The trail committee kept busy maintaining the trails throughout the year, despite the pandemic situation.  Keeping the windfall clear, the sno man trail groomed, clearing for new trails, maintain signage, and planning future goals is what the committee has been all about in the past year.

1. Members of the Trails Committee cleared the windfall from all the trails.  This seemed to be a bigger problem than normal due to high winds and an aging forest. Please note that if volunteers did not do this work and it becomes the responsibility of Parks Staff, Parks will be charging for outlying costs plus the hourly rate paid to their staff. That cost would be added to our fees for service.
2. The Interlake SnoTrackers groomed the trail from Washow Bay to Grindstone.  They also received permission to groom in a loop across to Hecla and to Riverton.  This will be a benefit as the trail from Grindstone to Hecla will be groomed more often. Volunteers from the trails committee marked the trail and at the end of the season removed the markers.  If Grindstone snowmobilers want this to continue, volunteers need to assist by helping mark the trail to Washow Bay and to remove the markers at the end of the season. This year our cost for marking, removing markers and maintaining the signage throughout the riding season was $350.00. If we receive a donation from the Interlake Sno Trackers it will be placed in our account and used to pay expenses for the maintenance of trails in 2021. 
3. It is still the goal of the committee to do the following in the near future:
   1. Develop an all use trail from Blacks Point to the warm up shelter. Hydro did not approve volunteers working under the hydro lines due to safety concerns. Hydro did indicate that they plan to start work before fall. We have been waiting for the last 5 years for hydro to do the clearing.
   1. Volunteers cleared a trial on the west side of the road. This trail accesses three ponds.  This is a nice trail as it is open to sunlight along the ponds and often you can encounter wildlife. Interest has been expressed in having an exclusive ski trail. This trail can be designated as a ski trail. Interested skiers can build a ski groomer and a volunteer could provide a snowmobile to pull the groomer.
   1. The Muriel Lake Trail is a beautiful ATV, snowmobile trail. We made a by- pass around the swamps and now the trail is accessible for walking, biking, etc. year round.  However, this trail needs a lot of work as over time the under growth has encroached the trail. 
   1. The trails committee initiated the purchase of a pull behind mower/brush cutter. The Association reimbursed the trails committee. We are now able to cut the grass on all trails without relying on Parks. Since we are now charged fee for service; by cutting the grass on the trails ourselves this reduces our cottage fees. Presently the brush cutter is pulled by a tractor owned by a volunteer. The rush cutter is equipped with air tires. The tires have been punctured a number of times and need to be replaced. They should be replaced with airless tires. The Association should seriously consider purchasing a tractor as it cannot rely on a volunteer donating a tractor indefinitely.
   1. The Provincial Government announced that it is providing an additional $2.5 million for trails development and maintenance. We will be in contact with Parks as to who is responsible to make an application for a grant.

Submitted by Joe Mudry

Clearing windfall and a establishing a new trail has kept the committee busy this paste fall.  Read the GTC article from the Fall/Winter edition of the Gazette.

I hope you all had a great summer an that you all are keeping healthy and that you had an opportunity to enjoy the trails. It was a challenge keeping the trails free from windfall. It seemed that the volunteers just finished clearing the trails and the next day we would get a storm and we would have trees on the trails. The volunteers spent an excess of 100 hours maintaining trails. This included grass cutting, windfall clearing, and completing a new trail. The total cost to date to cover expenses for volunteers for gas, oil, chainsaw maintenance, etc. is $300.

A new trail is located north of the store as you drive to the Marina. It is the first trail on the west side of the road. This trail is adjacent to three ponds. It’s a beautiful trail as you can see beavers and all kinds of waterfowl. However, due to lack of rain, the second pond dried up. The trail name is “The Ponds Trail”. It can use some leveling, which hopefully Parks can assist with. The trail is about 1.5km long.

The GCOA owns the bush cutter, but a volunteer provides a tractor to pull it. We need more volunteers. Our costs cover volunteers’ expenses. IF trail maintenance was the responsibility of Parks, our costs would be much higher. These costs would be added to our fees for service and parks staff would deal with trail maintenance when time permits. 

On behalf of the Trails Committee, I would like to thank the volunteers, the GCOA, all cottagers and Parks for the support and cooperation. 

Joe Mudry, Chair
Grindstone Trails Committee