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Grant’s Tracks

Joseph Lake Loop Hike

·390 words·2 mins
Hiking Ministik

The gate at the trailhead
The gate at the trailhead
The seldom-traveled Ministik trails in the Joseph Lake area hold a special place in my heart because I “discovered” them during my very first visit to this southern section of Ministik way back in October 2008.

I’d walked the trails around Mandy Lake first that day, but a cache called Joe Lake lured me out onto these trails as well.

Back then, fall leaves carpeted the trails; today, those same paths showed signs of the first spring growth, with leaves just starting to green out in earnest.

My goal today was to do a reconnaissance loop hike to see if I should include it in the Ministik hiking website I’m developing. I’m glad I did the hike because it turned out that my expectations about trail conditions were more than a little off base. Sections I thought would be nice and clear weren’t, and sections I expected to be overgrown weren’t either.

But I encountered a bigger problem. In the past, on the southernmost west-to-east section of the hike, I’d taken a dodgy walking trail on the “public” side of the fence separating it from private land. Today, I saw no evidence whatsoever of a walking path on the public side. So, I crawled under the fence—where it was obvious others had done the same—and walked along a very well-worn quad trail on what I assume is private land.

I was able to complete the hike that way, but if accessing private land is the only option, then I can’t include this hike on the website. It’s as simple as that.

Aside from the practical part of the hike, it was a joy to experience the trails on the east side of the loop and the secondary-highway-wide cutline on the west side. It’s so much fun recognizing trail sections I’ve walked before and seeing how much nature has changed them.

Upon reflection, I wonder if the tables were turned, would the trails I walked today still recognize me after all this time?

Gallery#

The Route Today
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MarkerMarker
Leaflet © OpenStreetMap contributors
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  • 2025-05-18 18:24
  • Distance: 6.62 km

 

Grant S Wilson
Author
Grant S Wilson

Related

Mitchell Loop Hike

Mitchell Loop Hike

·961 words·5 mins
Hiking Geocaching Ministik
I after a long absence, I “rediscovered” a grand loop hike in the southeast section of the Ministik Bird Sanctuary. It’s a route I call the “Mitchell Loop”, named after a cabin tucked in the woods along the way.