Wed.
18 November: Cataraqui Trail from Indian Lake Road to MacGillivray Road
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| Plus Ten Celsius, but a biting wind |
I’m always up for a walk along an old railway line!
Today two of us joined a third colleague who needed this one last
section of trail to qualify for his end-to-end badge. Twenty two hikers had started the challenge
back in April, and eight have now completed the job of walking the 102 km
Cataraqui Trail from Smiths Falls to Strathcona.
The interested reader can view the June 6th blog entry for
details of this fascinating section of the trail. Today, with bare trees, we were able to
appreciate the huge task facing the builders to carve out a route through the Canadian
Shield. There was very little naturally
flat ground. Rocks had to be blasted out
to make cuttings, and long sections of rubble placed to raise the line above
the swamps.
Not far to the west of our starting point at Indian Lake Road, we passed
over a series of high embankments, which would originally have been wooden
trestle bridges, later filled in with earth and rocks. When you’re on the lookout for the “lie of
the land”, and it’s clearly visible through the bare branches, you will see
what a staggering achievement this railway line was.
The temperatures may have been around plus ten Celsius, but the wind was
biting, and despite a good pace, we needed several layers to keep warm.
Here are some additional photos to enjoy.
Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.
Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.
Statistics:
Total Distance: 12.7 km (hike)
Height Gain: 56 ft.
Max. Elev: 161 m (528 ft.)
Time on Trail: 2 hrs. 52 mins.
Indian Point Rd: 9.20
am
Lunch:
10.46 am
MacGillivray Rd: 12.12 pm
Temp: +8 to +10C
Weather: Cloud, sun, cold wind
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| Cataraqui Trail trestle bridge |
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| Now it's an earth embankment |
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| The Rideau Trail weaves its way on and off the Cataraqui Trail |
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| Rugged, lonely country |
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| Plenty of lakes and swamps |
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| Secret lunch spot around the half-way point of the trail |
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| Warning sign... |
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| ...for a good reason |
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| Unexpected encounter |
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| The only other human being seen on today's trip |
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| Beautiful scenery |
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| Frank's Culvert. Perhaps Frank was an engineer.... |
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| ...because the ingenious culvert drains this whole section of valley |
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| My hiking colleagues today |
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| Our route |
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