Read oldest to newest dates …
1994 — purchased original property (128 acres) along with waterfront property where we started building
1995 — spring; rough clearing of Creek Trail
xxxx — built and installed 5 privies along Outer Loop
xxxx — dug Corral Pond with our backhoe; found and moved rocks around pond for safety
xxxx — planted 30,000+ tree seedlings throughout property (white pine, cedar, red oak, hemlock) with the help of Trees Ontario (10% of all trees planted by Trees Ontario that year were on our property); Tony and Sue planted hundreds of cedars along fence lines by hand (a tiring job); we estimate approximately 50-70% of the trees survived the following two years of drought conditions; many can be spotted along the trails maturing beautifully
2000 — purchased neighbouring waterfront property to the south, upgraded interior and lawns and began Greystone Retreat Luxury Rental
2007 — initiated official 10-year “managed forest plan” which we refer to often (and are usually well ahead of); had Ducks Unlimited visit to offer habitat suggestions
xxxx — purchased 3 adjacent properties to the north (added 300 acres to our property)
2011 — had Escarpment Ponds dug; other ponds dredged and cleared of debris
2012 — roughed in Scrub Trail
2013 — started construction of private cabins and public gazebo; cleared Ironwood Trail extension
2014 — completion of private cabins and public gazebo
2015 — installed floating dock at Escarpment Ponds; cleared Oak North Trail; removed stones and stumps from Scrub Trail; added substantial fill and rock to Inner Loop East and West; added rock fill to many low lying areas on Outer Loop and Ironwood; added ‘deep water’ warning signs by ponds
Beavers were back and busy building two new dams in the spring; by fall, there was little sign of them.
Started a more serious approach to birdwatching … see our list of sightings under ‘flora and fauna\birds\xyr list’
2016 — winter/early spring working on signage for trails; all 111 signs have been posted; Escarpment Trail marked for cutting; grass fire destroyed 2 portions of Conservatory Trails mid-August (a frightening experience; we lost between 4-5 acres)
Late summer — Escarpment Trail, including two bridges over very wet areas, now joins Beaver Pond to the Cabins. This is one our most beautiful, and unique, trails. Added gravel fill to low lying areas; rebuilt several drainage pipes beavers had excavated. Beavers stopped by for a while to wreak some havoc at Escarpment Ponds but soon departed.
Fall — pending cooperating weather, we’ll have the ramps to both bridges stabilized and this trail will be complete; this trail will NOT be groomed; it is meant for those on snowshoes
2017 — time to assess/revise/adapt our 10-year “managed forest plan” from 2007
Planted 1200 maple seedlings with the help of several neighbours.
Spring/Summer — completed Brow Trail from Cattle north to Outer Loop East where it merges at Eagle Rest Area. This is a lovely trail with views of Georgian Bay along the path. Despite it’s newness, it is a relatively smooth trail.
2018 — as always, there are ‘plans’ in the works (planting 1000 pine seedlings in spring; another dock at the Escarpment Ponds; more benches at rest areas and strategically on trails; possible wood duck nests and organized activities/outings)
2020 —
- Extended Escarpment Trail including building a bridge (boards milled by us from ash trees on property) with bench over a little stream (sourced from a spring).
- Sourced nearby flat stones to build ‘stairs’ up to the bridge.
- Continued the trail further going along the base of the escarpment and adding ropes for safety. This trail is called Escarpment South (aka “Ernie’s Way” due to extensive volunteer help by Ernie who has been a fabulous help) and is in the process of being completed.
- Added Bog Bypass to get around a very wet section of original Escarpment Trail. One end of Bog Bypass also intersects with Escarpment South.
Herbal Impotence Pills versus ED Drugs Without suffering from common bothersome side effects like upset stomach, stuffy nose, blurred eye vision, headache, digestive problems, diarrhea, flushed skin, buy viagra italy and dizziness. They are considered the better option, as they provide the levitra online usa same level of effectiveness. Action: Sildenafil Citrate is the key segment inconceivably compacted in this medication. generic no prescription viagra Most of people will be surprised when they will know that you are taking this medication in order to fulfill the latest requirements of the future drivers cheap tadalafil have set.
NOTE: Escarpment South IS CLOSED IN WINTER
- In December, began and finished Creek North which gives an easy and very scenic loop route along the intermittent creek.
- Built, painted and installed 25 new signs on Creek North, Bog Bypass and Escarpment South bringing total signs on property to over 150
- Ordered small variety of trees for spring planting
At Christmas, we were gifted 100 Blue Spruce seedlings by a generous couple who has also offered to plant them! What a thoughtful contribution and added diversity to the property and for the animals who live here.
2021
- Winter Project this year is building nesting boxes to attract specific species of birds (bluebirds, tufted titmouse, tree swallows and flycatchers) — ones we already have but in very small numbers. We are using patterns from the Audubon birdhouse book.
As usual, it started as a small project and grew substantially! - Nest boxes (66 in total; thank you to Colin who built 5 and donated them) were installed late winter/early spring
- 52 out of 66 nest boxes had nesting material in them (6 of those had more than one nest on top of each other)
- Hatchlings seen included: bluebirds, swallows, chickadees and house wrens
Two broods did not survive (Nest one had 1 deceased hatchling; nest two had deceased 5 hatchlings)
A bear did bend over several nest boxes early in the season but was unable to open them. Despite that interference, birds hatched and fledged from those boxes. - Potential future project now includes nest boxes for
- Eastern Flying Squirrel (we were honored to see 3 of them in the fall near the trail parking lot and 4 more through the summer at our home)
- Owls
- Wood Duck
- Heron
- Over most of the past decade, we have been spreading milkweed seeds in specific areas on the property to attract Monarch butterflies
- Monarch caterpillars were orders; we received 25 Painted Lady caterpillars (kit) instead. Two caterpillars were dead; 23 caterpillars created pupas and hatched into butterflies and were released
2022
- Rough cut #13 Scrub Trail Extension between Inner Loop West and Big Rock Trail with help from several volunteers
- Too wet to get back and clear further
2023
- Widened Creek North Trail section to Oak Trail
- Built a sturdy bridge over the ravine on Creek North Trail. Stringers were left over from house construction. Boards were cut on our portable sawmill from dead ash trees on our property (and one large tree section contribution from a neighbour)
- Too wet through summer to work on trails
Building of CREEK NORTH BRIDGE in September 2023:
