On the K&P: The Missing Link: Fish Creek Road to Sharbot Lake

Mon. 20 July:  On the K&P:  The Missing Link:  Fish Creek Road to Sharbot Lake

Thanks to my cousin P. from Yorkshire, I now have
a new supply of this essential trail snack!

How ridiculous!  Today I pushed my bike through the middle of two large swamps, its wheels submerged beneath the slimy water, collecting weeds.  Any deeper and I would have sunk without trace – as L. reminded me afterwards.

But the stakes were high.  This was my final section of the entire K&P trail, between Kingston and Renfrew, and I would not give in without a fight.  There’s a reason that this (roughly sixteen kilometre) section of the old railway line has not yet been developed for recreation.  In fact there are at least three very good reasons.  First there are the long swampy sections where the railbed has sunk beneath the waters.  Then there is the main Canadian Pacific railway line at Tichborne which has obliterated any sign of the old K&P crossing point.  Further north there are several homes which have been built on the old right-of-way, requiring detours. 

None of this would deter me from my mission.  In the end, I biked along eleven of the sixteen kilometres of line, and could see where the remaining five kilometres would have run.  This was an unexpected achievement.  Not that anyone else would ever want to repeat this statistic – except, of course, in winter, when the swamps are frozen. But that’s cheating!

Today’s logistics involved both my mountain bike and my hybrid/road bike.  At Sharbot Lake, I dropped off the road bike behind the medical centre beside the lake, then drove south to the end of my previous journey at Fish Creek Road.  Using the mountain bike for my northward journey to Sharbot Lake, I then sped back down the highway to the start, on my road bike.  This was the right combination.

In my planning, which was thorough, I had divided this journey into five sections.  On the first 2.2 km section between Fish Creek Road and Tichborne, I immediately ran into trouble.  I had to fight my way through the overgrown bush and very soon found the trail disappearing into the swamp in a tangle of brush – quite impossible.  Returning to the car I biked north up to Tichborne.  At Fream Road I picked up the trail and headed south, but again, after a few hundred metres, the trail disappeared under the waters.  Less than twenty percent of this section was navigable, and it would take a lot of rock to rebuild the embankments through the swamp, with the only alternative being the bypass up Fish Creek Road and onto busy Highway 38.

The second section runs north from Tichborne to Bradshaw Road for 1.5 kilometres.  There is a CP maintenance yard in this small hamlet, beside a rail crossing where Highway 38 heads north to Sharbot Lake.  The line is doubled at this point.  The K&P railway passed through the middle of the maintenance yard and intersected the CP tracks almost at right angles just to the east of the current crossing, but there is no sign of it today.  The next short section of line to the north of the CP tracks would require some trespassing which I chose not to do, as there was quite a bit of activity in the yard.  I was, however, rewarded with the arrival of a long freight train heading east towards Perth.

At Bradshaw Road, I biked slowly along, trying to find the point where the northbound line would have crossed the road.  I had almost given up when I spotted it. First I headed south along the trail, through a small rock cut, and on a high embankment above a swamp, as far as Highway 38.  Returning north to Bradshaw Road, I then set out on the longest section of remote line, 3.8 km to Vinkle Road (which I called Section 3).  Here the real adventure began.

Initially the line ran beside fields and through the woods.  It then moved into a series of swamps.  The first section was interesting as there was still an old telephone pole beside the line, the only one I had seen along the entire route.  A short wet section was easily pedalled across.  Then the fun began. 

I had come far enough along this section that I was not inclined to turn back.  I wonder how many fateful events have been caused by such an attitude?  The line disappeared under the water, and I jumped off my bike and started pushing it through the slime and weeds.  I thought that perhaps this would be just a short piece of swamp.  It wasn’t.  For several hundred metres I slogged through the water, which rose up to the top of the wheels, above my knees.  I was committed now.  It was more like a canal than a railway line. 

Reaching dry land, I congratulated myself too soon.  A little further along, I plunged back into the water again.  But finally I reached the end of the swamps, and came up onto Vinkle Road, the wheels of the bike draped in weeds and my hiking boots and pants dripping wet.

Section 4 runs for several kilometres beside Highway 38, and it is along this section that a few houses have been built on the right-of-way.  I followed the line as far as I could before diverting a hundred metres or so onto the highway.  On the left was St. George Lake.  At the northern end of this lake, the line swung to the northwest across the highway and here I picked it up again. 

From here to Sharbot Lake (Section 5, 5.0 km), the line can be followed the whole way, with one minor detour.  This is a snowmobile trail in winter.  Picking up speed, I passed the junctions with the Trans-Canada Trail (the old railway line from Perth to Havelock), over a small bridge at the Sharbot Lake narrows, and was soon at the end of my northward journey, in the park beside the magnificent lake.  I had completed my exploration of the entire K&P Trail.

After relaxing beside the lake, tempted to go for a swim (but no swimming gear), I swapped bikes and raced southwards all the way back to the car, with traffic whizzing past me on the long straight stretches of road.  It took me less than an hour to reach Fish Creek Road.  I wonder if they will ever find a way to open up this section of trail.  If they do, it will need a gang of railway navvies to do it.

Statistics:

Total Distance:      36.7 km (bike)

Height Gain:          310 ft.

Time on Trail:        4 hrs. 32 mins.

Fish Ck Rd:            8.12 am

Tichborne (arr):      8.36 am

Tichborne (dep):    9.06 am

Bradshaw Rd:        9.33 am

Vinkle Rd:            10.16 am

Tryon Rd:            10.49 am

Sharbot L (arr):   11.21 am

Sharbot L (dep):  11.45 am

Fish Ck Rd:         12.44 pm

Temp:                  +20C rising to +24C

Weather:              Sunny, warm S wind

Note:  single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.  Also, see three MAPS at the end 

A few hundred metres N. of Fish Creek Road, the trail runs into the swamp,
where further progress is impossible (view of the trail looking N.)

And a few hundred metres south from Fream Road in Tichborne,
the trail once again becomes waterlogged (view of the trail looking S.)

Sadly the station building no longer exists

Path of the K&P through Tichborne CP yard (view S.)

Tichborne:  CP train on its way East to Perth and beyond

The K&P crossed the CP tracks here, at a slight angle (view NE)

N. of Tichborne, the new road has swallowed up the rail right-of-way

Forgotten section of track south of Bradshaw Road (view S.)

Crossing the edge of a swamp on a high embankment

Just north of Bradshaw Road on the most isolated stretch of track

First swamp and lone telegraph pole (view N.)

Damp section easily negotiated - see tire track (view S.)

Railway or canal???

This is the K&P north of Tichborne!!

Better trail reached at Vinkle Road.
A fly has landed on the lens to investigate this unexpected traveller.

N. of Vinkle Road, private homes have sprung up on the right-of--way

Another example of a home on the direct line of track (and old railway gate)

The trail parallels the road beside St. George Lake (view N.)

Line is on the left, curving around to the NW at the N. end of St. George Lake.
Hwy 38 on the right (view S. from Shibley Road)

N. end of St. George Lake where line heads NW to Tryon Road (view SW)

Rock cut S. of Tryon Road (view  N.)

A dry crossing of this swamp N. of Tryon Road

Here the K&P has a branch going left (W.) to meet the Perth-Havelock railway,
which is now the Trans-Canada Trail (view N.)

Crossing the narrows at Sharbot Lake (view N.)

View of the railway bridge from the road, with Sharbot Lake behind

Relaxing beside Sharbot Lake -  mission accomplished

Map 1 of 3

Map 2 of 3

Map 3 of 3