Nine Hundred

Thurs. 27 December:  Nine Hundred

End point for my hike:  here the Rideau Trail turns away
from the Tay River heading East and North to Ottawa

Nine Hundred kilometres on the Rideau Trail – this year!   And still one or two hikes planned before January.

Today I broke the 900 km barrier on a stroll along the Rideau Trail through the beautiful Town of Perth.  It was a sunny morning, with “feels like” temperatures around minus 20C, and a light covering of snow.  

The Rideau Trail is only 400m from the house, and so it was a short stroll down into Stewart Park in the town centre to pick up the trail.  From there I travelled east along the trail, following the banks of the Tay River/Tay Canal. 

At the point where the trail turns sharply left away from the river, I turned around, to return the way I had come, clocking up 4.3 kilometres in each direction, enough to get me over the 900 mark.  It may have been sunny, but it wasn’t a day to hang around.  I headed home for a hot drink. 

And there will be no break, since the Rideau Trail winter end-to-end hike series starts in just over a week from now.

Stewart Park, Perth- my starting point today

The Rideau Trail follows the Tay River/Tay Canal

Perth Town Hall and the reverse side of the Rideau Trail sign

The North Shore

Sun. 23 December:  The North Shore

Here’s a great section of Rideau Trail for those who want to stretch their legs.  It’s mostly on a roller-coaster cottage road, but there’s a 1.4 km woodland section of pure magic.

North Shore Road

I parked beside Narrows Lock Road at a handy pull-off place just big enough for one car, a few metres from the Lanark County sign.  Here the Rideau Trail heads into the woods.  But instead of taking the trail I walked up the road to the junction with Merkley Road, then on to North Shore Road.  There had been a fresh dusting of snow overnight, and it all looked very scenic – and there was no traffic.

After hiking three kilometres from the car, I met the Rideau Trail coming out of the woods.  For the next four and a half kilometres the trail follows the road westwards towards Foley Mountain.  It’s a quiet cottage road, with many beautiful homes overlooking Upper Rideau Lake.  The water was starting to freeze over.  I could see the curved line across the lake where the ice was rapidly advancing on the open water.

Trail markers!

It was an enjoyable stroll along the road, with plenty of ups and downs to give the legs a good work-out.  I saw just an occasional vehicle and one set of dog walkers to break the silence of a peaceful Sunday morning.

Finally the trail heads into the woods again, and I followed it for a couple of hundred yards to an ideal lunch spot in a clearing, facing the sun.  The fresh snow showed that this was a busy place for deer and other smaller wild animals.

I returned along the same four and a half kilometre section of road, before heading out onto one of my favourite short sections of Rideau Trail.  Leaving the road, the trail drops down through the trees to a valley floor then climbs an open hillside to a viewpoint above Duck Bay.  The next kilometre is a random wander through undulating woodland, past a lake, over rocky ledges, twisting and turning. This short section of trail has so many of the features that make the Rideau Trail such a special experience.  And it’s a good test of one’s ability to find the next sign and not get lost in this magical kingdom.

The route to Foley Mountain

The fresh snow lay on the bare tree branches and bushes as in a Christmas card setting.  I made new tracks through the snow.  All too soon, I emerged onto Narrows Lock Road at my starting point. 

This makes a perfect fourteen kilometre round trip.  And if you are looking for a much shorter version, including my so-called magical kingdom, then see the map and follow the obvious circle route, which measures only 4.6 kilometres.  And don’t forget your MICROspikes – there’s lots of ice along the road.

This sign warns of a Hidden Entrance!

The line of ice and open water on Upper Rideau Lake

Signs point to the magical kingdom...

...via a stile off North Shore Road

Up the open hillside to a view of Duck Bay

On the trail

Nature's decorations

A hidden lake

Frozen creek crossing

Back at the car, on Narrows Lock Road

The King of Spain

Wed. 12 December:  The King of Spain

It was a cold, overcast mid-week morning with the thermometer hovering around minus 9C.  A biting breeze from the northwest made the “feels like” temperature closer to minus 16.  Who would want to show up for a walk on a day like this?  Well, four of us did, and we were rewarded for our effort.

This roughly eleven kilometre section of the Rideau Trail between Miners Point Road and Narrows Lock makes an ideal one-way trip, with good parking at each end and an ever changing terrain under foot.   

Although there is a cottage road running through the woods above Big Rideau Lake, the Rideau Trail only partly uses the road.  On seven occasions the trail branches off the road into the woods to carve out a much more rugged route between these two milestones.

Especially in winter with bare trees, there is plenty to see.  The major feature is Big Rideau Lake, to our left the whole route, sometimes in sight, sometimes hidden.  At Red Rock we dropped down to the edge of the lake for a dramatic view across to the far shoreline, with several islands dotting the surface of the water – which is not yet frozen over. 

Some of the so-called “cottages” beside the road looked more like palaces, and many were closed up for the season.  We crossed a dangerous beaver dam on a brand new structure, which the RTA Kingston Club had just installed a week or so ago.  We followed woodland tracks, beside hidden lakes, and crossed a couple of tumbling streams.  Along the way we passed two blue side trails, one leading to the ghost town and the other to the plateau loop – journeys for another day.

