While it may be less common to hear about rising lake levels causing issues, it happened along the Hens and Chickens trail in Collingwood.
The waters of Georgian Bay have been rising up the coastline along the boardwalk trail and eventually swallowed one end of the boardwalk bridge that connects to the trail. That's why, over the last five days, a group of five volunteers has been working on the bridge to extend and raise it so it remains dry for pedestrians and cyclists.
Jack Marley, Murray Knowles, Bob Miller, Martien Coffeng, and George Christie make up the boardwalk building team. They've added about 24 feet onto the end of the bridge and raised it by at least two feet. The group was at the site on Wednesday (Aug. 29) morning to wrap up the work and finish the handrails.
George Christie was part of the original team that established the Hens and Chickens trail and many other trails in Collingwood. The Hens and Chickens trail and boardwalk are part of the Heather Pathway network that winds along Collingwood's coastline. Most of the start-up money for the trail came from an anonymous donor, and Heather was the name of one of his family members.
Hens and Chickens boardwalk trail remains open as the volunteers complete the work. There is trailhead parking at the end of Balsam Street.
