The Passionate Hiker: The End-to-Enders

Saturday, January 7, 2017

The End-to-Enders

Sat. 7 January: The End-to-Enders

The End-to-Enders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYa_KfLTtM

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

Don’t confuse these energetic hikers with the characters in the long-running British soap opera – except perhaps that we ended up at the local pub for a few drinks afterwards!

If you are looking for a challenge, try the winter end-to-end. This month and next, hikers will be walking or snow-shoeing for over a hundred kilometres along the central section of the Rideau Trail in eight stages, regardless of the weather.

It started today in Westport. On a crisp, sunny morning, with temperatures below minus fifteen Celsius, thirteen strong walkers assembled. You can imagine that the early pace was brisk, as we headed southwards up Concession No. 9 road from our starting point on the west side of Westport Sand Lake.

The road walk was fast and easy. Then we turned off onto the trail. Here we had expected to need snow-shoes. But we completed our entire walk, of over thirteen kilometres, without them. The freezing rain of the past week had made the snow hard and crusty, so we simply walked on the packed snow.

This section of Rideau Trail not only has quiet side roads, remote woodland, and lonely farms. It also has a ferry. Of course, at this time of year, our three-person ferry was encased in ice, so hikers chose to step carefully along the beaver dam, or stride boldly across the frozen lake. Luckily either route worked. Our final stroll beside the old stone house at Bedford Mills was a scenic end to what had been a surprisingly straight-forward walk.

But that’s easy for me to say. I wasn’t planning to get up early the next day to do another long hike in sub-zero temperatures along the rugged Westport Mountain – which is why we consider the Winter End-to-End to be the ultimate Rideau Trail challenge.