The Big Surprise!

 After all that sad history of Talisman, out of the blue the Bruce Trail Conservancy announced in December that they had bought the core parcel of Talisman!  We (retired Bruce Trail volunteers) were shocked to say the least.

The purchase was facilitated by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, a land trust working in the southern Georgian Bay region, and it was supported by hundreds of local outdoor lovers.  It has been described as the only open break in several miles of forest cover on the west side of the Beaver Valley, and I think this photo shows the pattern.

The Talisman ski runs are to the left of centre in this photo, but it gives you a sense of the forest extending north and south, all of which I have hiked.  The gap to the far right of the photo is the former Old Smokey Ski Club.  It was abandoned at least 30 years ago, and is growing up in trees already, its buildings falling apart!.

The Bruce Trail is of course at a very early stage of planning for the property, but they have referred to extensive opportunities for reforestation.  The part they purchased is the brow of the hill, the slope, and the old buildings at the bottom.  The buildings will be an immediate challenge!

This shot was taken from the top of those Talisman ski hills, right where the Bruce Trail starts across the property heading north.  If you look carefully you can see the blue water of Georgian Bay in the top left.  The bright blue pond in the middle of the photo is the sewage lagoon for the Amik subdivision of ski chalets.  And of course the chairs of the ski lift are dangling in mid-air, useless!

And this photo underscores the first recommendation I'd make - Don't reforest the entire slopes, keep the upper part of the southern ski run open as a lookout.  This is the only spot on the entire west slope in this area where you can get a valley view like this!

There remain two big further challenges.  The buildings are one; urban adventurers are already exploring the buildings. a Security guard has been hired, but it will take constant oversight just to protect the property.  But there is also a large parcel above the top of the slope, and the former golf course at the bottom that are owned by a development company, and local residents are determined that these parcels won't become condos!

The upper parcel, which looks just like an old field, is part of the karst recharge area that provides the water supply for both the Amik subdivision and the village of Kimberley.  You can see the karst-fed spring when you hike the Bruce Trail as you leave the Talisman property heading north.  Excess water burbles out and forms a stream tumbling downhill.  In my opinion it should never be built on.

As for the golf course, take a look at the photo below, taken during the serious flood of early April 2016.

This road is the main entrance to Talisman, or Talisman Mountain Springs Inn as it was known until recently.  The flooded land on both sides of the road is the golf course they've been trying to restore.  I wouldn't want to be buying a condo on land that has been known to flood recently!

So the fate of Talisman has changed dramatically, for the better in my view, but it will be very interesting to see how this story unfolds over the coming years.  I for one, am looking forward to it!

The Surprising Fate of Talisman Ski Resort!

There`s been a huge surprise at the Talisman Ski Resort which I want to tell you about, but I`m going to start at the beginning. It was 1963 or '64 when my parents brought me and my sister up to try skiing at a serious ski hill.  My mother had skied a lot (cross-country) when she was in her teens, and wanted to share her joy of being outdoors on our skis with us.  And boy, did we learn a lot and have a lot of fun from a weekend at Talisman.

I can still remember the thrill of flying down that long hill!  I was 14.

In those days, and for many years before and after, thousands of young students got their exposure to downhill skiing at Talisman.  Typically there`d be 20 school buses parked out front Monday to Friday.  Talisman was one of only two ski clubs in this part of Ontario that were public - that is you didn`t have to be a member, just buy your daily ticket.  No wonder it was popular with families.  I even accompanied our daughter on her school trip to Talisman 35 years later.

The business continued for 60 years, at that point owned by Jake Hammer.  A friend and I did a small project for Jake, laying out a snowshoe trail through the large Kimberley Forest just to the south.  But eventually Jake retired and sold the resort to an owner who knew nothing about skiing, or apparently about ski hill management!  The resort went downhill quickly.

Here we can pick up the story with actual photographs, since we moved to the valley in 2010.  In fact I did two previous posts about Talisman, in 2011 and 2013.  

As an introduction, here`s a shot of the entire ski hill, taken from across the valley on the top of Old Baldy.  The most difficult run, the steepest, is on the left; the beginner`s hill is on the right.  Note the road up the right hand border of the hill, where ski chalets sit looking out at the ski runs.  You can see the buildings at the bottom.

