On a mid-October day I drove into the upper grasslands to the Lac d Bois Conservancy Area and hiked a loop route around Stony Lake.   The old double track was a cart track for homesteaders who grazed livestock on the rolling grasslands from 1890 to the present time.    It was called the 1000 acre lease, but changed hands a number of times.    There was a homestead (M. Scott – 1914-1919) on the west end of Stony Lake, but all that is left now are few logs on the ground.   There are some old fenceposts, some rusted barb wire, and several rockpiles (field markers).    Recently the Nature Conservancy of Canada has installed concrete barriers at the south end of the Stony Lake Track and the track is slowly being grassed in back to its natural state, but there are a few invasive plants next to the track (I pulled out a few).

I wound up through the hills, passing ponds and some aspen copses.    The south and west-facing slopes are open grasslands.    When I hiked over a ridge, the lower area near Stony Lake had more shrubs and trees and the north side of the hill above Stony Lake is forested.   I hiked around the fence installed around Stony Lake (as an exclosure).    At the west end of the lake is an old double track going down the hill to the Lac du Bois Road.   I chose to follow a single track through the forest around the lake before emerging into aspen groves and grassland slopes.

The hike was about 4.8 km.    There were some cattle grazing in the area so I gave them a wide berth.   The ponds still had some water in them, but on the whole, the area was dry, with vegetation past the growth stage, readying for winter.

Provided here are a number of photos from the hike in n embedded slideshow.    Click an image for the album and more information.