The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 16. Rosedale/Wood Roads (12F) to Merrickville (13E)

Sat. 25 August: 

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 

16. Rosedale/Wood Roads (12F) to Merrickville (13E)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

Merrickville!  And now only ninety two kilometres to the finish line in Ottawa, with two hundred and thirty six kilometres in the rear-view mirror.

As we left Wood Road and headed into the Long Bush, we were surprised how wet the track was, despite the long, dry summer.  A recent thunder shower had left several large puddles.  They were easily negotiated, but we were aware of the seven ATVs which we had passed at the corner of Wood Road, ready to follow us down the path. 

And sure enough, we heard them coming just as we had reached a long wet section.  Luckily they were courteous drivers and nobody got a soaking.

Enjoy this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHEkIjTPDlc

We reached Merrickville during a festive summer weekend, with the streets and parks crowded with tourists, enjoying the perfect weather.  The popular ice cream parlor was packed with polite visitors, including some over-heated RTA hikers, but we were soon satisfied.  What a lively town to have right on the route of the Rideau Trail.

Now onwards towards the Marlborough Forest, which we will have to negotiate without the benefit of ice cream.   We’re up to the challenge.

Leaving Wood Road for the Long Bush

Surprisingly wet through here

Courteous drivers

McConnell at Buffam

Snowmobilers bridge

Woodland trail 

The important junction with the Blue Trail (old main route north)

Emerging into the sunlight at Richardson Rd

Another perfect hiking day

Lunch beneath a forest canopy

Entering Merrickville

Another famous meeting of Canal and Trail

Heron in the Rideau River

Our next leg starts here....

...following the left bank of  the Rideau Canal

Merrickville:  a lively town

Great choices

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 15. Smiths Falls (Cornelia Court) (12A+) to Rosedale/Wood Roads (12F)

Sun. 19 August: 

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 

15. Smiths Falls (Cornelia Court) (12A+) to Rosedale/Wood Roads (12F)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

A special highlight of the Rideau Trail is the all too rare occasion where it meets the Rideau Canal, on their very different journeys between Kingston and Ottawa.

Smiths Falls is a spectacular example.  Here the trail meets the canal upstream of the combined lock - deepest lock on the canal - and follows the canal downstream through beautiful riverside parkland to Old Sly’s Locks, before heading off once more on its own course.

This town is also home to the rapidly expanding cannabis producer, Canopy Growth.  As we walked past the facility, impressed by the extent of construction work under way on a Sunday morning, we were reminded of those magical days when this was the Hershey chocolate factory, and hikers would drop in for a free sample.

Long stretches of country roads led us through the farmland of Montague Township.  Here at the junction of Rosedale and Wood Roads, the Central section of the trail ends.  From here on, it should be downhill all the way to Ottawa – perhaps.

Gathering at Cornelia Court

Trail and Canal side-by-side

Le Boat has helped to transform the Rideau Canal experience

Combined Lock - a 26 ft (7.9 m) lift

Crossing the old line of locks in Smiths Falls

Rideau Canal and Lower Reach Park

Old Sly's Locks

Old Sly's opens up

No free samples from this place any more:  the Hershey chocolate factory
is now home of the Tweed (Canopy Growth) marijuana growing operation

An old-fashioned feel to this eastern edge of town

The underpass beneath Smiths Falls' many rail lines

Striding out along Matheson Drive

The fields of Montague Township

Unexpected Mustang procession

And that completes the Central section of the Rideau Trail!

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 14. Port Elmsley (11C-) to Smiths Falls (Cornelia Court) (12A+)

Sun. 12 August: 

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 

14. Port Elmsley (11C-) to Smiths Falls (Cornelia Court) (12A+)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

We survived a shooting range AND busy Highway 43 to arrive safely in Smiths Falls with all ten hikers still intact.

It wasn’t that bad.  The so-called rifle range looked more like a target board for kids with air guns.  Nevertheless, the fields leading south from Port Elmsley were littered with shotgun cartridges and spent .303 shells, so we knew that there had been some more serious shooting going on over the past few days.  The shells had not been there the previous Tuesday when we checked out the route. 

To be safe, our hike leaders were wearing our bright orange RTA safety gear.  Who says hiking in Eastern Ontario is boring?!

Once more we were grateful for the work of the “weed whackers union” for clearing the way through the tall grasses and the prickly ash in readiness for our walk.

So now we have broken the 200 kilometre barrier (207 km from Kingston to Smiths Falls) and we have only 123 kilometres left to do.  Ottawa here we come.

Spent cartridges and shells littered the trail south of Port Elmsley

An alert group approaches site of "rifle range"

Sign peppered with holes

On the lookout for shooters...

...but the field is empty

Lovely pathway through the grasses and prickly ash

The farmer takes credit for this nicely manicured field

Crossing the stile onto Poonamalie Side Road

A glimpse of an arm of the Rideau Lakes and access to the Rideau Canal

Pleasant road walk (Poonamalie Side Road)

Not so pleasant road walk (Hwy 43 approaching Smiths Falls)

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 13. Conlon Farm (10D) to Port Elmsley (11C-)

Sat. 4 August: 

The Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes: 

13. Conlon Farm (10D) to Port Elmsley (11C-)

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

We’ve left the Canadian Shield behind us.  Granite outcrops have been replaced by flat fields and woodlands. 

The Town of Perth is one of the brightest jewels of the Rideau Trail, with the trail passing right beside Town Hall on its way east along the Tay River towpath. 

East of Perth, after turning away from the banks of the Tay River, the hiker enters fields of corn or grass, and refreshingly cool woodland pathways.  

Towards Port Elmsley, the trail is forced onto the side of busy Highway 43, until a better route can be negotiated with a supportive landowner (if we can find one).  It was for this reason that, for the first time in this series of hikes north from Kingston to Ottawa, we travelled in the opposite (north to south) direction.  This allowed us to walk the highway section earlier in the day before the traffic built up.  It was a good decision.

By the end of this hike we had moved 16.3 kilometres closer to Ottawa:

Hiked to date from Kingston    = 198.5 km

Remaining distance to Ottawa  = 129.6 km

Percentage complete                 =  60.5%

These photos are in the north-to-south sequence as hiked.

Port Elmsley:  turning off Station Road onto Stone Road

Stone Road, heading for Hwy 43

Hwy 43 - light traffic

Happy to leave the highway behind us

Enjoyable walking

Well-known landmark:  the blue Ford truck

Colorful route

Enjoying the fruits of the labour of the "weed whackers union"

As high as an elephant's eye?  Just checking.

Lunch beside the Tay Canal

A hot, humid day for walking

Beside the Tay River, entering Perth

At Perth Town Hall

Well-earned short break in Perth

Stewart Park

Rainbow Bridge

On the bridge

The biggest hill on our journey!  Conlon Farm, Perth.