The Cataraqui Trail (6): MacGillivray Road to Sydenham

Mon. 17 August:  The Cataraqui Trail:  MacGillivray Road to Sydenham

Upper Rideau Lake sunrise from Westport-Kingston road

Spoiler Alert!  My Cataraqui Trail hiking colleagues may want to skip this blog entry.

This year, we have been making our way by stages from Smiths Falls down the Cataraqui Trail.  Since I will not be able to join the team for the next section from MacGillivray Road to Sydenham, scheduled for late September, I decided to do this stage early.  How awful it would be not to earn the end-to-end badge!

Since this was a solo effort, it involved doing the roughly sixteen kilometre stretch in BOTH directions.  I chose for logistical reasons to start in Sydenham on foot.  I then returned to my car by bike, having hidden the bike at a strategic spot along the trail, just off the Opinicon Road.

It would be a hot day, with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius, so I made a very early start, being on the trail by just after 7 a.m.   I wasn’t alone.  There were two or three walkers and joggers out there ahead of me.  But soon I had the trail to myself, and never saw another person until returning to Sydenham four hours later.

The highlight of this section of the Cataraqui Trail comes immediately after leaving Sydenham, with the trail following the northern edge of Sydenham Lake.  A little further east, a causeway heads across the lake, over a sturdy iron railway bridge, to an island.  At the far end of the island is another bridge, crossing the northern arm of the lake.  There are many expensive homes above the lake, with their own boat docks accessed by wooden stairs leading down the short steep banks below the trail.

After several kilometres, the trail leaves the lake behind, and the houses too.  This was a lonely section, through woodland and grassy valleys, the swamps never being far away.  A couple of benches beside a lake made an ideal stopping place.  This was a silent wilderness, oddly free of the sound of birds, and happily far from noisy roads too. 

I passed a stretch of trail-side wild parsnip, which was leaning into the trail as if trying to catch unawares a passing traveller.  At Perth Road was a prominent sign warning of the dangers of wild parsnip.

After crossing Perth Road, I soon came to the Opinicon Road, where I had hidden my bike earlier.  From here to MacGillivray Road, about four kilometres, I biked through some beautiful countryside, bright yellow with goldenrod.  After a brief stop at MacGillivray Road I turned back, now heading southwest, and returned all the way down the line to Sydenham. 

There is hardly any gradient on this section of the old railway line, and so I kept up a steady pace, stopping only to take more  pictures that nobody will ever see – unless you read this blog!

There was a warm breeze in my face as I whizzed along the trail.  It was already a hot day, and temperatures were still climbing.  Our next leg of this Cataraqui adventure,  west from Sydenham to Yarker,  will not be until October, by which time our lovely summer will be a distant memory.

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

Statistics:

Total Distance:    12.9 km (hike) + 20.5 km (bike) = 33.4 km

Height Gain:        105 ft.

Time on Trail:      4 hrs. 18 mins.

Sydenham:           7.20 am

Hogan Road:        8.19 am

Perth Road:          9.28 am

Hike=>Bike:         9.49 am

MacGillivray:       10.08 am

Sydenham:         11.38 am

Temp:                 +20C rising to +25C

Weather:             Sunny, hot

Sun rises above the morning mist, south of Westport

Cataraqui Trail heads east from Sydenham

Beside Sydenham Lake

Boat cuts through silver ripples

Sydenham Lake from the Cataraqui Trail

First bridge

Profiles

Second bridge

Trailside sign

Eastern end of Sydenham Lake

Nice resting spot beside the trail

Now 66 kilometres from Smiths Falls

Wild parsnip right beside the trail

Ideal for hiking AND biking

Cataraqui Trail cuts across the Perth Road - view north

Continuing northeast beyond Maple Leaf Road

Hot, sunny day - ideal to be in the outdoors

The line stretches out ahead of the traveller

MacGillivray  Road - end point on the previous leg of our journey

Today's map

Glen Tay/Rideau Trail Circuit

Sun. 16 August:  Glen Tay/Rideau Trail Circuit

A peaceful section of the Tay River just upstream from Perth

It’s always fun to start an adventure from one’s own front door. 

Today I made a circuit from the house, starting on my bike and ending up hiking home along the Rideau Trail.  This was part of my ongoing check of the trail, which turned out to be in good shape from Ferrier Road all the way into the centre of Perth.

There’s not much traffic on the road at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning. It was a nice time for a leisurely bike ride out along Christie Lake Road to Glen Tay, and then southwards across the Tay River to the Scotch Line Road, Highway 10.  This was my route to the Rideau Trail at Ferrier Road.