Sadly, in 2011, after all those decades of successful operation, the resort closed down, putting 100 people out of work.  The municipality, which had a big tax bill owing, went to a tax sale.  It took two such sales to sell the resort, and for quite awhile local spirits went up.  The new owner promised to restore the resort, even planning a large spa.  It's now well over 10 years later, and I don't know how much restoration has actually happened.

But after two plus years of no maintenance, both the buildings and the golf course out front were deteriorating fast.  You would not recognize the golf course as such for all the weeds that had grown up.

And the ski lifts of the hill, the main investment other than the buildings, were falling apart, rusting as they deteriorated.

This is a view looking down that steepest run, where there is easy access at the top to stand and get a picture.  You can see the buildings t the bottom of the hill, in the centre of the picture.  'More to come in the next post!

It's a Snowy World Here!

We've had snow for quite a few days now, and it hasn't melted at all, so it just piles up.  Snowbanks are beginning to form, and our snowstick is close to disappearing.  Meanwhile I'm wondering what to write about this winter other than showing you more pictures of snow!

This is the view out back, pretty familiar to you I'm sure.  We have about a foot of snow.

Out in the golf course, the branches of the Sugar Maples catch the snow.

As do the branches of the spruce.

Right here the snow is piled quite deep on the planter.

And the red chair is pretty well covered.

And here's our snowstick for those of you keeping track.

Our 2025 Adventures

This one is a little different.  Instead of a monthly review it's a review of the adventures we had in 2025.  We always enjoy heading out for an adventure, usually to chase down a specific destination.  And this year we accomplished more of these treks than ever before, including the longest, our epic drive up to Tobermory!  These are not organized by month, because we generally don't do this during the winter and sometimes in the warmer months (like May!) we go on more than one adventure.

It started this year on the first weekend of May, when we drove up to Big Bay, a place you've seen before, the Stone-skipping Capital of Canada!

Ten days later we headed out for some 'ditch-diving', in this case looking for the first wildflower of the season, the Skunk Cabbage.  The bright green leaves are unfolding, while the 'flower' is protected under those purple streaked 'spathes'.

A week later we went and really enjoyed the Tulip fields on the new Sandhill Creek Flower Farm, just west of Hepworth.  It was spectacular!  These are just as good as the famous Tulip fields of the Skagit Valley in /Washington /State; we've been to both.

At the end of the month there was another episode of ditch-diving, here a White Trillium growing up among the sedges.  'Ditch-diving' for us is driving along the back roads very slowly, looking for interesting plants growing in the ditch.

At the beginning of June for several years we have gone to 'Lilac Lane' at Craigleith, a stretch of the Georgian Trail bordered by Lilac shrubs for 200 yards.  Just beautiful!

Later in June another serious episode of ditch-diving brought us several clumps of Yellow Ladyslippers, one of our native orchids.  This plant brings back all kinds of great memories for us.  My mother was always excited to find these!

Late in June we headed to Petrel Point Nature Reserve so I could ride the boardwalk through the fen.  These Pitcher Plants and Sundew are both carnivorous plants; they always fascinate me!  I think I was first here over 50 years ago!

On the other hand this is brand new!  Our big adventure in July took us down to the big Misty Meadows Market in Conn which I love.  Then we stopped at the enormous new Creekbank Sewing Centre.  We've watched this grow from quilts displayed in the front room of their home three farms away, through portable classrooms on that farm, to now this!  I've been to a lot of sewing stores; this outclasses them all!

In early August we went back to the Tulip farm, but this time to a different field, to see the Sunflowers.  Only problem here was the very bumpy trail I had to ride through the field!

In early September we made our almost-annual pilgrimage to Keady Market.  It's a huge place that sells all kinds of stuff, but we just go to the veggie section.

In later September we drove up to Big Bay again (see first photo above), but instead of the blue waters of the bay I'll give you this photo of New England Aster, growing right out of the boulders along the pier.

