Wed.
8 September: North of Renfrew
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| The OVRT north of Renfrew |
Exactly one year ago, I wrote that there were plans to
extend the bikeable section of the Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail (OVRT) north
towards Pembroke. At the time, the good
surface ended at McBride Road, just north of Renfrew. See this blog entry from that trip in September
2000:
http://thepassionatehiker.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-ovrt-beyond-renfrew.html
Today, a beautiful smooth surface now runs north to Cobden,
and beyond, with plans to continue the magical transformation of this trail into
Pembroke next year.
On our trip yesterday the final trail marker posts
were being installed – it gave us a chance to thank at least one of those
people who have made this possible.
Our journey started at Haley Station, roughly halfway
between Renfrew and Cobden. We travelled
south to McBride Road, then north up to the end of the gravel at Turcotte Road (2.5
km beyond Cobden) before returning south to Haley Station, an overall distance
of about 48 km. We saw very few other
travellers, despite the perfect weather.
These photos follow our journey, and so are not in a
neat south-to-north sequence.
How lucky are we to have such a trail to escape to,
especially in these crazy days. It seems
inadequate to say thank you to all those who have made this possible, but THANK
YOU anyway.
And a special thanks to the Haley United Church for
giving us permission to park in your ideally located parking lot. I hope you find our envelope!
The Passionate Hiker
September 8, 2021
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| Views from the OVRT north of Renfrew |
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| Easy biking |
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| The new surface |
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| McBride Road - last year the good surface ended here |
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| View northwest from the trail |
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| On the newly completed section of trail |
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| Here at km 100 a line once branched off, bearing to the left |
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| Empty trail |
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| Crossing Hwy 60 - patch where lines ran |
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| Heading north from McBride Rd. |
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| Final trail markers being installed |
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| Slow build-up of clouds |
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| Now north of Haley Station |
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| We disturbed this turkey vulture enjoying a trail snack |
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| All the gates are in place |
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| Very few bridges along this section |
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| Crossing the busy Hwy 17.. |
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| ...safely across |
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| Admiring the trail ahead |
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| Attractive countryside |
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| Approaching Cobden at Astrolabe Rd. |
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| Reaching Main Street, Cobden |
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| In search of the coffee shop.... |
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| ...which unfortunately was closed today! |
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| A further 2.5 km north from Cobden... |
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| ... brings us to the end of the good surface |
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| Apparently next year the trail will be completed into Pembroke |
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| Farm at Turcotte Road |
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| Clouds building up on our return |
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| Haley United Church: our base for this journey |
