The passionate hiker

The passionate hiker
Early days in the outdoors

Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Rideau Trail: Richmond (17A) to Robertson Road (18E)

Thurs. 30 October:  The Rideau Trail:
Richmond (17A) to Robertson Road (18E)

Leaving the forests behind - or so I thought
The Rideau Trail is full of surprises.  And it left perhaps its best surprise almost to the last section of the long trail northwards from Kingston.

My previous walk had brought me to the northern edge of Richmond, on the bus route to Ottawa, and within easy commuting distance of the City.  This was still open country.  The forests had given way to farmland.  Finally, I thought, I had emerged from the wilderness.  From here to the end of my journey I would simply stroll through a flat suburban landscape, along increasingly busy city streets. 

I was wrong.  Not only would I discover gentle hillsides with wide views of the open country.  I would also wander through some of the prettiest woodland along the entire trail, arriving in the City as if by stealth.

Today’s journey started at the eastern end of Richmond, close to a handy Tim Horton’s (civilization indeed!).  The school buses were picking up the kids along the street as I marched northwards into the country.  Initially the trail stays away from the roads, heading in a northeasterly direction across a road allowance between large, flat fields.  Farmers were out making the most of the good weather.  The tall corn was being cut down, and in one field a long plastic drain pipe was being laid and then buried by two ingenious pieces of machinery.

Reaching the Old Richmond Road, I turned northwards.  This was busy with speeding commuters on the way to work.  Running parallel to the road was the Jock River.  This gently flowing river was named after an unfortunate man called Jacques who drowned in it.  I suppose the name was simply anglicized (or is it scottified?).  The Rideau Trail is shown as following the east bank of the river, leading to a seasonal bridge.  However, I had learned that the bridge was not installed this year, so I followed the alternate route on the western bank, beside the busy road.  I soon discovered that the bridge might just be navigable by the clever use of a couple of planks of wood, but I didn’t try it.

Just before reaching the bridge, I stopped at a stone cairn, erected beside the highway to commemorate the fourth Duke of Richmond.  In 1819 he died here of rabies, having been bitten several weeks earlier by a pet fox.  The Duke was an interesting man.  He must have been quite controversial, as he survived two duels.  After fighting in the Napoleonic Wars he was sent to Canada as Governor General of “British North America”.  Here his life was cut short, and now this lonely cairn is a memorial to his death.

My trail continued northwards along Steeplehill Crescent, a quiet side road, passing beside several large farms.  Here the countryside had risen slightly, giving some surprisingly good views westwards to the flat farmland and distant forests.  The road curved around to the left, as it arrived at the busy Fallowfield Road.  At the junction sat a church with a graceful spire.  This was Fallowfield United Church, and the village of the same name lay just beyond. 

Behind the church was a slight rise of land.  I bypassed the village through woods and fields, coming back out onto Old Richmond Road.  This rise of land was perhaps less than a hundred feet, but it was enough to give widespread views to the west and southwest, all the way back to Richmond and my earlier route.  Beyond the farmland I could see the northern edges of the Marlborough Forest. 

As I walked beside the busy road, I could see ahead of me a road junction:  traffic lights, street lamps, new houses being built, and a McDonalds!  Finally I had hit the city.  But no!  Just before reaching this so-called civilization, my trail turned abruptly to the right, and into the trees.  This is called Stony Swamp Conservation Area.  I had been saved by the Greenbelt.

From this point on, with a few short exceptions, I followed woodland trails all the way to the city.  In fact, I passed through some of the prettiest forest along the entire Rideau Trail.  I met no other people, except for a young family at the boardwalk just to the west of Old Richmond Road, where there is an access point and car park.  I seemed to be following the top of a gentle height of land, where the path wandered through an open forest.  There were jets overhead, taking off from the airport, and the sound of busy traffic beyond the woods, but apart from that, I could have been far from civilization.

