The sixth annual President’s Hike will take place on Saturday, October 22 in the Blue Mountain and Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area. This is a unique urban wilderness area that borders Bayer’s Lake Business Park and is largely surrounded by suburban development. On this year’s hike, we will take the trail that takes hikers past both Charlie’s Lake and Fox Lake and provides a gorgeous vista of Halifax from Fox Lake Lookout. The fall colours should be at their peak or at least in fine form.
The hike will be guided by Dr. Chris Miller of the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society, a leading environmental organization in Nova Scotia. Chris is both a wilderness conservation expert and a leading advocate for wilderness conservation. Throughout the hike, he will be educating us about this particular wilderness area and its importance but also wilderness conservation more generally – a category of environmental stewardship in which Nova Scotia is a national leader.
We will depart from the trailhead at 10 a.m. and return to it at 2 p.m., or close to 2 p.m.
Travelling to the hike
The trailhead is immediately behind Maskwa Aquatic Club, which is located at 91 Saskatoon Drive, Halifax. On a Saturday morning, this is about a 10-15 minute drive from King’s.The trailhead can also be accessed via Halifax Transit.
Hikers can either make their way to the trail’s head or catch a ride on the charter bus that will be departing from the Quad at 9:30 a.m. Those taking the charter bus should be back at King’s between 2:15 and 2:45 p.m.
The first fifty-six (56) confirmed registrants travelling on the charter bus to the hike will receive seats. Following that, registrants will be added to a waitlist, and contacted when a seat is made available. Please email us at president.office@ukings.ca if you do not plan to attend by October 20, so we can communicate to those on the waitlist any availability on the bus.
What to bring
Hikers are encouraged to bring a lunch (or snack) to enjoy at the mid-point of the hike, which will be at Fox Lake. Sturdy and ideally waterproof shoes, as opposed to sandals or running shoes, are recommended – the trail is very walkable but it is a wilderness trail. If there is any prospect of rain, a good jacket for rain is also recommended.
*Please note: new registrants are not guaranteed a seat on the bus.
Registration
If you would like to participate in the hike, please register by 12 p.m. on Monday, October 17 by clicking the button below:
Waiver
Once registered, we will email a waiver to you (if you are 19 or older) or to your parent or guardian (if you are 18 or younger) with instructions on how to complete the document.
Waivers must be completed and received by 12 p.m. on Thursday, October 20 for you to participate in the hike. Waivers are required for all hike participants.
