The passionate hiker

The passionate hiker
Early days in the outdoors

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

End of the Line

Wed. 18 November:  Cataraqui Trail from Indian Lake Road to MacGillivray Road


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.

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


Cataraqui Trail  trestle bridge

Now it's an earth embankment

The Rideau Trail weaves its way on and off the Cataraqui Trail

Rugged, lonely country

Plenty of lakes and swamps

Secret lunch spot around the half-way point of the trail

Warning sign...

...for a good reason

Unexpected encounter

The only other human being seen on today's trip

Beautiful scenery

Frank's Culvert.  Perhaps Frank was an engineer....

...because the ingenious culvert drains this whole section of valley

My hiking colleagues today

Our route



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