MISSISSAUGA, , CANADA

Ancestor's Trail

Originally this hike was conceived as a walk back in time (as described in the book and inspired by the UK event) from the current time of Humanity going back to the common ancestor's with various other life forms to the origin of multicellular progenitors of animal life around a billion years ago and beyond to the beginning of life on earth some 3.5 billion years ago. 

However we now start at Erindale Park with the dawn of multicellular life and head up the Culham Trail in Mississauga to the current time of prolific Humanity in the park at the end of PineCliff Drive, mostly hiking along the Credit River.

The entire hike at a gingerly pace of approximately 3-4 km per hour will take about 3-4 hours.  It may take longer with stops along the way to learn about the various key evolutionary splits and events like the five major extinctions and our common ancestry with existing species.  There will be rest & refreshments stops and check-points where participants can get their passports stamped while discussing specific issues on evolution and species in distress.  

Along the way, the 'metazoan algae' who start at Erindale Park will give rise to other life forms as they develop along their unique evolutionary pathways to occupy all the available niches we find them in today.  However, with this audio tour, you may start at either end or even in the middle as the stops will prompt you with the time (in millions of years ago) that we had a common ancestor with the living survivors we know of today.

The main website is at https://www.ancestorstrail.ca/