Night Hike – Under The Starry Sky
(Caledon Rail Trail)
When was the last time you gazed up at the “ten thousand points of light” overhead? In our modern and “enlightened” urban environments, it’s actually quite difficult to gaze in wonder at the moon and stars and planets in the same way as our rural ancestors, because of the scarcity of darkness.
On our night hike we will walk where after sunset it’s noticeably darker than most of our urban neighbourhoods: the Caledon Rail Trail, a little west of Palgrave. Our walk will coincide with the annual Perseid Meteor Shower, so we must hope for clear skies! Whether you can already identify some of the faraway heavenly bodies, or whether you can’t tell a planet from an airplane light, we will have fun learning a little more about those twinkles in the night sky and how to find the North Star . . .
We will start our walk at Humber Station Road (see driving Directions in your confirmation email) and walk slowly in an easterly direction along the Rail Trail, which is wide and very easy to follow. As the sun sets, giving way to dusk, we will stop from time to time and focus on some of the emerging points of light above our heads. After about an hour, we will turn around and walk back to start.
What to bring: hikers are recommended to take flashlights (though we will only use them if necessary), binoculars if you have them, and a light jacket/sweater in case of cooler night temperatures. Also bring your water bottle, or perhaps your thermos of tea.
No dogs please.
Larry Zembal is an avid outdoorsman and beekeeper who has been exploring wild places in Canada his entire life, and is an HVHTA/Hike Ontario certified hike leader.
Directions:
Directions will be sent to the email address used for the Registration form below
Questions?:
Send an email to hvhtak@gmail.com