Finally we dropped down onto Narrows Lock Road and were soon at the end of our journey.  Early in our walk, we had agreed that we had not seen much of the sun in recent weeks.  The cloudy skies today gave no hope for sunshine, so we were taken by surprise when the sun broke through the clouds, lighting up the woods and the snowy trail.  By the end of our journey the clouds had miraculously disappeared.

I think I am now to be known as the King of Spain, thanks to my earlier predictions about the chances of seeing the sun today.  And I was happy to have been proved wrong.

Red Rock, Big Rideau Lake

Animal prints in the snow

North Shore Road (no traffic at all)

Skies miraculously start to clear

Magnificent new crossing (many thanks to RTA Kingston Club)

Lots of prints in the snow: 
Some animals used the crossing, others ignored it

Ghostly sign to the ghost town

Hidden gems

Junction for the blue plateau loop

Narrows Lock Road and blue skies

A Good Sign

November:  A Good Sign

Rideau Trail members living in Perth may have wondered this Fall what was happening with the large Rideau Trail sign opposite the Town Hall.

The sign had been proudly unveiled back in 1976, by the Mayor of Perth, Carl Greer, and Gary Davies of the RTA.  It has remained a beacon for hikers for the past forty two years; a clear statement of the Town’s enduring commitment to hiking trails.

This year, the town embarked upon some very nice landscaping on that street corner.  As a result, the sign was relocated a few yards to the east, but still directly on the line of the trail itself – now just in front of the Crystal Palace.  And additional trail markers were added at the new road crossing in front of Town Hall.

Yes, the sign is beginning to show its age, and this author intends to have it renewed either as part of the RTA’s 50^th anniversary in 2021, or earlier.

Next summer the Town will be adding a bench and some landscaping in front of the sign so that it remains an attractive part of Perth’s heritage.

RTA has a great relationship with the Town of Perth and we are very grateful to them for being so supportive in the relocation of this historical sign.

New location for the RTA sign in Perth

Located just a few yards further away from Town Hall

Nice new markers pointing south to Kingston....

...and North to Ottawa

Murphys Point Circuit

Sun. 11 November:  Murphys Point Circuit

Here’s a trip that you can do at any time of the year – a 14.4 km circuit of Murphys Point Provincial Park, following a mix of park roads, hiking trails, and ski trails, taking in many of the best views along the way.

I started at the main gate, which is closed at this time of year, but this circuit would work just as well from within the Park, and also from Lally Homestead.

For some reason I seemed to be in a hurry today, my moving average being in excess of 5 km/hr, and with only brief stops.  It was a perfect day for a walk.

Try this out for yourself.

I took the "outer" left hand leg to the junction with Point Trail

This part of Sylvan Trail is often flooded

Here I turned left onto Point Trail

The Point: Big Rideau Lake (& Rideau Canal)

The island beach

Trailhead for Point Trail

The main swimming beach

Here I turned onto the Rideau Trail

McParlan House

Ice starting to form on the lakes

On the trail

Loon Lake

A very enjoyable undulating route,
and there's no need to go as fast as I did today

First Impressions

Thurs. 8 November:  First Impressions

"Kilometre 0" of the Rideau Trail in Kingston

The Passionate Hiker has known Kingston, Ontario for almost fifty years. 

His first impression of the town was a huge snowstorm in late November, and sitting on the floor of a concert hall at Queens University, in a sea of students, listening to the music of the Butterfield Blues Band, way back in the late 1960’s.

First impressions matter.  From that short visit, Kingston has remained a favourite place in this author’s memory.  Less than  twenty years after that first visit, he was living and working in Kingston, spending four wonderful years in the town. And now thirty years after that, he is back again, living not far up the road.

And what a road. Have you ever tried to put yourself in the place of a first-time visitor, driving north up Highway 10 from Kingston through the shield country?  It’s a special experience, and perhaps a surprising one for people arriving from more crowded parts of the world.

But this story is not about roads.  It’s about hiking trails.  And specifically the first section of the Rideau Trail, starting from the water-front in Kingston. 

This year, the author has hiked the full length of this 328 km trail, from Kingston to Ottawa.  It is hard to imagine a more inspiring start and end to any trail in the world; from Canada’s one-time capital city, beside the waters of Lake Ontario, to the edge of the Ottawa River below today’s Parliament Hill. 

Whichever direction you travel this trail, your first - and last - impressions can’t fail to be uplifting.  What better way to start and end a long, exciting walking adventure?

The author was back in Kingston this week, and was able to enjoy a brief stroll from “Kilometre 0” in front of City Hall, beside a lively Lake Ontario, in the teeth of a strong south westerly wind.  A bracing and inspiring start for the long-distance hiker.

Here are some photos, taken yesterday, of the very first section of the Rideau Trail.

Kingston City Hall

Confederation Park

Here the St.  Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario,
and the Rideau Trail starts its 328 km journey to Ottawa

Very first section of trail, from "Kilometre 0" marker

Good signage

On the trail

Views south across the St. Lawrence

Out of focus but gives an idea of the strong winds today

Lake Ontario stretching to the horizon.
The Rideau Trail is "off and running":
A great first impression.