the eco-system. The original caretakers of this land. I was thankful for these people who went before us. How can we follow in thier footsteps? How thankful are we for the gifts and comforts that we have in this day and age? How can I be the most effective caretaker of this land? What gifts and visions do I have for the future? Just some of the questions that I asked myself as I walked across the frozen lake towards the Edge. Today is a beautiful day, a new day. May we walk our paths in a sacred manner for the future generations.

Alexis Burnett

Traditional Hide Tanning Class

Earth Tracks partnered with Sticks and Stones Wilderness School to run the Traditional Hide Tanning Workshop in Caledon, Ontario over this cold, wintery weekend in January. We had a great indoor workspace complete with woodstove and shelter from the elements. We taught the ‘dry-scrape’ method of working buckskin and managed to do 5 hides from start to finish. It was amazing to watch participants work through the process with such enthusiasm and

determination. It was no small feat, but we managed to complete each stage and ’smoke’ each hide on the last day of the class. Below are some of the many photos that we took over the course of the program showing each of the stages that we went through. It never ceases to amaze me how you can transform a ‘green’ or ‘wet’ hide into a beautiful piece of buckskin. We are going to offer this class again in the fall time -- October 8-11th 2009. More info and photos from this class can be found on the website. http://www.earthtracks.ca/

The Way of the Naturalist Class

Well, I've been back from out west for about a month and a half and things have been moving along steadily. Catching up on a lot of things and getting ready for a new year of programs and canoe trips. Recently I just returned from a couple of weeks in southern Ontario where I ran a couple programs and lead a few nature interpretive/tracking walks for Brock and Mcmaster Universities. Everything turned out to be a great success and I made some new contacts and friends in my travels.

Here’s a few photos from the Way of the Naturalist class sponsered by the Brock outdoors club at the university. Unfortunately we didn’t take too many photos, but we did have a great time studying and learning about the natural world. This class focuses on how to go about studying nature and developing your core naturalist skills. We spent our time learning about Hazards, Mammals, Plants, Trees, Birds and how to journal and identify them in the field. We split our time between class room learning and walking in the forest putting into action the skills and tools that we learned inside. We also had some fun delving into the worlds of tracking and bird language. Two skills that have the ability to greatly enhance our awareness of the world around us. Learning how to track and move like the animals and utilize the knowledge of bird language can greatly increase our ability to move undetected through the forest and begin to experience nature like never before. These skills have the power to open up a whole new world and allow us to begin to unravel the many mysteries of nature.

Hiking on Lake Superior

I decided to spend a couple of days visiting a friend on Lake Superior near Wawa and it wasn't hard to pass the time in this spectacular place. The scenery was amazing and Superior is such a special and sacred place. There was a lot of snow in this area that comes in off the lake and it was a good idea to use snowshoes since it was so deep. The water was so blue and always never ceases to amze me. I could spend a lot of time in this area and look forward to coming back in the spring and paddling on the lake and on some of the many rivers located in this area.

Straight-Shot

After seeing the sheep on the pass I spent the night in Cranbrook with a friend and then made a 'straight-shot' from there all the way to the Manitoba/Ontario border. It was quite a mission, around 20 hours of driving. The prairies were locked in a deep freeze and I decided to cover ground while the roads were relatively clear and the temperatures were bone-chilling cold. It dipped down to -34 degrees C and felt like -45 with the windchill. I spent the next night in the car and managed to get 5 hours sleep before getting up and heading on. Around Ignace I found a spot where 7 wolves had crossed the road and there were some great tracks and trails in the snow. It was hard to not stop every 5 minutes as I was passing many animal trails in this beautiful northern Ontario wilderness. There were numerous wolf trails crossing the road along with many moose and deer as well. It was a great drive down to the head of lake Superior and Thunder Bay. From there I drove the last 5 hours in an intense snowstorm and spent the night with a friend just outside of Wawa. It was good to get of the roads and have a nice warm spot to spend the night.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

On my way out of the Kootenays I came across this herd of Rocky mountain bighorn sheep on the Salmo-Creston pass. It was cool to see these animals so close and to be able to examine thier tracks. My friend and I had been talking about the difference between the tracks of deer, sheep and mtn goats so this was a good chance to compare. Can you see the difference between these tracks and the tracks of a deer? Notice the 'blockiness' and elongated shape of the shhep compared to the round and 'heart-shaped' tracks of a deer. These animals were making thier way along the side of the road and feeding on shrubs as they went. There were a few mature rams and many younger animals mixed in with this herd of 18 animals.

3 for 3 of Wild Felines

Up to this point I had spent time trailing mountain lions and lynx, but had only found one single bobcat track in some exposed soil in the forest. A friend of mine was on his way up the mountain to visit us and he ended up coming face to face with a bobcat that was hunting along the edge of the logging road. He saw it a couple of times as it made its way up the mountain. What an experience. Later that day we ventured down the hill to look at the tracks and we were greeted with some super clear bobcat prints! It was exciting to follow this animal and see the difference in the size between its other wild relatives. There was a point where it went up an embankment and investigated what we believed to be an old bear den. This cave under the rock went in at least 10 ft. and had plenty of room for an animal even as big as a bear to take shelter. I was very happy to have seen these tracks and thankful for all the animals that I had tracked up
until this point.