North of Renfrew

 

Wed. 8 September:   North of Renfrew

 

 

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

 

Views from the OVRT north of Renfrew

Easy biking

The new surface

McBride Road - last year the good surface ended here

View northwest from the trail

On the newly completed section of trail

Here at km 100 a line once branched off, bearing to the left

Empty trail

Crossing Hwy 60 - patch where lines ran

Heading north from McBride Rd.

Final trail markers being installed

Slow build-up of clouds

Now north of Haley Station

We disturbed this turkey vulture enjoying a trail snack

All the gates are in place

Very few bridges along this section

Crossing the busy Hwy 17..

...safely across

Admiring the trail ahead

Attractive countryside

Approaching Cobden at Astrolabe Rd.

Reaching Main Street, Cobden

In search of the coffee shop....

...which unfortunately was closed today!

A further 2.5 km north from Cobden...

... brings us to the end of the good surface

Apparently next year the trail will be completed into Pembroke

Farm at Turcotte Road

Clouds building up on our return 

Haley United Church:  our base for this journey