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