VOLUNTEERS Jim Graham and Laurence Christie are just two of the many that donate their time to help maintain the Bruce Trail. Contributed Photo A perfect spring day. A dozen people were gathered on a property in the Hockley Valley, a work crew waiting to begin work on a new branch of the Bruce Trail.

The Bruce Trail, the famous walking and hiking trail, follows the Niagara Escarpment, starting at Queensland Heights and going north to the cairn overlooking Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory, a total of some 800 kilometres.

The length of it is cared for by members of Bruce Trail regional clubs, dividing the work of maintenance and administration amongst them. Individuals take on responsibility for sections, seeing to the safety of the paths, working either on their own or with the help of others.

It is not unusual for a group of trail enthusiasts, volunteers all, to spend the day maintaining the pathways, building stiles and so forth to make the trails safer and more accessible. What makes this particular enterprise more exciting is that a new trail is being created to replace several kilometres of existing trail which follow a roadway.

As Dave Moule, who has donated the property on which much of the new trail is located, told me, "Roads are boring to walk on but trails are fun!"

Mr. Moule's generosity to the Bruce Trail has many reasons. He has been involved with the Bruce Trail since 1983, which he reckons represents much of the last of the "wild spaces". Some of them running through the Niagara Escarpment can be "relatively rugged" and constitute "a treasure in our midst."

"Walking is the lowest footprint we can make as recreation," he pointed out. "The trail is a means to an end: it helps preserve the escarpment and gives anyone who wants it an exciting way of enjoying the out -of- doors and nature." He added: "This addition to the trail is the most significant in 20 years."

Some of the crew assembled that day had driven an hour from as far as Guelph, Kitchener, Keswick and Toronto. Whether living locally or driving a distance, they were all clear that the trail was worth the drive and freely given labour: "I just enjoy getting outside." "It's good to get together." "It's a lot of fun to be part of a team."

They appreciate the camaraderie and the jokes. They love the excuse to be outside with something important to do. It is never an idle stroll along a gravelled and groomed garden path; it is an adventure on a trail with challenges and surprises.

It still entails work. Fallen trees are removed and real hazards are dealt with. Most importantly, the trails are marked. Sturdy steel poles with painted blazes indicating the direction the trail takes or clear marks on trees prevent the risk of people wondering lost and in more of a "wilderness experience" than they looked for.

Two of this Hockley work crew have walked the entire trail twice, with family and friends. Once up in the Bruce Peninsula, hikers can stay at places established for themhomes and farms, some resorts, who will even forward their baggage on to the next stop. It takes something like 43 days to do the whole length of the Bruce Trail, a time that obviously carries many rewards.

The association that is the body to which the clubs and their members belong is the Bruce Trail Conservancy, a name signifying the emphases on conservation which is a major part of the importance of the trail. Land that is dedicated to hosting the trail does not easily become part of a development plan.

An essential part of the overall trail is the willingness of landowners to allow — indeed, invite — the trail to pass through their property. Each club has a member who is the Landowners Relations Co-ordinator. This person approaches people through whose land the trail might go and offers the "handshake agreement" between the Conservancy and themselves.

Most people are "honoured" to be asked and all are notified that the Conservancy is willing to purchase the piece of property on which the trail travels.

The funds for this and other expenses (little of which is wages: almost all administration, and all the labour, is done by volunteers) are raised through membership fees and donations, the latter of which can be very generous.

Many of the "captains" who run the work crews and manage the trails are people retired from the nine to five and it is only natural that they are looking to pass their responsibilities on to the younger crowd.

It could be that the Bruce Trail, for all its fame, does not enter into the general press enough for people to really understand the value of it and what it takes to keep it. More

than just a summer Saturday's morning walk — once in a while — this has all the potential for a worthwhile hobby, one with little in the way of expense but much in the way of rewards.

The group that I met last week were only making inroads on the project in hand, the creating of the new trail in Hockley. The main thrust of the work is scheduled for the May long weekend: May 16, 17 and 18.

To get involved and find out all about it, you can contact the Trail Coordinator, Colleen Darrell, at 519-833-2311, or e-mail kidogo @sympatico.ca .