Tues.
10 May: Biking the O&Q (2): Glen Tay to Brooke Valley Road
I’m off and running – or biking.
My latest challenge is to travel in stages from Glen Tay, west of Perth,
to Havelock on the old Ontario and Quebec railway, known as the O&Q. I’m not sure what the exact distance is, but
it’s around 150 km.
A few weeks ago, I had biked along my first section of this
trail, between Brooke Valley Road and the Armstrong Line, west of Bolingbroke Road. But I had put off doing the first section,
from the start of the trail at Glen Tay to Brooke Valley Road, because it mostly
parallels Highway 7, the Trans-Canada Highway, and it didn’t seem very
appealing.
But today, on a perfect cool, cloudless Spring morning, I travelled this
section and found it to be well worth the effort.
Starting at Brooke Valley Road, I biked east to the start of the trail,
where the pathway merges into the main CP railway line just to the west of the
Glen Tay railway crossing. I then
returned west to the start, a journey of 9.5 km in each direction.
The reader might think that there would be little to enjoy along the
way. There were, however, plenty of
places for the photographer to test their skills: Huge barns, old advertising signs, avenues of
trees, a winding stream running through green fields, racing semi-trailers
reflected in roadside puddles, and much more.
It was a perfect day to be outside, with or without a camera. Enjoy these pictures, and keep an eye out for
future updates as I travel with a sense of adventure towards the distant finish
line.
Note: Although I did not write about my first trip on the O&Q between Brooke Valley Road and the Armstrong Line, the following blog entry does cover the subsequent hike done between Brooke Valley Road and Bolingbroke Road:
http://thepassionatehiker.blogspot.ca/2016/04/straight-forward.html
Note: click on pictures for full size view.
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| Glen Tay rail crossing, CP track |
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| Start of the trail to Havelock |
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| Busy OMYA plant |
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| Old railway remnant |
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| Occasional distance markers along the trail |
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| An interesting place to visit |
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| Thank heavens - civilization ahead!!! |
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| Old barn and green hillside |
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| Reflections in the ditches |
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| Rural scene |
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| Open fields |
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| Surface a little rougher from here westwards |
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| Typical old railway bridge |
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| Insurance for now and hereafter? |
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| Magnificent barn |
2 comments:
Looks like fun! We might try to do the whole thing this summer :)
Thank you for posting all these great trips. Very helpful for people. I wish you would compare before and after pictures from the Armstrong road to the boarder (Central Frontenac. Lanark County did an amazing upgrade to this section in fall of 2017. Keep up the great work.
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