St. Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society

Yesterday, October 29th, six helpers and chainsaw operators cleared out wind falls after the hurricane on the Lewis Mountain Road multi-use trail between St. Ann's and Big Baddeck. Many thanks to Vaughn Morrison, John Gallant, Carolyn & John Grant and Wanda & Jim Eldridge. Also Bret Parlee for his work on the previous clearance of the trail.

Lewis Mtn. Work crew cleaning culverts & cross drains before
The arrival of Hurricane Fiona.
Don Buchanan & Jim Eldridge

Work Party with snips & saws on November 6th.

St. Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society, volunteers and professionals have done small and large maintenance and upgrading jobs on Lewis Mountain Road and the surrounding area this fall. Thanks to all who participated!

Work on the Trail to Bald Mountain in early November.

Bush Hogging on Lewis Mountain in mid-October.

Trail Development on Lewis Mountain in October.

Much work has been done on Lewis Mountain this fall: Gravel Pit Expansion early October.

Proposed Wind Farm - SWEB Energy is proposing to build a 10-13 turbine wind farm on Crown Land in the Lewis Mountain Area (St. Ann's/Big Baddeck). They are holding a public open house at the Baddeck Yacht Club this Thursday 4-8 pm. We urge all trail users and residents to attend this meeting and voice any concerns and or suggestions. For further info you can check their web site: lewismountainwindenergy.ca

Please join us on Thursday, November 4th at the Baddeck Yacht Club to hear about our proposed wind energy project.

Last Sunday: a 4 wheeler ride from the Cabot Trail end of Lewis Mountain Road to Bald Mountain. Approximately 7.3 km (4.54 mi) on Lewis Mountain Road to the junction of the 750 snowmobile track and then approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) to the peak. Estimated 1.6 km (1 mi) before the peak, we parked the 4 wheeler, as the Wilderness Area begins there.

After 2 km from the Cabot Trail, Lewis Mountain Road crosses the Powerline. From there 200 m uphill you have a fantastic view of St. Ann's Bay and with binoculars you can see Colaisde na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic College.

COD NEXLAB: Satellite and Radar

It’s a beaut day here!
Thank you for
Your update! Keep us in the loop.🌎

COD NEXLAB: Satellite and Radar Check out COD Meteorology's Satellite and Radar Data

In addition to the public trails in our area, there are many beautiful hikes on private properties. We are very fortunate to have friends and neighbours who invite us on their land. Yesterday, Dennis Laffan hosted the Community Hike. He led us through his wonderful forest and shared his extensive historical, scientific and botanical knowledge. Some of the trees on his property are even 400 years old!

From Colaisde na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic College parking lot on Cabot Trail to the northwest, it's about half a mile to the waterfront at North Gut. As an extension of this trail, it is worth crossing the peninsula to the east, as described in one of the last posts.

The Wednesday Ceilidh from Colaisde na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic College in person or online starts today at 7:30 pm.

Lots of wildlife tracks on the short snowshoe hike on the trail at Colaisde na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic College. The approx. 1.5 km loop leads to Black Cove in the east of the peninsula, a detour to North Gut in the west is also recommended.

Pictures by Jamie Fitzgerald.

Saturday Community Snowshoe Hike from Tarbotvale Pool on the Rear Barachois Road along the Barachois River through the Wilderness Area to North Brook – on the old Cabot Trail.

St. Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society updated their information in their About section.

St. Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society updated their information in their About section.

The Directors of our Society would like to thank all those who signed into Zoom tonight & participated in our AGM. It was appreciated! We hope to be able to host this AGM online for those who could not attend.
Special thanks to Dan Coffin Tourism & Recreational Officer for Victoria County for
not only hosting this event but also for his wonderful presentation on the work that is being done on the trails strategy for Victoria County.
If you would like to join with us please contact John Gallant for membership. 902-929-2566.

Photos from Isabelle Tanner's post

Wanda

Wanda

Photos from Linus Rost's post

Photos from Patti Rost's post

Such an exuberant hike to Lewis Mtn. Trail /Morrison Farm & back! We were joined by 18 like minded people on snowshoes! Such a perfect day! Refreshments were served near the last leg of the hike!
Special thanks to Don Buchanan, Linus Rost ! They made this possible!

Saturday Feb.13 1:00 pm
Snowshoe/ski Lewis Mtn/Morrison Farm!
Everyone welcome! Dogs included!

Photos from Stephanie Gordon's post

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: St Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society AGM. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Thank you to everyone who accepted the invitation to St.Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society.Don't forget to sign up for the webinar meeting online Thursday February 18th 6:30. Everyone is invited!
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qHuzD9haRhuulBG4AF1RGg

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: St Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society AGM. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: St Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society AGM. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Photos from Stephanie Gordon's post

Photos from Linus Rost's post

COD NEXLAB: Satellite and Radar

COD NEXLAB: Satellite and Radar Check out COD Meteorology's Satellite and Radar Data

We would invite everybody to share pictures of their trail experiences throughout the St.Ann's Bay area.

Trail Improvements

Precondition & Trail cutting

Precondition 2020

On behalf of the community of the greater St.Ann's Bay Area, we would like to again thank you for your support of the development of the Lewis Mnt. Trail System. This trail is used extensively by hikers, snow shoers ,skiers,snowmobiles and ATV's and is an important link from our community which allows users to connect to Baddeck,the Highlands and beyond.
2020 was a difficult year to have volunteers gather together to work on trail improvements due to concerns with covid. Despite this,we were able to have several working parties and we did complete substantial trail repairs and improvements. We brought a large section of the road from the first bridge up towards the power line to public road status.This should help prevent future erosion. Also, we established a lower gravel pit with a great supply of quality gravel and two additional gravel pits on the trail near where future work must be carried out. In 2021 we would like to complete further work on these sections.
In addition we would like to give special thanks to Crowdis Mtn Snowmobile Club & TIR Baddeck. This would not be possible without the gracious support of the County of Victoria.Financial report will be released shortly.

Heritage Day Hike 2019. Great attendance! Young & old alike!
Refreshments provided afterwards !

Membership $10 per year.
For further information contact
John Gallant

902-929-2566

Club Objectives
The St.Ann's Bay Recreational Trail Society has established the following objectives:
1.(a)To work with the Nova Scotia Department of Lands & Forests and other levels of government,trail organizations and individuals to develop,maintain and operate environmentally friendly and sustainable multi use trail systems within the designated area in the greater St. Ann's Bay Area and to encourage a good neighbor policy whenever possible.
1.(b)where multi-use trails are not suitable or permitted, then the Society will work to encourage, develop and maintain non motorized foot trails.
2. To educate and promote the befits of the trails ina manner that will provide the maximum enjoyment and well being of local residents, visitors and trail users, and to endeavor to minimize the issues that may impact on adjacent property owners.
3. To communicate , cooperate and develop appropriate partnerships with other trail associations and stakeholders, and to explore additional linkages and opportunities in the establishment of other trail systems that will compliment a trail network throughout the region.
4. To promote a healthy lifestyle and foster an appreciation of the natural environment within the organization and the community at large.
5.To comply with all the relevant environmental legislations.