The Passionate Hiker: The Rideau Trail: Westport Lions Beach (07D) to Narrows Lock Road (08C): Southern section completed!

Sun. 12 October: The Rideau Trail:

Westport Lions Beach (07D) to Narrows Lock Road (08C)

Morning mist at Narrows Lock

Foley Mountain: the highlight of the Rideau Trail. Not just because it happens to be the highest point along the entire trail, but also for the stunning view down through the mist to the village of Westport below.

But I’m jumping ahead.

It was a misty morning. As I stood beside Westport Lake at the Lions Beach, all that I could see of the water were faint ripples disappearing into the mist.

This first part of the hike seemed much more like a typical hike in the Alberta foothills, as I climbed the wooded slopes of Foley Mountain. It may only have been a couple of hundred vertical feet to the top, but this was probably the biggest climb on my whole journey. The highest point of the flat ridge, marking Foley Mountain “summit”, is not marked, even by a cairn. But it was high enough to allow me to see over the top of the mist which hid Westport below. Up here the sun shone out of a cloudless sky.

Crossing the Perth Road, I entered Foley Mountain Conservation Area, and followed the wide forest trail to Spy Rock. This well-known viewpoint would be busy with Thanksgiving visitors in a few hours. Being only nine o’clock on a Sunday morning, there was just one lone photographer there, ready to capture the scene as the mist quickly dissipated. We were soon joined by a second photographer. In the space of about fifteen minutes, an exciting transformation took place, from a white mist to a stunning view of the village of Westport, surrounded by blue water and golden trees. One of the photographers gracefully agreed to take a rare photo of The Passionate Hiker standing on Spy Rock, and he framed the picture perfectly.

On a nearby noticeboard, a warning sign had been posted about a month ago, warning of a bear and cub in the area. This was feeling more and more like a trip in the Rockies!

My trail meandered along the ridge, with occasional views to Upper Rideau Lake. Dropping down through an open forest, I side-tracked to the edge of the lake where two benches were positioned at a “meditation point”. There were fine views back towards Westport, along the lake.

At the Interpretive Centre was a plaque commemorating the opening of the Rideau Trail back in November 1971, just two years after The Passionate Hiker’s first visit to Kingston. I am sure that all those years ago, I would never have guessed that, forty three years later, I would be on a mission to travel this exciting trail!

A little further along the forest trail I came to a bay where there was a perfect swimming area, now closed for the season. The trail continued up and down the hillsides, finally emerging onto the gravel North Shore Road, beside a huge solar panel servicing a large family home. For the next four kilometres I passed several beautiful houses built above the edge of Upper Rideau Lake. Some of the homes were gigantic, and all had breathtaking views. There was even a small house built on a tiny island.

At the head of Duck Bay, I turned off the road onto the final leg of my journey. This short section held a microcosm of all that I had been enjoying along my journey: an open grassy hillside with views across to blue lakes, shining in the sunlight, forest trails with a carpet of leaves, swamps and beaver dams, open rocky sections, and the odd lone tree seeming to beckon me along the way. Finally I heard the sound of a passing car, and was soon standing on Narrows Lock Road.

This was not a particularly emphatic way of completing today’s journey, and so I continued to stroll down the road to Narrows Lock. This was the ideal end-point to any journey. The mist had cleared, and the sun shone down on the last day of operation for the Rideau Canal this year. Several boats were moored. One boat arrived at the lock and was carried up into the Upper Lake, the gates being operated by two lock-keepers. These busy young guys seemed relieved that the season was coming to an end. People were relaxing beside the water, on a day which felt more like mid-summer, except for the colorful canopy of trees overhead.

This was the final leg in my journey along the southern section of the Rideau Trail. I have now travelled all the way from the Lake Ontario waterfront in Kingston to the locks of the Rideau Canal in Merrickville, a total of two hundred and thirty five kilometres. Ahead of me lie ninety five kilometres of forest, farmland, and city, to the end of the trail below the cliffs of Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The planning has already begun.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 13.5 km (hike) *

Height Gain: Say 300 ft.

Time on Trail: 4 hrs. 25 mins.

W’port Lions Beach (07D): 8.23 am

Spy Rock (07E): 9.02 am

Little Bay: 10.04 am

N. Shore Road (08A): 10.48 am

Duck Bay (08B): 11.42 am

Narrows Lock Rd (08C): 12.30 pm

Narrows Lock: 12.48 pm

Temp: +3C rising to +12C