The Passionate Hiker: Hidden Surprises

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Hidden Surprises

Thurs. 14 April: Hidden Surprises

Take a blue trail on your next trip

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

Don’t ignore those side trails!

I wonder how many Rideau Trail travellers venture down the alternative trails, marked by blue triangles? Probably not many. Yet sometimes these lesser-known side trails offer hidden surprises.

For example, who has visited the Stoney Steps, a tumbling cascade on Brassils Creek, north of Burritts Rapids, just a few hundred metres off the main trail? Or the ghost town trail south of Perth? Just to name two of many hidden gems.

One unlikely candidate is the “winter bypass” blue trail north of Bedford Mills. This route avoids the rope ferry. But who would want to do that? Today I started at Bedford Mills, travelling northwards along the rugged, undulating, often wet trail to McAndrews Road, making use of the ferry along the way. I say “northwards” but this trail, on its way to Ottawa, seems to point in every direction except for north.

On my return journey I followed the blue bypass route. It runs through the woods, above a long, narrow lake, shown as a swamp on the map. This is the lake crossed by the rope ferry. At the far end of the lake there is a perfect rocky viewpoint, well worth the effort to visit. And hidden upstream beneath a short cliff were two icefalls, reluctant to let go of their wintry grip. It may be warm and sunny elsewhere across Eastern Ontario, but in this lonely corner, the seasons have been much slower to turn.

Now I’m keen to try out all those other blue side trails so handily captured in the free maps on the Rideau Trail website.

Perhaps one day I might actually meet someone on these remote routes? In the meantime, enjoy these pictures.