The Passionate Hiker: Forfar Fun

Tues. 3 November: Forfar Fun: A trip on (and off) the Cataraqui Trail

Ice cream in November

Walking down a straight, flat railway line for eleven kilometres is boring. Right? Wrong!!

First of all, the line isn’t straight. There are three slight curves along the way, perhaps just enough to keep the engine driver awake. Then there’s a major junction at lonely Forfar Station where two lines crossed almost at right angles. This was probably always a quiet backwater, even when trains were running. Now it is an overgrown clearing where the Cataraqui Trail crosses a winter snowmobile trail running east to Athens across the fields. No railway buildings or even platforms remain.

Luckily, there is more to Forfar than this. Back up the line a short distance, and then west along a road, one comes to the village of Forfar. Today it is a quiet road crossing, with a large feed store dominating the scene. Directly opposite is the old cheese factory, which today still sells cheese as well as other local and Ontario-made products. You can have a cup of coffee in front of a cosy fire. Not that I needed warming up today, with temperatures in the mid-teens under sunny skies.

My journey today started just north of Portland village, at Cedar Valley Road, and I walked all the way south to Highway 15. I returned by bike, which I had left at the end of the trail on my way through from Perth. It was on my return journey that I left the trail to explore Forfar, making use of the handy roads which almost paralleled the railway line for a few kilometres. I rejoined the Cataraqui Trail for the final stretch back to the car.

Early in my walk I came upon a local resident with his shy dog. It was a large shaggy animal which was apparently curious about men with backpacks and wanted to abandon his owner to lead me down the line. When we had sorted that out, my unexpected hiking colleague and I strode down the trail together for a short distance until he reached his home off Station Road. He had been born in this area but had spent his working life in far-off Timmins where the winters are not a lot of fun. Now retired, he’s back in eastern Ontario, much to the delight of his wife.

The only other people I met on the trail were several guys working on trail maintenance for the Cataraqui Trail Conservation Authority. They were removing fallen trees and doing some survey work. This trail is certainly looked after with loving care.

The combination of hiking and biking seems to work every time. It allows me to cover more ground, and also makes for a nice variety in my travels. Today, I was able to stray onto the roads and to find the Forfar Cheese Factory. There I sat, in the warm sunshine, enjoying a very unseasonal ice cream!

Could this really be Canada in November? I guess so.

Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.3 km (hike) + 12.6 km (bike) = 23.9 km

Height Gain: Say 20 ft.

Max. Elev: 148 m (486 ft.)

Time on Trail: 3 hrs. 36 mins.

Cedar Valley Rd: 8.44 am

Forfar Station: 10.15 am

Hwy 15 (hike end): 10.57 am

Ret. to car: 12.20 pm

Temp: +11 rising to +16C

Weather: Sunny, very warm.