Leaving my bike in the trees, I set off on foot in an easterly direction towards Perth.  Ferrier Road has a missing section to it, which runs through a swamp.  The bypass in the woods was a very pleasant walk.  The bright sunlight shone deep inside the forest, from the open swampland behind the curtain of trees.  After a short stroll down Wildlife Road, I turned into the fields, my path made easier thanks to our trail-clearing efforts of a month or so ago.  So into Perth, all the way to the Town Hall.  Sunday morning in Perth is certainly quiet! 

I was pleased to note the complete lack of wild parsnip along the whole route, with the exception of a short section near Otty Lake Road. 

All that remained for me to do was to drive back to Ferrier Road to pick up my bike.  A small price to pay for a perfect early Sunday adventure.

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

Statistics:

Total Distance:     13.4 km (bike) + 8.8 km (hike) = 22.2 km

Height Gain:         60 ft.

Time on Trail:       2 hrs. 45 mins.

Dep. Home:          6.54 am

Glen Tay:              7.10 am

Hwy 10:                7.25 am

Ferrier Rd (end):   7.40 am

Exit Wildlife Rd:    8.38 am

Town Hall:            9.32 am

Home:                   9.39 am

Temp:                  +18C rising to +22C

Weather:              Sunny, v. warm

Speeding along on my bike

Into the woods at the end of Ferrier Road

Looking out from the woods to the road allowance swamp

Beautiful stretch of woodland south of Perth

Beside Ferrier Road East

Some wild parsnip here, but starting to turn brown

Heading for Perth

Stile at the Scotch Road (Hwy 10)

Newly painted bridge leads from Conlon Farm into the streets of Perth

Crossing the Tay

Stewart Park

Beside Town Hall

Perth Town Hall

Perth streetscape

Today's route

Poonamalie Circuit

Sun. 9 August:  Poonamalie Circuit

Stile at the end of Poonamalie Side Road

It’s an unusual, curious name, and it took me a while to get the pronunciation right.  Apparently, it’s Poona-ma-lee, named by one of the canal builders for a place in India.   

Starting in Port Elmsley I would bike along Highway 43 towards Smiths Falls, before turning right down the long and straight Poonamalie Side Road.  At the end of the road I would travel the Rideau Trail by foot through the woods and fields back to the start.  The map showed that, not far to my left, was the Lower Rideau Lake, and Poonamalie Dam and Rideau Canal lock of the same name, but this was all hidden by the trees.

Our local highways are not designed for cyclists.  Often, there’s a white line along the edge of the paved surface, and then just soft gravel. On a busy road such as this, the only safe way to do it was early on a Sunday morning, which is what I did.  Nevertheless, I was relieved to turn onto the quiet Poonamalie side road.  At the end of the road, I hid my bike and set out into the woods, in a westerly direction. 

This was the final section of trail to check, and it wasn’t in great shape.  Tall grasses and colorful weeds – luckily not wild parsnip - had grown up along the way, and the prickly ash and hawthorn was quickly closing in from both sides.  I did a lot of trimming with my secateurs along the route, but it needs the heavy duty brush cutters.  Last year, some kind – and anonymous – person had cleared this section, but this year it will be up to us.

It was a perfect morning for a walk, with clear skies and temperatures in the high teens (Celsius).  Despite there being no views, it was a pleasant mystery tour through a waist-high sea of yellow and purple, and a constant challenge to spot the next red triangle sign.

The trail turned north and onto a good farm track through the fields, then into the woods on a rutted trail that was still muddy despite the hot summer weather.  And so back to the start. 

Here at Port Elmsley the Tay River meanders past the road, its banks fringed by tall reeds – a perfect setting for the artist.  This author not being an artist, made do with his cheap camera.

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

Statistics:

Total Distance:      9.4 km (bike) + 4.7 km (hike) = 14.1 km

Height Gain:         55 ft.

Time on Trail:       2 hrs. 14 mins.

Station Rd:           7.05 am

Hwy 43/Poon’Rd: 7.24 am

End Poon’Rd:       7.35 am

Port Elmsley:        9.11 am

Ret. to car:           9.19 am

Temp:                  +12C rising to +19C

Weather:              Sunny

Spot the tiny red triangle at the far end of this field

Into the woods

Tall grasses hiding the trail

Trail BEFORE maintenance

Trail AFTER maintenance!!

Lots of yellow but NO wild parsnip

Emerging into the fields south of Port Elmsley (NO wild parsnip)

Along a muddy trail, now mostly dry

Old farm buildings

Port Elmsley

Tay River

Today's route