The Passionate Hiker: On the K&P: North from Sharbot Lake (4)

Tues. 2 June: On the K&P: North from Sharbot Lake (4): 5 km North of Lavant to Mile Lake

Checking in from a remote section of trail

I spent the day on Clydeside – the remote Canadian version.

This section of the K&P Railway is probably the prettiest I have yet seen, skirting wide lakes, and passing below round wooded hills, far from any main highway.

Starting at the remote hamlet of Clyde Forks, I first turned south, to reach the end of my previous journey. Along the way I crossed the lively south branch of the Clyde River on a tall bridge, then through a rock cutting to the red tapes I had hung on two branches to mark last week’s end point.

Returning to Clyde Forks was downhill all the way. Just short of the parking area I raced past a red SUV coming along the trail in the opposite direction. Luckily this was the last vehicle I saw today. This portion of the trail had a better surface than further south, and is used for access to several remote properties.

Now turning north from Clyde Forks I entered a land of lakes and hills. The clouds were breaking up and a cool north-easterly wind kept the bugs away. I was following the course of the north branch of the Clyde River, being more a series of lakes: Widow Lake, Flower Round Lake, Clyde Lake.

To my right and left, several low rounded hill rose above the lakes. They may not have been towering peaks, but these hills, being between four and five hundred feet above the valley floor, added something generally missing from the scenery in Eastern Ontario. Their height above sea level varies from around 1,000ft. up to 1,266ft. Most prominent on the right were Clyde Lake Mountain (1,096 ft.) and the shapely Mile Lake Mountain (1,050 ft.).

Clyde Lake was the highlight for me, with the old railway line hugging the border of the lake. There was an ideal stopping place beside the line in a grove of trees, obviously a favourite with the snowmobilers, given the well-used fire ring and old privy (with no seat!).

At the northern end of today’s journey, the trail passed through a rock cutting, swinging left to reach the shores of an even larger lake, Mile Lake. Here, opposite an intriguing wooded island, with signs of a habitation on it, I turned around.

By now, the clouds had mostly cleared away and the wind was at my back. It was an easy, and a scenic, journey southwards back to the car. A few kilometres north of Clyde Forks is the attractively named Flower Station, a remote hamlet, really just a wide point in the trail, with a few scattered homes nearby. There were nice reflections in the reed-bordered pond beside the trail. It was a peaceful scene.

I was now within a stone’s throw from my initial destination – Calabogie Lake. So now the planning has begun to extend the adventure north to Renfrew, end of the line.

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

Statistics:

Total Distance: 33.4 km (mtn.bike)

Height Gain: 203 ft.

Time on Trail: 3 hrs. 44 mins.

Clyde Forks: 9.32 am

End point trip (3): 10.04 am

Clyde Forks: 10.23 am

Flower Stn: 10.48 am

Clyde Lake: 11.14 am

Mile Lake: 11.47 am

Flower Stn: 12.54 pm

Clyde Forks: 1.16 pm