Sat.
15 September:
The
Rideau Trail 2018 End-to-End Hikes:
19.
Roger Stevens Drive (15B) to Jock Road/Munster Road (16A)
Note: click on pictures for full size view.
HOT!
For mid-September in Eastern Ontario, it was an
exceptionally hot, humid day, with only an occasional whisper of a breeze. Temperatures soon climbed close to thirty
degrees C.
Our journey today took fourteen hikers through the northern half of
the Marlborough Forest, and along country roads with no protection from the
sun. Wisely, our hike leader chose to
complete this section of trail in the reverse direction (i.e. walking away from
Ottawa), to complete the road portion earlier in the day. It was a very good decision.
The Marlborough Forest can be a busy place, especially
on a weekend, and so we were lucky to have it to ourselves, except for one truck,
and a small group of ATV riders. Enjoy
this video:
Someone once told me: “you won’t get through the Marlborough Forest with dry feet”. And we did pass beside one or two gigantic
puddles. But this has been an
exceptional summer, and the entire forest route was bone dry.
There’s a beautiful open area inside the forest, like
a parkland, with scattered trees and grass, which provides an unexpected break
from kilometre upon kilometre of tree-lined forest roads. Today, however, we
were happy to scuttle across the exposed landscape and regain whatever shade
the forest granted us.
And now, with the forest behind us, the outer edges of
the city are not far away. We’ve now
walked 274 kilometres in nineteen stages.
Ahead of us we have just 54 kilometres of trail.
The photos are in the north-to-south sequence as
hiked.
 |
| Crossing the Jock River at the start of our 14.5 km hike |
 |
| Artwork beside Munster Road |
 |
| A hot, humid walk along roads exposed to the sun |
 |
| Crossing the VIA tracks at Kettles Road |
 |
| Entering the northern end of the forest: this signpost needs rescuing |
 |
| Some gigantic puddles, which never dry out, and filled with tiny frogs |
 |
| The unexpected open section of forest |
 |
| Major junction at Klondike Road |
 |
| Fascinating skies, hot sun |
 |
| Friendly ATV group on Klondike Road |
 |
| Leaving all our troubles behind us! |
 |
| Roger Stevens Drive, and a short walk to the cars |
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| Today's journey successfully completed |
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