The Passionate Hiker: June 2018

Sunday, June 17, 2018

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 10A. Narrows Lock (08C+) to Miners Point Road (08G)

Sun. 17 June:

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes:

10A. Narrows Lock (08C+) to Miners Point Road (08G)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

HOT – too hot probably to be hiking. But the light breeze and the shade of the forest were just enough to get us about eleven kilometres further along the Rideau Trail towards Ottawa, in temperatures just short of 30 degrees C.

This author is now in familiar territory, north of the Big Rideau Lake. I have taken much better photos along this section than I did today. But perhaps these few pictures will give the reader an idea of the route.

The trail and the cottage road seem to have an on-again, off-again love affair the whole way; first meeting, then parting company, then deciding to get together again, only to head off in their own directions once more, and so on.

This portion of the trail is getting a little overgrown, and we had to search for the right woodland route a couple of times. But the beaver dam was easily negotiated.

Red Rock makes a spectacular lunch spot.

This section of the Rideau Trail keeps you working right to the end.

The trail from Kingston comes down the road and turns here.
We had parked a few hundred yards off-trail at Narrows Lock

Heading into quite rugged woodland

A pretty side trail (blue arrows) heads up onto a small plateau

Signage was not always this good

Colorful swamp...

...and a friendly resident

Junction of North Shore Road with Cooper Drive.
Rideau Trail turns left here.

Easy crossing of the big beaver dam

This sign indicates the entrance to the Red Rock viewpoint
Just east of #599 North Shore Road

Red Rock...

... a perfect lunch stop. Lot of activity on Big Rideau Lake today.

Miners Point Road - last few metres to the car after a hot hike

Thursday, June 14, 2018

The New Trail

Wed. 13 June: The New Trail

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

A new section of Rideau Trail is now open. It bypasses a treacherous section of beaver dams.

Today this author was lucky enough to have been in today’s ‘group of seven’ which represented the first official hike along this new five kilometre section of trail through Murphys Point Provincial Park.

Highlight is a grand view of Big Rideau Lake from a rocky outcrop.

Due to a lack of ability to write interesting prose, I’ll let these pictures describe the route.

KUDOS to those trail-builders, who did a superb job last week creating this latest masterpiece.

Lots of turtles beside the road - watch out for them!

Setting out from Miners Point Road

Then following Bass Bay Road

Entering Murphys Point Prov. Park

Turning left off Bass Bay Road into the Park

Here is a small parking area. We walked around the gate.

Following a good trail

Leaving the trail

And dropping down to an easy creek crossing

Then up the hill

To this superb viewpoint of Big Rideau Lake
It was an overcast, showery day today.

Leaving the viewpoint

Crossing one easy beaver dam

And an even smaller dam

Several old trees along our route

One short damp section

How many RT hikers does it take to change a sign marker?

Emerging onto Black Ance Road

And immediately turning right onto the existing trail,
heading northwards towards McParlan House
and Lally Homestead.

Monday, June 11, 2018

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 9. Lions Club Beach (07D) to Narrows Lock (08C+)

Sun. 10 June:

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes:

9. Lions Club Beach (07D) to Narrows Lock (08C+)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

Another day of perfect hiking weather. Perhaps all our trips this year will enjoy blue skies and warm breezes? Or perhaps they won’t!

This section of the Rideau Trail would appear, from the map, to follow the edge of Big Rideau Lake. In reality, apart from a couple of spectacular lakeside viewpoints, the route is mostly under a woodland canopy or along quiet cottage roads, with only glimpses of the lake through the trees. But this suited us fine. The temperatures were several degrees cooler in the shade.

Highlight of the day was Spy Rock, the highest point along the entire 328 km Rideau Trail. Here we stopped for the usual team photo, standing on the rocks high above Westport village.

By the time we had reached the idyllic setting of Narrows Lock, on the Rideau Canal, at the end of this ninth leg of our long journey, we had travelled 137 kilometres from our starting point in Kingston, or 42% of the trail - well on our way to success.