Pinery Provincial Park: Pine Trail

The hiking trails at Pinery Provincial Park are generally quite short, but are very rewarding.  Mary and Keith have hiked all the trails at the Pinery, many times over, but Frankie and I still have some exploring to do.  Each time we visit, we hike a different combination of new trails and old favorites.  This year we hiked the Heritage Trail, the Cedar Trail, and the Pine Trail.  We have hiked the Heritage Trail twice, but it is definitely a favorite, and we didn't go there last year, so re-visiting it was a treat.  Although it was a bit sad for all of us that Mary's bum knee prevented her from completing the full circuit; she sent Frankie and I on ahead.  We have hiked the Cedar Trail only once before, and chose it again because we could take the park's trail wheelchair down it, enabling us all to stick together.  The Pine Trail was our "new trail" for this trip.

The trailhead is located in a small parking area just before the entrance to the Dunes Campground.  At 0.5 miles, the Pine Trail is the shortest in the park.  It lacks the drama of many of the other trails, in that it does not lead to the lake shore or the channel; it is a simple loop through the forest, interrupted only by some wooden staircases that prevent erosion on steep sandy slopes.  We hiked this trail after breaking camp, a final hurrah before beginning the long drive home.  It was well worth the diversion!

dwarf hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia)

white slant-line moth (Tetracis cachexiata) on lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis)

I have written about this before, but I get very excited to see dwarf hackberry when I come to the Pinery.  This is a southern species and is listed as threatened here in Ontario, where it occurs as a disjunct in a few isolated populations.  It does not grow in New York, Massachusetts, or Minnesota, where I've conducted botanical surveys, nor in the specific parts of Michigan, Pennsylvania, or Maryland where I did fieldwork.  My very first encounter with this rather inconspicuous shrub was here at the Pinery, which remains the only place I have ever seen it.  All my visits here have been at Memorial Day weekend, but Mary and Keith have visited at other times of year.  Today, hiking the Pine Trail, I was asking them if they have seen the dwarf hackberry in flower or fruit, when what should I spy, right in front of me as I was asking: pistillate flowers.  O happy day!

dwarf hackberry

Frankie burning energy as I took pictures and Mary and Keith rested

As we were descending these stairs, Keith had the brilliant idea that Frankie should run around the trail and see if he could catch us.  We knew it would be easy for him to lap us, as Mary's knees are bone on bone, and she would need to pause periodically to let the pain ease a bit.  He was excited by the idea and took off racing along the trail out of sight. 

Sure enough, he ran the entire loop and caught back up to us while we were still in sight of the same staircase.  Going down is the worst for Mary's knees, so she sat a spell on the stool Keith was carrying for that purpose, while Frankie huffed and puffed to regain his breath.  I peeled off his long sleeve shirt and gave him some water. 

Keith offered to time him if Frankie wanted to run another lap, and he took that bait, too.  Zoom zoom!  I was pleased to be able to offer him this small opportunity for independence.  Once again, he lapped us quickly, about 6 minutes for the half mile loop.  He was even more sweaty and winded this time, and pounded the remainder of our water while Mary had another brief sit down.  Then we all walked the rest of the trail together and said our farewells. 

wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis)

This trail is very short and would probably only take 15 or 20 minutes to walk at a leisurely pace.  It is not a destination in of itself; one would not travel to the Pinery for the sole purpose of hiking this easy trail.  But it is a very worthy add-on to other activities here (e.g., beach, other trails, biking, paddling).  It could also be done as a side trip on the way to the camp store for firewood, or as we did, on the way out of the park after breaking camp.