The Lanark County Special

Sat. 28 March:  The Lanark County Special

Highlight of the hiking calendar

This trip was never going to be about the scenery.  With a large plate of pancakes and maple syrup awaiting us at the end, the hike was merely a prelude to a hearty meal.

Nevertheless, the Wheeler’s Sugar Bush trails were intriguing.  We followed the longest of these trails, appropriately called the Maple Trail, in an anti-clockwise direction around the edge of the sugar bush, often beside large areas of swampland.  The frozen, hard-packed snow made the going fairly easy.

The interesting aspect was that this route gave us a good opportunity to admire the complexity of the piping systems which gathered the sap from thousands of taps in the trees, funnelling them towards a pump house and storage tank.  From here, the sap is pumped back to the main building where the maple syrup is made.

Apparently the ideal temperatures for the sap to flow is minus 5C at night followed by plus 5C during the day.  The season can be short, and so the people at Wheelers are ready at the drop of a hat to take advantage of the right conditions to gather the sap.  Regardless, at this time of year, an expectant crowd of hungry visitors will arrive each day to sample the freshly made pancakes and the seemingly endless supply of maple syrup at hand.

I chose a large plate which went by the impressive title of “The Lanark County Special”, and which lived up to its name.  I did feel slightly guilty at having picked the largest combination of pancakes and sausages of our entire hiking team.  But I had been anticipating this trip all year, and so had no will-power to resist the temptation.

Thank heavens this trip is only on our hiking calendar once each year.

Note:  single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately

Statistics: 

Total Distance:    7.0 km (hike)

Height Gain:        Say 20 ft.

Time on Trail:      1 hr. 59 mins.

Start:                   10.25 am

Finish:                 12.24 pm

Temp:                  Minus 10C rising to minus 6C

Weather:             Cloudless, cold N. wind

Pre-hike gathering at Wheeler's

Suitable name for today's trail

Sugar bush piping parallels our route

Sap pump house and gathering lines

We skirt several large swampy areas, still frozen

On the maple (syrup) trail

Thousands of taps in the trees

The  Lanark County Special...

...and not long afterwards!

One down - plenty to go

Always an enjoyable visit