On the K&P: Cataraqui Trail north to Fish Creek Road

Mon. 22 June:  On the K&P:  Cataraqui Trail north to Fish Creek Road

The northward journey continues

The puzzled reader may be asking whether I have my distances right. 

Yes!  Each of my journeys along the K&P Trail requires me to start and end at the same point, for logistical reasons.  So by the time that I have completed the whole 167 kilometre trail from Kingston to Renfrew – which I have almost done – I will in fact have travelled the distance twice.  I have been choosing starting points which best fit the logistics – both of road access and trip length.

So for today’s exploration of the section of the K&P between a point east of Harrowsmith to the end of trail just south of Tichborne, I chose the tiny village of Godfrey, at the junction of Highway 38 and the Westport Road, as my base of operations.  First I biked south down through Verona and Harrowsmith as far as the second junction with the Cataraqui Trail – my end point for the previous trip.  I then returned north to Godfrey, continuing north to the end of trail, before returning back down the line to the car.

The official trail actually ends at White Lake Road.  However, the perfect biking surface continues north for about another seven kilometres to Fish Creek Road.  Here, all of a sudden, it disappears into the bush.  Perhaps in winter the route would be much clearer, with nothing to obscure the path.  There was a sign indicating that it was a snowmobile route.  I will be exploring this on my next trip very shortly.

The scenery along the whole length of this trail continued to be very pleasant, mostly farming country, with long straight stretches, bends, and rock cuttings.  I passed through cool woodland avenues, swamps with plenty of birds and deer, and several stretches beside the busy Highway 38, which runs north from Kingston to Sharbot Lake.

Today there were only a small handful of fellow travellers.  In fact, I think I only saw about two other bikers and one person on foot; much less travelled than the southern section.

Now the final sixteen kilometres between Fish Creek Road and Sharbot Lake will require some detective work.  I suspect, from a close review of Google Earth, that I won’t be able to access much of it.  We shall see.

A note about the photos:  For better clarity, I have put them in logical order from south to north.

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


Statistics:

Total Distance:      64.6 km (bike)

Height Gain:          600 ft.

Time on Trail:       5 hrs. 37 mins.

Godfrey:                       7.11 am

Verona:                        7.47 am

Cat. Tr. Exit (19.6k):    8.50 am

Bellrock Rd:                 9.54 am

Godfrey (39.1k):        10.34 am

Fish Ck Rd (51.9k):   11.53 am

Godfrey (64.6k):        12.48 pm

Temp:                  +17C rising to +20C

Weather:              Sunny, some cloud build-up

Morning mist and shaft of sunlight

Continuing north from last trip's northerly point:
The  Cataraqui Trail junction east of Harrowsmith

K&P comes in from the left (south) to join the Cataraqui Trail, view westwards

The lines ran on parallel tracks westwards towards Harrowsmith.
The original K&P trackbed is seen to the left.

West of Harrowsmith:  Cataraqui Trail continues west.
K&P (right) turns northwards

Pond at Graham Road, north of Harrowsmith

What a sight this must have been!

Redwing blackbird on old railway post

Farm at Graham Road

Approaching Boyce Road, Hartington

Boyce Road, looking south

Old barn beside the tracks

Line passes through farmland

Slight hint of more rugged country ahead

Parallelling  Highway 38 north of Hartington

Line swings west, now above the road to Verona

One of several rock cuttings

Beside a small swamp

Through the forest - I saw several deer beside the trail

Crossing the creek just south of Bellrock Road

Verona

Howes Lake

Northwards to Godfrey, Hwy 38 on the left

Another crossing of Hwy 38 north of Godfrey

Beautiful farming country

Pond of clouds

The K&P Trail officially ends here at White Lake Road...

...but "unofficially" continues north...

...with a warning sign to travellers

Perfectly good biking trail heads north

Past a large swamp

Over a bridge - safe for bikes

More swamp

Duncan Lake

Another rock cutting south of Fish Creek Road

Sudden ending of the bike path at Fish Creek Road