Mid October and we headed north on our biggest adventure yet.  I was worried about Mrs. F.G. having to drive all that way and back in one day, but it was her suggestion and she wanted to try it.  We spent our time right around the harbour, bringing back wonderful memories.  We had a cottage on Manitoulin so we rode the Chi-Cheemaun regularly for ten years when our kids were young.  'Chi-Cheemaun' is an Ojibway word meaning 'big canoe'.

This wasn't taken this year, but we did drive down through the valley to see the fall colour in early November. a month later than normal!

My new wheelchair isn't like our other expeditions, but boy has it been an adventure!  Just learning to go through doors with VERY little clearance has been a challenge.  And I am standing up in it twice a day, which they say will help my old aging body a lot.

The Year in Review

I always enjoy going back over the posts I've made over the past year to remember how the year unfolded.  The twelve photos I've chosen usually represent the seasons as they changed, and sometimes they might even be good photos, but not always.  The collection certainly reminds me of what I enjoyed about 2025; hope you enjoy them too.

January - My memory of last winter is of lots of SNOW, deep snow creating six foot snowbanks.  But in spite of that we started out with a January thaw and visions of green grass between the white patches!

February - But in February the snow did arrive, and it piled up just like the snow on our snowstick's back, light, fluffy and deep.  Without a thaw it just accumulated relentlessly.

March - By March the world out front looked like this, deep snowbanks you could not even see over.  Backing out was tricky!

April - Then magically April arrived, the snow melted and the earliest of our spring flowers bloomed, these deep blue dwarf Iris.

Msy - By May many things were in bloom, including our beautiful Red Bud.

June - In June we undertook our annual pilgrimage to Petrel Point Nature Reserve, a Great Lakes fen ecosystem.  This property has a boardwalk I can safely ride.  These are Grass Pink, taken in an earlier year.

July - In late July our own garden is in full bloom, with the blue Lavender and bright red Day Lilies among many other flowers.

August - August is the time we look for Monarch butterflies, and we're usually successful in finding a few.

September - In September we drove up to Big Bay, a great beach for skipping rocks, with a convenient ice cream outlet nearby.

October - This year we went on our longest adventure yet, all the way up to Tobermory where I posed in front of the Bruce Trail cairn, joining many others who have completed an 'End-to-End' hike.  This was undoubtedly the highlight of the year for me!

November - Fall this year was postponed for a whole month, bringing the coloured leaves I always saw in mid- October, instead in mid-November, the clearest sign of changes in the schedule of the seasons due to climate change that I've experienced.

December - Winter came early this year, bringing us nearly a foot of snow before Christmas.  Unfortunately for the kids, it nearly all melted by Christmas.  It's back now though, as I write this 3 days before the year ends.  This was the best year yet!

Cross-country Skiing Part Two

There was another favourite trail at Glenelg, this one longer, with hills, and mostly through beautiful hardwood forests.  I rarely skied this trail alone, but regularly skied it with a friend or two.  I'd call it a moderately challenging cross-country trail, and it was certainly popular.  All these trails are groomed and maintained by volunteers.

The trail starts over an up and down route that keeps your eyes on your skiis.

Soon the trail dips sharply down through a stand of cedars that I always found a little tricky.

It came out on the margins of a small pond.

Soon after that you come to a trail junction and you have to make a decision.  One direction takes you on a larger loop, the other takes you back toward the entrance, though it'll still make an hour-long ski.  The second option also takes you to a road crossing that opens up another group of trails, including those down in the swamp, these on private land.

I rarely took the longer loop, because I like the features of the alternate.  One of these is a long hill that I always enjoyed.  It always looked like a long way down!

But in the middle of that long hill is a dangerous trail junction.  If you were going too fast you'd sail right past.  If you thought you were an expert, you might try to turn sharply without slowing down enough.  I was there when one of our group did that and broke his ankle!

My usual choice was to cross the road and get down into the swamp.  The trail required another sharp bend at the bottom of this hill, but then you were safe.

And the trail through the swamp was just magical!  It always made me think of The Lord of the Rings.   There would be regular openings into the black water below.  This is one of the places I would always stop and just soak up the atmosphere.

After that it was still a fairly long trek, initially uphill, but eventually back to the entrance.  So glad I've got these memories!