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Glengarry Pathways | Volume One | August 2024
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Bench from Le relais
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Watch for the addition of a beautiful bench donated to the Glengarry Trails by the students at Le Relais. We are always pleased to partner with the local schools and see them using the trails.
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Tales on the Trails
We hope you have had the opportunity to read all the information on the story boards created by some of the students at Laggan School.
A new story will soon be mounted on the trails. Written and illustrated by Ruth Stanton, this story tells of a boy bringing a surprise gift to his grandmother. It does not end quite as he expected.
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2024-2025 Board of Directors
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Karine Denis, Yvon Ranger, Richard Kerr, Kyle Thompson and Simon Sabourin
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Raisin Region Conservation Authority representative
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Township of North Glengarry representative
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Trails Wednesday Walk
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You can join this friendly walking group by contacting us at info@glengarrytrails.com .
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We meet on Wednesday mornings at 9:00 am. Trail membership is not required but it is encouraged.
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Terry Fox Run
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The run will take place on Sunday September 15, 2024.
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(run.terryfox.ca, Alexandria)
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Trail Maintenance
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On Saturday August 24th, a group of volunteers cleared up the Garry Fen Trail's boardwalk. Our greatest appreciation and thanks for their dedication and hard work.
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If you are interested in helping out with maintenance just fill out our Volunteer form .
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Of Plants, Butterflies and Grooming
In summer ferocious deer flies and mosquitoes keep many of us off the trails, however, these are but two of the creatures that call the Glengarry Trails their home. We see an amazing number of insects, birds and animals including varieties of butterflies, bees and dragonflies; turtles, deer, snakes and rabbits; wild turkeys and grouse. The FGTA is attempting to balance the needs of humans using the trails and wildlife living on them. To this end you may have noticed less frequent and more restrictive mowing. This enables plants to bloom; providing more food and diverse habitat for our fellow creatures.
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Among the diversity of plants found on the trails are these two interesting and important ones.
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Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate L.)
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This attractive, moisture-loving plant, with its pink to rose-purple blooms, grows in sunny openings of swamps, marshes, fens and along streams and ditches. Swamp milkweed attracts a profusion of butterflies including the monarch. Milkweed plants are the only source of food for monarch caterpillars. The intricate flower of the swap milkweed has five delicate petals crowned with five nectar cups. Each cup contains an upward curving horn crucial to its pollination. When an insect lands on the blossom its leg slips on the horn. The leg goes between the cups and picks up pollen which is then spread to other plants.
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To inspect this amazing flower, look for it at the water’s edge on the Red Trail or beside Mill Pond at Island Park.
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From July until mid-September you can’t miss seeing this tall plant sporting clusters of dusky pink flowers. It graces local roadside ditches and grows among the wildflowers beside the Glengarry Trails. It is a vital food source and breeding ground for various butterflies such as Swallowtails and Spotted Skippers, as well as many moth species. Its name is traced to a legendary native herbalist known as Joe Pye. He was a Mohican chief, Joe Shauquetheat, who used the plant to treat various ailments including typhoid fever.
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