10-12
February: The Winter Walkers
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| The winter walkers |
Note: click on pictures for full size view.
There’s something different about these end-to-enders,
steadily making their way along the Rideau Trail in the depths of winter. This particular weekend, we travelled over thirty six kilometres.
The snow was falling briskly, coming in at an angle
that fogged up my glasses every few seconds.
Our snowshoes plowed through the soft snow cover, hitting the frozen crusty
surface below. The temperatures were
around minus 12C. We had already done
five kilometres and had twice as much ahead of us. One of my fellow hikers turned to me with a
large grin on his face: “Isn’t this wonderful?” he exclaimed. I did a double-take, but he was serious – no question
about it. “What better way” he added “to
appreciate this country than to travel through it on a snowy day”.
And indeed, we all agreed with him. We may have looked like a strange group,
making our way along the Rideau Trail on a Sunday morning when most people
would still be tucked in their beds, but we, like our colleague, were glad to
be there.
Our weekend adventure had started on the Friday night
with a so-called “moonlight hike”, under cloudy skies and a light
snowfall. So much for the moonlight. But as we headed south out of Perth, leaving
the last street lamp behind us, we immediately knew we were on an
adventure.
This was a short hike of 6.7 kilometres, from Conlon Farm
in Perth to Ferrier Road, passing through fields, alongside roads, and into the
woods. It might have been quite easy to have
strayed off course through the trees in the dark, but we were on the lookout for the orange
trail triangles, which led us safely to our destination.
The following morning we were on the trail promptly, heading
south through more rugged countryside to Long Lake Road, on a journey of just
less than sixteen kilometres. A light
snow, almost a freezing rain, drifted down, but there was no wind and
conditions were ideal for a winter walk.
We were glad of our snowshoes today. The nine hikers had settled into a rhythm, and
we made steady progress through the woods, across a swamp, up and down the
rolling terrain. The middle stretch along
roads allowed us to pick up the pace. Nevertheless,
we stopped to admire a group of Shetland ponies which came to the gate to greet
us. And so day two quickly passed, and
we had already travelled twenty two kilometres.
It was an even earlier start on the Sunday for our
final stretch of 13.6 kilometres. Heavy
snowfall was forecast. The snow was soon
falling steadily as we raced to complete the first unappetising few kilometres
beside Highway 43 – thankfully fairly quiet this early on a Sunday. The fields and woodland were almost totally
flat – a change from the previous day – but there was plenty to see: wild turkeys nesting in the trees, plump
robins busy feeding on the berries, footprints in the snow: deer, hares, other less common wildlife. The previous day someone had seen a fisher
darting silently across the trail behind us.
Arriving on the banks of the Tay Canal, we felt that
we were almost home, but this stretch of trail is longer than you might think. By the time we arrived in Perth, we were glad
to rest as our resident photographer captured our group posing in front of Town
Hall on a quiet, snowy street.
And then it was all over. We arrived at Conlon Farm where several kids
were enjoying the new snowfall. A pet
dog whizzed down the slide. We weren’t
the only people enjoying the Canadian winter experience. Unlike the kids, however, some of us ended up
in the local pub for a well-earned refreshment!
This had been an energetic weekend, but there is
plenty more ahead of us when we tackle the final stretch of trail later this
month. And the enthusiasm just keeps growing. These end-to-enders are a special breed.
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| Our favourite tree |
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| Setting out on day three |
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| Several stiles: required good snowshoe technique to cross safely |
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| Our resident photographer beside the Tay Canal |
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| Taking a break beside the Tay |
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| Snowy entry into Perth |
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At Perth Town Hall
This excellent photo courtesy of Howard Robinson |
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| Central Perth |
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| Crossing one branch of the Tay River |
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| Stewart Park, Perth |
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The rainbow bridge
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