Mon.
3 September:
The
Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes:
17.
Merrickville (13E) to Burritts Rapids (14B)
Note: click on pictures for full size view.
Momentum is building the closer we get to Ottawa. Today there were seventeen hikers on our
pleasant journey from Merrickville to Burritts Rapids, the greatest number so
far on this series of hikes from Kingston to our Capital City.
We followed the route of the Rideau Canal, stopping
for lunch at Upper Nicholsons Lock under the shade of the trees. It was another hot, humid day.
A few hundred metres before reaching the lock, we
sidetracked a short distance up the blue trail to McGuigan Cemetery, one of the oldest
burial grounds in Eastern Ontario. If
you want to know more, go there and read the book which they keep in the little
shed at the gate. It’s well worth the
journey.
On our next leg we will leave the Rideau Canal behind
us, only meeting it at the far end of our journey, below Parliament Hill. It’s time to enter the forest!
82 kilometres to go.
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| A quiet holiday Monday in Merrickville... |
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| ...with the world still asleep |
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| On our way along the Merrickville Locks... |
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| ...and over the lower lock |
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| Out of town along busy Hwy 43, beneath the railway bridge |
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| We thought of our RTA Founder as we passed this road sign |
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| A minor detour on a blue side trail... |
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| ...to a historic cemetery, well worth the visit |
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| Lunch at Nicholsons Locks |
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| How it once looked at Upper Nicholsons Lock |
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| Preparing for a group photo as the lockmaster readies the gate for opening! |
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| Lower Nicholsons Lock |
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| Our well-informed hike leader shares his knowledge of the trail |
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| These horses were very interested in the passing hikers |
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| A wind at our back, and thundershowers forecast (but none today) |
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| The newly renovated bridge at Burritts Rapids |
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| Sleepy Burritts Rapids |
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The Anglican Church on Donnelly Drive -
farewell to the Rideau Canal, until the end of our journey |
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