Sun.
15 November: Getting to know Gananoque
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Gananoque - a town full of surprises |
This was not so much a hike as an exploration; a trip into the past.
Gananoque (pronounced Gan-A-Nock-Way), is a fascinating town beside the St.
Lawrence River, with much more history than most people would ever guess. We were very fortunate in having an old friend
(and member) of our hiking club, who is also a resident of the town, as our
guide today.
In two short loops around town, we learned much about its industrial
past, and even further back to the drama of the War of 1812. Since it would take a properly researched article
to do justice to everything we heard today, I’ll let the photos do the talking
instead.
A few highlights: the Gananoque River was once the source of power for intense
industry along its banks, right down to the edge of the St. Lawrence River: a
steel works, bolt factory, rivet manufacturers, jeep axle makers, corset works (turned
over to the making of parachutes in World War Two), flight simulator
assemblers, just to name a few.
The common link was the short length of railway line, called the Thousand
Islands Railway, which connected the town with the Grand Trunk mainline to the
north.
In the heart of town was fought the first skirmish of what became the War
of 1812. The local militia leader was
away at the time of the American raid, but his strong-willed wife saw off the
attackers, while hiding the silver in a barrel of flour – or so the story is
told.
Today a dramatic transformation has turned this industrial world into a
series of riverside parks and new housing.
The main park in the centre of town has a number of entertaining
sculptures. Today it also had several
dead pickerel lying in and beside the river, for some reason. The railway line has been turned into a
section of trails which encircle the town, all the way from the waterfront up
to the noisy major Highway 401 at the north end of town.
On the waterfront is a pleasant park with a kids’ play area, and an
impressive flagpole; our guide explained that it was suddenly recognized that
no Maple Leaf flags were flying on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence in
Gananoque, and something had to be done about it!
The waterfront is a hive of activity in summer, being the main port for
boat tours of the Thousand Islands. Today
we counted five huge tour-boats laying snugly out of the water, ready for the
coming winter.
One other fascinating fact we leaned today: before the building of the Rideau Canal, which was opened in 1832, the flow of the Gananoque River was much greater. The huge dam at Jones Falls diverted much of
the water to the Cataraqui River system to feed the new canal. As a result, from that point on, Kingston
grew much faster than Gananoque.
Our explorations were in the form of two loops, with an excellent lunch
stop in the middle, at the appropriately named Pig (The Socialist Pig café).
This lunch stop may have accounted for the slow pace of the second loop. But you can’t take in all this information
AND rush along the trail - especially after a good meal!
Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.
Statistics:
Total Distance: 5.8+2.3 = 8.1 km (hike)
Height Gain: Say 30 ft.
Max. Elev: 104 m (341 ft.)
Time on Trail: 3 hrs. 7 mins. (=117+70 mins)
Start opp. Town Hall: 10.25 am
Arr. Socialist Pig: 12.22 pm
Dep. Socialist Pig: 1.28 pm
Ret. to cars: 2.38 pm
Temp: + 11/12C
Weather: Sunny, some clouds,
SW breeze
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Town Hall - start of our two-looped hike |
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Gentle riverside pathways |
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The Thousands Islands railway is now a popular trail in town |
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Woodland trails... |
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...yet so close to the busy 401 Toronto-Montreal highway |
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"Gan" landmark |
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Riverside parkland |
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Silver sunlight |
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All ash trees are condemned to die... |
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...due to the emerald ash borer beetle - tell-tale "D" shaped holes |
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This park was not long ago a steelworks |
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Dam on the Gananoque River |
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Busy collection of spires, poles and trees |
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Discovery.... |
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...one of several dead pickerell |
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Giant heron not to blame |
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Crossing the river back into town |
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Park full of sculptures - was not long ago an industrial site |
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The last engine to run on the Thousand Islands railway |
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Then.... |
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...and now |
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Great weather vane |
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The War of 1812 started right here |
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Lower Gananoque River |
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Church and beautiful Manse with fine sunset views |
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Looking across the St. Lawrence to the USA in the distance |
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Gananoque waterfront |
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Some of the Thousand Islands |
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Looking west towards Kingston and Lake Ontario |
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Part of a wonderful mural titled: "Half Moon Bay" |
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