Mon.
5 October: Cataraqui Morning
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| Morning sunlight from Highway 43 leaving Perth for Smiths Falls |
While waiting for L’s car to be serviced I took
advantage of the fact that the Cataraqui Trail runs close to the car dealership. I was soon striding southwards along the
trail. I immediately passed through a
colorful avenue of trees, already at the peak of their Fall display.
In no time at all I had reached the “Kilometre 1”
post, a tempting invitation to continue down this old railway line to distant Strathcona,
over a hundred kilometres away.
This section of the trail runs in a straight line for
several kilometres. I was surprised to
see a set of headlights approaching up the trail. I stepped into the ditch as a huge gravel
truck rumbled by. Over the next couple of hours, several more trucks followed,
each one laying a new section of gravel on the trail. This first five kilometres of trackbed south
of Smiths Falls was undergoing a facelift, with ditches being cleared and trees
cut back. This new surface was the final
act of a quite expensive renewal.
Reaching Golf Club Road, I could see that the trail
now reverted to its more picturesque form, with a simple grassy track and trees
growing along both sides – a more enjoyable hiking experience. Here I turned around and headed back up the
trail to Smiths Falls.
Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.
Statistics:
Total Distance: 10.6 km (hike)
Height Gain: Negligible
Time on Trail: 1 hr. 58 mins.
Nissan: 7.56 am
Golf Club Rd: 9.01 am
Ret. to Nissan: 9.54 am
Temp: +7 to +12C
Weather: Mostly
cloudy, no breeze.
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| Colorful Cataraqui Trail at Smiths Falls |
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| A pleasant morning stroll |
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| The first kilometre of this wonderful 100+ kilometre trail |
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| Surprising encounter |
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| Several of these huge trucks came by, dropping new gravel along the route |
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| Pristine new surface |
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| View south approaching km 5 at Golf Club Road |
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| Here the trail resumes its older identity |
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| Morning sun across the swamp |
4 comments:
The Cataraqui Trail and K&P Trail are both such wonderful rail trails. I also have conflicted feelings about the trail maintenance/upgrades...I much prefer a more natural environment, but also recognize that the local snowmobile club has paid for much of the clearing and work on these trails, and if it wasn't for them, they would be severely overgrown. I've also seen the incredible increase in the amount of trail use since both of these trails have been upgraded over the years. I continue to run on these trails, but like to mix it up with more rustic/natural places to run...like Frontenac Provincial Park or Gould Lake.
Many thanks for your comment. It is certainly a stark difference between north and south of the Golf Club Road. Frontenac PP and Gould Lake are very special places, altho I must admit that I found them strenuous enough hiking there, let alone running!
Yes, was a big contrast here for a long time too...I'm on the Yarker section pretty much daily. Just working through your blogs, so not sure if you done it yet, but my favourite section of the Cat Trail is between Perth Road Village and Chaffey's Locks. There is an 8mile section between road crossings with cliffs on one side and lakes on the other. Just spectacular.
You are right, the section west of Chaffey's Lock is a beautiful section of the trail. See my blog of June 6th for a few pics. And I really enjoyed the Sydenham to Yarker section, done by bike in late Sept. Will be hiking it in a week or so.
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