Eventually a large condominium structure loomed up behind the trees and the trail came out into reality.  Here was Robertson Road, at one time the Trans-Canada Highway, and now a busy city street.  At this point the Rideau Trail meets the Trans-Canada Trail, and they cross the street on a large abandoned railway bridge.  From here to the end of the trail, exactly twenty five kilometres distant, I would be walking along city pathways.

Dropping down onto the street, I took advantage of the excellent Ottawa Transit bus system to return swiftly to Richmond.  I planned to come back to this point the following Sunday to complete this grand adventure.


Statistics:

Total Distance:         18.9 km* (hike)
Height Gain:             Say 100 ft.
Time on Trail:           4 hrs. 32 mins.
Shea Road:                    8.35 am
Shea/Garvin (17A):        8.49 am
Eagleson Rd(17B):        9.04 am
Cambrian Rd (17C):      9.31 am
Steeplehill Cr (17D):      9.51 am
Fallowfield Rd (17E):   10.45 am
Hope Side Rd (18A):   11.25 am
Lime Kiln Jn (18B):      11.46 am
P6 Parking Lot (18C): 12.10 pm
Blue Loop Jn (18D):    12.39 pm
Robertson Rd (18E):     1.07 pm


Temp:            ZeroC to +6C
Weather:       Cloudless => mostly cloudy;  cold N.wind

*17.5 km on RT

RT Completed to Date = 92.4% (= 305.4/330.4 km)


Busy skies again today

Throwing a long shadow across history:  the monument to the Duke of Richmond
who died here in 1819 of rabies after being bitten by a pet fox!

Jock River bridge out of service - or is it?
I had taken the blue trail to bypass the bridge
Pretty park where the Jock River turns eastwards



Large farms on each side of Steeplehill Crescent
Fallowfield  Church below Steeple Hill
Surprisingly good views back towards Richmond
Saved by the Greenbelt!
Some of the finest woodland along the entire trail
Not many leaves left to fall
The boardwalk off Old Richmond Road:  popular place for a stroll
Arriving in the city as if by stealth
Suddenly it's Ottawa:  Robertson Road
From here on, it's city pathways
Walking out onto the streets of Ottawa to catch my bus back to Richmond
Curtain closing on another great hike:   on the road back to Perth





Monday, October 27, 2014

The Rideau Trail: Kettles Road (15E) to Richmond (17A)

Mon. 27 October:  The Rideau Trail:
Kettles Road (15E) to Shea Road, Richmond (17A)

Marching north to Ottawa
I’m getting close.  The signs that I was entering the gravitational field of the big city were plain to see.  An “Ottawa Citizen” newspaper mailbox here; a golf driving range there; even the faintest distant roar of jets taking off from the international airport.  And along the Franktown Road I came to my first Ottawa Transit bus stop sign – albeit still with over fifty kilometres to go to the end of the trail.

Yet at the same time this was still a wilderness walk in places. Starting at the northern end of the Marlborough Forest at Kettles Road, I crossed the railway line.  This line carries the passenger trains from Toronto to Ottawa.  Today it was a silent strip, with no sign of any trains.  Having left the main section of forest behind me, I enjoyed the contrast of a stroll across open farm fields and tracks, heading northwards to Soldiers Line road.

From this point I followed a number of roads heading alternately northwest and then northeast, zig-zagging my way closer to Ottawa at each turn in the road.  First Munster Road, then Jock Trail, followed by Greens Road, all quiet country byways. 

At the end of Greens Road I came to Franktown Road, which is our particular favorite route when traveling from Perth to Ottawa:  a country highway with long straight stretches and relatively free of traffic.  If I had continued northeast on this road, I would soon have arrived in the sprawling village of Richmond.  However, I turned off the highway at Conley Road, which dived back into the forest. 

There had not been a lot to catch the eye along these stretches of road.  I noticed a few signs that I was approaching the city, such as the first bus stop sign along Franktown Road.  Here the #283 Ottawa Transit bus runs a weekday commuter service into town in the morning and back out to Munster Hamlet in the evening.  At this point I was still about fifty five kilometres from my final destination in Ottawa - a surprisingly long way out of town to encounter a bus stop.

The biggest surprise along today’s route was the lonely road allowance which stretched for over five kilometres along Bleeks Road in a straight northeasterly line to a point to the north of Richmond.  I had wrongly imagined an easy stroll beside farmers’ fields.  Instead, I found myself negotiating a series of large puddles under a canopy of trees, mostly bare but some still showing their Fall colors.  It was a soggy path, but I managed to keep my feet dry by hopping from one side of the trail to the other. 

As I moved further towards the distant city, the forest started to give way to more open fields, until finally I came out onto a paved road, beside acres of cornfields,  under a largely blue sky.  This was much closer to what I had expected as I moved out into the wide Ottawa Valley.

Turning southeast, I marched beside the narrow Shea Road towards Richmond.  Today’s journey ended at the Garvin Road junction, where the Rideau Trail turned northeastwards again.  This would be the start of my next adventure.  I seemed to be picking up the pace the further north I had come.  This next section would see me reaching the streets of the City.


Statistics:

Total Distance:         18.9 km (hike)
Height Gain:             Negligible
Time on Trail:           4 hrs. 2 mins.
Kettles Road (15E):        9.27 am 
Soldiers Line (15F):      10.00 am
Jock & Munster(16A):  10.18 am
Greens Road (16B):     10.40 am
Franktown Rd (16C):    11.04 am
Bleeks Road (16D):      11.38 am
Joys Road (16E):          12.33 pm
Huntley Road (16F):      1.03 pm
Shea Road (16G):         1.15 pm
Shea/Garvin (17A):       1.29 pm
Temp:            +4C to +10C
Weather:       Sun and cloud, cool N. breeze


RT Completed to Date = 87.1% (= 287.9/330.4 km)


Crossing the main line from Smiths Falls to Ottawa at Kettles Road

Morning paper:  Early sign that I am approaching the Capital
Empty country road: heading NE on Jock Trail

The outermost limit of Ottawa Transit - still over 50 km to go

Beside Franktown Road (Hwy 10 Perth - Richmond).  Here I return to the forest
Surprisingly remote section of trail
The trail runs along an isolated road allowance for over five kilometres
A minuscule vineyard making Riesling
The Ken Pryor Bridge:  one at a time please!
Glimpses of open fields
Long stretches of waterlogged trail - easily avoided
Some nice trailwork avoids the worst patches
Looking northwards from my soggy avenue of trees
The end of the boggy woodland trail at Huntley Road
Still some Fall colours remain on Brownlee Road
View northeast to Steeple Hill and Fallowfield:  my next section of trail.
Are those the Gatineau Hills in the distance, beyond the Ottawa River?
About elephant's eye height?
More typical Ottawa Valley landscape
Impressive skies today









Friday, October 24, 2014

The Rideau Trail: Paden Road (14C+) to Kettles Road (15E)

Fri. 24 October:  The Rideau Trail:
Paden Road (14C+) to Kettles Road (15E)

Into the Forest (hunting season!)
Marlborough Forest from one end to the other, and dry feet at the end?   Impossible!  But I did it today.

This entire trip of twenty one kilometres was within the Marlborough Forest, which sits on the very outer southwest limits of Ottawa. It’s a large area of wilderness, roughly twenty kilometres from north to south, and about half that from east to west.  There is only one main road running across the forest. I had been warned that winter would be a better time to travel this route, as it was supposedly very boggy.  That’s not the case.  I made good time today, mostly on rough tracks and trails.  While there was plenty of standing water, and huge swamps, they were easily avoided.

The southern entry point to Marlborough Forest lies along lonely Paden Road, where my previous hike had ended.  The large forest sign was peppered with holes from trigger-happy hunters.

This forest is open to many uses, including hunting, so it did not surprise me that at the very first corner in the trail, I came upon two hunters in bright orange clothing.  They told me they had seen absolutely nothing worth shooting and that I had the place to myself.  Not long after that I heard shots ringing out, so hopefully they got something for their efforts.

This was not just a dark gloomy forest.  There were generally good gravel trails heading northwards, passing beside a couple of large swamps.  There was, however, one really complicated section of trail which weaved all over the place in the dense trees, back-tracking and looping around, for no obvious reason.  It was quite enjoyable, like a trip through the forested version of some complex maze, except that the signs told you which way to go.  Take one sign away and travelers would be completely lost.  In the middle of the forest I came to a log shelter, with benches along the walls inside for travelers to rest.  This is the Earthstar shelter, named after the mushrooms which grow here.

After wearing itself out twisting and turning, the trail resumed its march northwards, past a large swamp.  Back in the forest, I had just negotiated a rare wet section when I heard voices ahead.  Four guys were coming along the trail.  This is worth mentioning since these hikers represented only the second time I have met fellow travelers so far on the Rideau Trail.  They had started at the central forest access point and were headed south to Burritts Rapids.  We stopped for a brief cheery chat then we set off again in  our respective directions.

About halfway through the forest, the trees thinned out and the trail came to a large swampy lake, called Rogers Pond.  By now the sun was warm, and this proved to be an ideal lunch stop, on a grassy bank beside the lake.  Just past the pond was Roger Stevens Drive, the only road through the forest, and the central access point just mentioned.  Luckily the trail only required a couple of hundred meters of road walking before turning north again into the trees. 

There was only one really terrible section of trail which was easily negotiated.  Here in the forest, the trail was waterlogged and trees had fallen across it.  But it was a simple job to hop across logs and detour the worst areas.  

At the rough gravel Klondike Road I stopped for a snack beside a tiny pond.  At first glance it looked to be stagnant.  But then I noticed what looked like a frog’s head sticking out of the water.  It was indeed a frog.  Then another friendly frog popped out of the water and rested on a branch, its body still submerged.  This pond was alive with activity.  It won’t take much to freeze this pond solid in a few weeks.

From this point on, I was travelling on good wide trails, albeit full of large puddles.  I simply bypassed them all.  It was a pleasant walk through forest and swampland, with a large open section of grass making a striking contrast.  The sound of a train horn told me I was nearing my destination.  Soon I had emerged out of the forest at Kettles Road, where the main railway line from Smiths Falls to Ottawa crosses the country road.

The hunters were right.  There was no wildlife worth shooting – in my case, with the camera – with the exception, of course, of my frog friends.  Nevertheless, I felt a huge sense of achievement, having averaged over four kilometres an hour crossing this large forest from one end to the other.  And my feet were perfectly dry.


Statistics:

Total Distance:         21.0 km (hike) *
Height Gain:             Negligible
Time on Trail:           5 hrs. 17 mins.
Forest Car Park:              8.42 am
RT (14C+):                      8.45 am
Blue Conn Jn (14D):       9.14 am
Flood Road (14E):        10.16 am
Flood Rd Ext (14F):      11.06 am
Rogers Pond Jn (15A): 11.19 am
R Stevens Dr (15B):     11.49 am
Klondike Road (15C):   12.22 pm
RTA Lot Jn (15D):          1.10 pm
Kettles Road (15E):        1.59 pm 
Temp:            +7C to +15C
Weather:       Sunny, light breeze

* 20.9 km on RT

RT Completed to Date = 81.4% (= 269.0/330.4 km)


Heading into the Marlborough Forest

Lonely swamp

Surprisingly good tracks most of the way
This section twists and turns through the thickest woods
Blindly following the signs
Earthstar Shelter
It's not all forest.  Here's another swamp

Lunch stop at Rogers Pond
Access point in middle of the forest 
The only road  across the forest:  Roger Stevens Drive.  I turned right here.
Tricky section easily bypassed

Friendly frog in a tiny pond beside Klondike Road
And his neighbour

Racing through the forest
Lots of puddles but I kept my feet dry
Emerging from the forest unscathed, despite the obvious risks!