Walking in the Rain

WALKING IN THE RAIN
 November 29 & December 01

One of the biggest hits in the 1950s by the late Johnny Ray was a song called, “Just Walking In the Rain.” While his song told of a lost lover, and the singer’s effort to drown his sorrow by going for a walk in a drizzling rain, we can’t help but wonder if Johnny Ray ever considered the positive side of strolling around in wet weather.

I did just that at two separate locations a couple weeks ago in the Stirling area. One was a beautiful 40-acre piece of property accented by thick woods and deep ravines not too far west of Highway 62. I finished up the morning by driving to a spot owned by Quinte Conservation, called the Sidney Conservation Area. It is located about 2 kilometres west along Airport Road, just off Highway 14. I have been to this area many times before, but never in a perpetual drizzle. Still, I took along my digital camera.

The 52 acre site looks much different today than it did in its hey day some 60 years ago. The established hiking trail weaves through reforestation plots of native hardwoods and evergreens. But wander off the trails, and buried deep within thick growths of invading trees and shrubs, signs of another era are apparent, and here and there, remnants of clearings. It was these former clearings, approximately three acres, that once had been brought under experimental cultivation for the study of field and garden insects.

Previous to 1972, the Sidney Conservation Area was a field station for the former Entomological Research Institute in Belleville. The Institute acquired the property in 1948, for the purpose of biological and ecological studies of insects in correlation with the research being conducted at the former Belleville Laboratory, located at the corner of Bleecker and Dundas Street in Belleville.

Unknown to many, however, was a checklist of plants and animals, compiled during the field station’s early years. The well documented, unpublished list came to the attention of the Belleville based Quinte Field Naturalists in the early 1970s, who produced a limited number of copies for distribution. While some species in the list may no longer appear due to habitat changes, and other species have since appeared, the list is a praise-worthy attempt at providing a colourful snapshot of the conservation area’s inhabitants. Some, like the scouring rush, listed among three other species of horsetails, remain conspicuous.

Huge clumps of this somewhat prehistoric looking member of the horsetail family still border the trail through the conservation area for much of its route. On my walk, it glistened in the falling misty rain, moisture running down the sides of the hollow stems, then temporarily collecting in tiny droplets at each segment, before making its way down the stem to the next joint. I wonder if the pioneers saw the beauty in this plant, as I did, when they collected fistfuls for scouring pots and pans, due to its silica content? The rain actually magnified the dark green of the stalks presenting a sharp contrast to the bare trees they bordered, offset only by the leathery brown leaves on the beech saplings, still clinging, as they always do, at this time of the year.

The rain was misty, at times, almost imperceptible and yet, the woods on either side of me responded with a soft, uninterrupted and soothing background. Elsewhere, it dripped from the conifers and hardwoods onto a thick carpet of needles and leaves, now soggy from previous weeks of relentless rain. Ahead of me, Chrysal Creek, normally reduced to a trickle in November, gurgled musically as it made its way over fallen branches and other debris, in two places passing beneath small wooden bridges as the trail continued through the property. The camera came out of storage and managed to capture the low light serenity of the scene.

Sidney Conservation Area is one of many such special properties owned by Quinte Conservation, each one offering unique and unforgettable experiences, even in a rain. The evening hiking program often schedules guided hikes at this location, and we will do so again in a year or two. Meanwhile, I am hoping to organize a small team of volunteers next year to do some trail maintenance at this conservation area, in an effort to further enhance the hiking experience of not only our hiking group, but of those hikers who follow us. If interested in assisting with this two day project in 2007, be sure to contact me .