Boys Brushing "B" (and a little bit of "D) :-)

[SlowTouringGuy]

Saturday was a great day for trail work. A bit windy and "fresh" but far better than it might have been !!

Starting at the south end of the Snowcrest System at Orillia trails, we pick up "B" northbound.

The saplings were encroaching the trail so we had some extensive brushing for groomer clearance.

And some deadfall to remove....

It's an active trail for ATV's in the non-sledding seasons !

Interesting tree growth?

Would be interesting to know the cause of this - must look it up....

After reaching the Flood Plain (thanks Mr & Mrs Beaver) near the Hydro Towers we moved to the South end of D,

Leave it hanging ?????

Nah ! Down it comes...................

And then on to the D the last "k" or so before the Kahshe Lake Crossing. Some brushing, some trees to clear and some bogs to fill with the downed trees.

It was a full day - the tools weren't put away until sundown so we decided to postpone staking the Lake.

Maybe next week ?

A Little History

Out in the middle of "nowhere", we spotted in a clearing well off the trail the following markers.

Township markers over 100 years old at, it seems, the south east borders of Ryde. Longford to the East and Dalton to the South in the county of Victoria.

Municipally, Ryde was at first a part of the United Townships of Macaulay, Draper, Stephenson, Oakley and Ryde. The first three of these townships were organized in 1868. All belonged to the County of Victoria at that time, and a by-law of the Victoria County Council separated Macaulay and Stephenson who in 1871 formed their own municipalities. Draper, Oakley and Ryde remained as one until 1879 when Draper and Oakley continued for some few more years as united townships, and Ryde launched out on its own.

This action for municipal independence in pioneer years may now seem to have been early when it is realized that it was not until the 1870's that settlers began to locate in Ryde Township. Yet the period between start of settlement and formation of a local council compares with a number of other townships of that time in this part of Ontario.

Formation of Boundaries

The west boundary of Ryde Township lies along a survey line which was drawn in 1835 by William Hawkins and Samuel Richardson. The surveyors were ordered by the government to extend to the north the division line between what was then the Home District and the Newcastle District. They were to produce northward (or, actually, north 16 degrees west) the boundary line of Rama Township, already surveyed. From the Home District a few years later emerged the counties of York and Simcoe, and from the Newcastle District came into being at a later time Victoria County among other counties. The Hawkins survey line is important historically because it formed the boundary between not only Ryde and Morrison years later, but also between many townships north almost to Lake Nipissing.

In 1847, Robert Bell was ordered to survey a line from the east (at Bark Lake) to join the Hawkins 1835 line, the purpose of which was expected to indicate a route for a colonization road. The junction of these two lines was at the Muskoka River in Bracebridge. Bell's line became the north boundary and Hawkins' line the west boundary of what was to be Ryde's northern neighbour, Draper Township. This is men­tioned because a government map of 1857 already showed the boundaries of Draper and Ryde traced out.

It is known that the name of Ryde Township was taken from a town on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. This name was applied in the 1850's, and Ryde is listed in a statute of the Provincial Legislature of Canada in 1858 as a township attached to the country of Victoria.

Surveying into lots and concessions of the townships whose boundaries were established and had been given names began in Muskoka in 1857, before there was settlement of any kind and even before the lumberman arrived. All the land had already been ceded to the Crown under treaty with the Indian bands in 1850. The first township in Muskoka District to be fully surveyed was Macaulay, which included what was to be the site of Bracebridge.

On October 9th, 1861, Thomas Burns, a young qualified surveyor, completed the surveying of Ryde Township into lots and concessions. He described Ryde as having 39,500 acres of land and 928 of water and told of many hardwood valleys and much land or wet-land he judged capable of producing good crops through drainage.

' Further to describe Ryde, it may be said that the original forest included much white pine and red hemlock. The north part of Ryde is drained by Gaftersnake River, which flows through Barkway Lake westward to Bass Lake. Streams from Buck Lake and Benn's Lake also feed into Bass Lake, and below Bass Lake the river runs on to the east end of Kahshe-she-bog-amog Lake, one of the principal lakes of neighboring Morrison Township. Still another drainagesystem in Ryde centres on Riley Lake from which Riley Creek runs south to join the Black River. Ryde is at the south-east corner of the District of Muskoka. To the south is Dalton Township and to the east, Longford Township, both in the county of Victoria.

[Wildbill]

Great work on the trail. You have to hate the pudding mix that the ATVs leave as for the history I do appreciate it when you and Slomo get us up to...speed .

[2bsledding]

Thanks to all of you for all your hard work! Truly, Truly appreciated!!!

[Lep]

Great job..Snowcrest Riders...Thankyou

[Yukon]

Awesome Job folks!

Any water problems to report ????

[SlowTouringGuy]

Awesome Job folks!

Any water problems to report ????

On the B north from Orillia - Tons !!!

[blakesnowcrest]

Thanks STG and gang. I will have to ride that B trail more this season.

[Canuck]

Great work!

I'm glad it turned out to be a nicer day than forecast.

The Ryde monument is an interesting find.

[SlowTouringGuy]

Thanks STG and gang. I will have to ride that B trail more this season.

Hey, Blake - have you got 4 groomed yet ? ? :razz: