The Point Trail

Sat. 23 August:  The Point Trail

We followed the left-hand branch there and back

This was my first Rideau Trail Association (RTA) hike after the cancellation of a few weeks ago due to rain. And what a great start! 

Our team was small, just four of us, so we were able to fit in my car for the short drive to Murphy’s Point.  The trailhead for today’s hike was at the end of the road in the camping area, at a large parking lot, full of empty boat trailers.  This is a popular launching place for boaters enjoying the wide expanse of Big Rideau Lake and the canal system.

The name of our hike, Point Trail, left no doubt as to our destination, a point of land jutting out into Big Rideau Lake.  There was no sign of water at first, as we followed a woodland trail.  It wandered through the forest, past exposed granite rocks, becoming more undulating as we progressed.  After a couple of kilometres we came to the edge of the bay on our left, and soon after that we reached the Point.

Our reward for reaching this rocky point was the sudden panorama of Big Rideau Lake stretching away to the northeast.  In the middle ground sat a wooded island with a large house hidden in the trees, the manicured lawns dropping down to the water’s edge.  The lake was busy with speeding boats, and a sole sailing dinghy. 

Back-tracking along our trail, we reached a junction where there was a swimming area and change hut, and two picnic tables.  A tiny islet sat a few metres offshore, making this an idyllic place for a picnic and swim.  A dozen or so other people had arrived ahead of us, but there was room for all.  One of our party bravely swam out to the islet, while the rest of us paddled around in the shallows.  There was a small swamp behind the beach where several frogs sat quietly in the sunshine posing for photos.

After a relaxing picnic lunch we returned down the trail to the car, declaring this trip to have been well worthwhile.  Although a short walk, we were rewarded by the magical settings of the Point and the beach – and the squirrels, woodpeckers, frogs, wildflowers, colourful lichens and fungus kept us enthralled. 

Statistics:

Total Distance:           5.0 km (hike)

Height Gain:               Negligible

Time on Trail:            2 hrs. 46 mins.

Start:                          10.29 am

The Point:                  11.17 am

Beach arr.:                 12.09 pm

Beach dep.:                12.55 pm

Ret. to car:                   1.15 pm

Temp:                         Low 20’s C

Weather:                     Sun and cloud



Trailhead in Murphys Point Provincial Park

On the trail

Impressive burl on tree





Approaching The Point

Grand views down Big Rideau Lake from The Point

Busy section of the Rideau Canal past The Point

Woodpecker hiding in the branches

The "secret" bathing beach (rotated to get a flat horizon!)

Frog behind the bathing beach

Another frog in the pond

Colourful lichen - can anyone tell me its name?

Rideau Trail Milestone

Rideau Trail Milestone

Today The Passionate Hiker was proud recipient of a badge, which marks his completion of the Central section of the Rideau Trail.  This section is 67.4 kilometres long, running from Lally Homestead in the South, to Rosedale in the North, via the towns of Perth and Smiths Falls.  I completed this section in a series of seven hikes between 29 June and 1 August.

My goal of course is to walk the entire Trail, and early planning is already under way for the southern section, much longer at 152.9 km, between Kingston and Lally Homestead, through the rugged and often isolated Canadian Shield country.

Blueberry Mountain

Sun. 10 August:  Blueberry Mountain

Blueberry Mountain, Lanark County's highest point

I’ve hiked up Raspberry Ridge, and into the Strawberry Hills, and today I would explore Blueberry Mountain.

Getting there was half the adventure today, following a rough map provided on the website for this area.  I had made an early start today, and so the road was empty as I drove through sleepy Lanark on my way north.  Turning left at the hamlet of Brightside, I followed the paved country lane into a different land – rolling forested hills and swampy valleys.  I was less than fifty kilometres from Perth, but this was a very different countryside.  I had entered the Lanark Highlands.

At Joes Lake, I turned right onto a gravel road.  The mist was rising off the lake, and a low sun was reflecting in the waters. I turned right again onto the Hills of Peace Road, a narrow lane which climbed up the hillside through the trees to my trailhead.  It was marked by a “Seven Wonders of Lanark County” sign, the last one on my list.

This is private land.  I had completed my waiver form at home, which I deposited at the trailhead kiosk.  The trail immediately climbed up the hillside along a pretty lane, through an avenue of young trees.  I passed a small swamp on the right, where the trail leveled off and continued in a northerly direction past another swamp.  A bench on the trail marked the point where the path turned left, climbing steeply up through the trees.  A short scramble brought me up onto the open ridge and the sudden surprise of a spectacular view.

From this rocky ridge I could see lines of similar flat ridges with valleys below them, with possibly higher hills far off towards the horizon.  On my vantage point were two perfectly positioned benches, on top of a sheer cliff.  Below the forest I could make out a lake with a white house on it.  This was probably Flower Round Lake.

It had only taken me twenty nine minutes to reach the summit.  Yet I felt on top of the world.  And indeed I was at the highest point in the whole of Lanark County.  A light breeze had sprung up, making this a very pleasant place to linger.  

After exhausting my options for scenic photos, including pictures of my shadow (early morning gives the best light, with the sun directly behind me), I returned down the trail.  While not attempting to race, it still only took me twenty four minutes to reach the car.  I signed the visitors book and drove back down the hill.

The start of this hike was fifty four kilometres from Perth.  I drove another hundred kilometres on my return journey, largely down well-graded gravel roads, exploring trailheads at Flower Station, Lavant Station, and Snow Road Station, on the K&P Trail.  There was very little traffic.  Some advice to the reader:  get yourself a copy of the Eastern Ontario Backroad Mapbook before you leave the main highway.  You can have a lot of fun exploring remote routes without getting lost!

Blueberry Mountain is a hidden gem.  I saw from the visitors book that it is not frequently hiked.  I was only the third person to sign the book this month.  The ridge lies on private land, and it is thanks to the generosity of the owner which makes such a magical outing possible.  And given the number of maple trees along the way, I will want to return this Fall.

Statistics:

Total Distance:           5.0 km (hike)

Height Gain:                  230 ft.

Max Elev.:                  1,000 ft.

Time on Trail:             1 hr. 12 mins.

Start:                           7.37 am

Top:                            8.06 am

Ret. to car:                  8.49 am

Temp:                         +10C and rising

Weather:                     Cloudless, light breeze on top

Early morning mist on Joes Lake

Trailhead on Hills of Peace Road

Reflections

Morning sunlight filters through the trees

From this point the trail makes a short climb onto the ridge

Heading up onto the ridge

Fine views from the summit

Artwork on the summit benches

The Passionate Hiker on top of the world (it seems)

Telephoto of Flower Round Lake from summit

Earliest colour:  summer won't last forever

The Rideau Trail: Smiths Falls Dam (12C) to Merrickville Locks (13E)

Fri. 1 August:  The Rideau Trail:

Smiths Falls Dam (12C) to Merrickville Locks (13E)

On the remote McConnell Road

By road, Merrickville is eighteen kilometres from Smiths Falls.  It’s twenty five kilometres by foot along the Rideau Trail.  This section of trail links two important points along the Rideau Canal, yet wanders far from the canal, along quiet country roads and woodland ways. 

Leaving the Long Reach Park at the east end of Smiths Falls, I crossed over the Rideau Canal at Old Slys Locks. I would not see the canal again until I arrived at my destination in Merrickville.  The trail turned northwards, contouring around the east side of town.  I passed a large industrial complex, its parking lots empty.  Not many years ago, this was the Hershey chocolate factory, sadly now closed. 

Leaving the town behind me, I headed out into the countryside.  For over eight kilometres I walked beside long stretches of open road, luckily with hardly any traffic.  First Matheson Drive, then turning right onto Rosedale Road South, then left on Wood Road, a gravel country road.  The CP rail line passes through the fields just south of Wood Road, and a long freight train rumbled eastwards through the meadows.

Finally the trail entered the woods onto a dirt track.  For over four kilometres I wandered in a straight north-easterly line, dodging muddy puddles, under the cooling canopy of trees.  Sadly the first part of this trail was being used as a free dumping ground, the hedgerows littered with piles of old mattresses and other household trash.  There’s a quirky British song about this, sung by Flanders and Swann, with the first verse which goes:

When you're walking in the country 
Far from villages or towns, 
When you're seven miles from nowhere and beyond, 
In some dark deserted forest 
Or a hollow of the Downs, 
You may come across a lonely pool, or pond. 
And you'll always find a big, brass, broken bedstead by the bank: 
There's one in every loch and mere and fen. 
Don't think it's there by accident, 
It's us you have to thank: 
The Society of British Bedstead Men.

And so on. 

My trail opened out to bypass a bedstead-less swamp.  I had to hop along the edge of the path to avoid a couple of large puddles.  Eventually I came out of the woods to a gravel road, McConnell Road.  A few isolated homes bordered the road, mostly hidden in the trees.  At the Burchill Road junction I entered the forest again, a continuation of my previous dirt trail.  Crossing the brown waters of Rideau Creek on a sturdy bridge, the path finally swung to the right, starting its southeasterly journey into Merrickville.  

It felt lonely out here, with no sign of other people, except for the odd footprint in the mud, suggesting that I was not the only person ever to travel the Rideau Trail.  There have been sections of the trail when I wondered how many people actually use it in an average year.

After another roadside stretch beside Richardson Road, I turned off onto another forested track, with the important name of Old Quarry Road.  I sensed a slight rise in the land, quickly imagining that I was climbing over a high forested hillside.  In reality, it was less than ten metres of height gain.

Finally the trail suddenly emerged from the forest onto a wide road leading straight into Merrickville.  I was soon walking through an attractive neighborhood with some large old homes for sale, before arriving at the Rideau Canal in the centre of town.

It was a hot, sunny day with a cooling breeze.  The Merrickville Locks were active with families enjoying the start to the August Long Weekend, and four expensive looking boats being dropped down through the locks on their way northwards along the canal.  This was a place to linger, under the tall trees on the freshly cut grass, admiring the beauty and the history of the Rideau Canal and its surrounding buildings and fortifications.

During this hike, I had completed the full Central section of the Rideau Trail, from Lally Homestead through to Rosedale, and in so doing I have now hiked one quarter of the entire trail.  Today’s trip showed me that a longer day’s journey was feasible, and will be needed as I tackle the rest of this compelling journey.

Statistics:

Total Distance:                25.0 km (hike)

Height Gain:                    Negligible – one slight rise along Old Quarry Rd.

Time on Trail:                  5 hrs. 38 mins.

Smiths Falls Dam (12C):  7.59 am

Smiths Falls Rly (12D) :    8.36 am

Rosedale Rd (12E):           9.38 am

Wood Road (12F):           10.13 am

Wood Road exit (13A) :   10.30 am

Buffam Rd (13B):            11.24 am

Blue Trail Jn (13C):         12.18 pm

Heritage Rd (13D):            1.15 pm

Merrickville Locks (13E):  1.37 pm

Temp:                             +16C to +25C

Weather:                         Sunny, breezy. 

RT Completed to Date = 25.0% (= 82.5/330.4 km)

Smiths Falls and Rideau Canal from the Dam

Old Slys Locks and rail bridge

The old Hershey's Chocolate factory, now sadly closed

Mailbox tractor on Matheson Drive

A "real" tractor below the gigantic power grid lines

Now this is a REAL flower bed

Several working farms along Matheson Drive

One of the herd came to welcome me as I passed by

Long stretches of open road - no traffic here on Rosedale Road

The CP freight train crossing the fields beside Wood Road 

Looking back along Wood Road from the start of the woodland trail

Large puddles on this section of trail beside a swamp

Rare sign of fellow traveller (and not a bear here in Ontario!)*
* see earlier blogs from my Rocky Mountain adventures

Long sections of shady, sometimes muddy, woodland trails

Startling colours on this fallen leaf

No navigation problems along these remote country trails

Lonely leafy lane

Rideau Creek where it crosses Old Quarry Road

Finally Merrickville!

At Merrickville Locks

Busy scene on the Rideau Canal at Merrickville