SUMMER NEWSLETTER FROM THE DESK OF LYNDA DARLING, JEEPMOM

​Well I hope everyone is enjoying this heat wave more than I am . I’m one of those who hates this humidity and I have never complained about the snow and cold of Winter. At least in the winter, I can put on more clothes. In this heat, there’s not much more to take off other than skin. Lol. Anyway, I hope everyone has a cool place to relax.
Wow, COORJC has been so busy and it’s still early July. First was the trails’ investigation and clean up held near the end of May. It was quite an onerous task for Angie and Mark to organize around the protocols of COVID 19, allowing only 5 people total. Well they did it and it worked out really well. We had 35 people, including 7 Guides, and did parts of 3 trails. We were able to check out North and South Picard, North and South Old Logging, and North, South, and Middle section of Gooderham Trails. We socially distanced ourselves and had a very good day. Trails got checked, cleaned, and we got to finally break out into the woods. Thank you Angie and Mark and to all of the Guides. I heard that Ernie took a little side adventure with his group. What a surprise, lol.
Then June arrived with the darn mosquitoes, deer and horse flies that were ravenous.
We have had trails planned for nearly every weekend, still following COVID 19 rules. I guided Concession and Gooderham and I know there were more groups out.
What happened next was truly amazing! Thanks to Jayne Horton for allowing her property to be Base camp, Angie and Mark set up a trail/kayak schedule for the week of July 1st that boggled my mind. Of course the biggest obstacle was still COVID 19, so participation at Basecamp and on all of the adventures were limited to totals of 10, but it was done! I know I missed being able to sit around the fire after a full, fun day on the trails with everyone, but maybe next year.  With the help of great Guides, we were able to offer Shoe Lake (2x’s), Concession (3x’s), Gooderham (2x’s), Greens, Norland (2x’s), Shoe Lace, Minden, Beaver Dam, Pencil Lake. A huge thank you to our Guides : Mark, Ernie, Randy, Tim, Mark John, and Lynda . I helped 3x’s too. Lol  I know it was hard on our jeeps and our bodies. Thanks to Angie  and Jayne for being the kayak hostesses and adding a lot of enjoyment to several kayak enthusiasts. I hope that many of you got to partake in some of the adventures with us.
Now on a more serious note! It was brought to my attention that some young guys with COORJC stickers on their jeeps were seen drinking beer on the Minden trail last weekend. The MNR just happened to be on that trail as well. My friend spoke to them and they didn’t hesitate to pour out their beers, which was awesome. PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T TAKE ALCOHOL OR DRUGS ON THE TRAILS. Keep that stuff at home or at the camp site. We are desperately trying to hold onto our trails with the MNR. We don’t need to give them any reason to ban us from Crown Lands like they did just recently in Burleigh Falls. The MNR are being very watchful now.
Enough of the serious stuff. I hope that everyone is able to get out on the trails and enjoy our wonderful sport, safely.
Be Smart, Stay Safe,
Lynda Darling, JEEP MOM