The Passionate Hiker: The Rideau Trail: Merrickville Locks (13E) to Paden Road (14C+)

Wed. 22 October: The Rideau Trail:

Merrickville Locks (13E) to Paden Road (14C+)

Time to migrate

My final march north to Ottawa started today, beside the Rideau Canal in the sleepy village of Merrickville. I was not the only traveler. The skies seemed to be full of noisy geese, flying south beneath the high cloud cover.

It wasn’t a promising weather forecast, but it stayed dry, and there was one important factor in my favor. The cold north-easterly wind was blowing in the right direction to be at my back as I returned by bike to Merrickville at the end of the walk.

This was largely a roadside hike. After the initial journey along the main road heading out of town, I turned onto a quiet side road, paralleling the Rideau Canal in a northeasterly direction. Along this road were some very large, beautiful homes, with views over the Rideau River. I also passed a large dairy farm, and several riding stables. It was a pleasant rural contrast to the lonely, rugged Canadian Shield country of recent hikes.

About two kilometres from Merrickville I followed a pretty side path which led to the McGuigan Cemetery, hidden from view on a rise of ground in the woods. This is one of the oldest burial grounds in this part of the world. Miles McGuigan was an Irishman who fought beside Wellington at Waterloo and subsequently came to live in Canada. What was particularly moving were the simple field stones which marked the graves of the children of pioneer settlers, and of the Irish navvies who died (mostly of malaria) building the Rideau Canal between 1826 and 1832.

A little further along the road, I turned left to reach the Rideau Canal at Upper Nicholsons Lock. There are few places along the Rideau Trail where it intersects with the Rideau Canal: Smiths Falls and Merrickville are two great exceptions. Here the trail follows the canal path from the upper to the lower Nicholsons Locks, a picturesque stroll. The canal is now closed for the season, and crews are busy along the route preparing the canal for winter.

Soon I was turning north, over a swing bridge and into the quaint backwater of Burritts Rapids. This is a small hamlet bridging the Rideau River. The bridge is a fairly ugly large modern concrete structure built in 1983. On the north bank of the Rideau River I headed out into the fields and soon into the forest. The red signs here were gigantic, and so there was no doubt about my route as I headed northwards across soggy green fields.

Not far inside the forest I came to a junction, with a sign pointing left to “Stoney Steps”. A short stroll brought me to a delightful stream where the water flowed down a series of rock levels, just like a wide staircase. This was Brassils Creek.

Back on the main path I came to a sign asking people not to hike the trail in October and November due to deer hunting. A useless sign I thought, given that I was committed to moving north and with no easy options for turning back. At a junction in the trail I came to a little rocking chair with a stuffed doll and animals lying in a heap on the ground. I stopped to lift the girl back onto her chair, and to put her pets beside her, before moving on. It felt a little spooky. Just a little further along the trail I saw a coyote ahead of me. The strong headwind had allowed me to sneak up on him. As I got closer, he quickly vanished into the woods.

A few soggy metres further along the trail I came out onto lonely Paden Road. Crossing the road I followed the grassy and wet rutted path eastwards to the Marlborough Forest car park. Here my hike ended.

The large forest sign was peppered with bullet holes, reminding me that rifle hunting season was almost upon us. Here I had earlier concealed my bike for the return journey. Thanks to the wind, it didn’t take me long to whizz westwards along Paden Road, turning left on Dwyer Hill Road, and down the hill into Burritts Rapids. Past the village I turned left to follow the road to the Burritts Lock, which was buttoned up for the winter. Upended picnic tables were stacked against the trees on a carpet of brown leaves.

It was a fast ride back down the quiet backroads into Merrickville. A team of three Parks Canada guys was arriving at the same time. I watched as they started to place the wooden beams across the canal, upstream of the lock, which will act as a winter dam.

The sun had made a few attempts at making an appearance, but the best it could do was to make eerie glowing patches through the high cloud. Of course, as soon as I returned home, the clouds broke up. The cold breeze might have been laughing at the joke it had played on me. No matter: I was already preparing my next assault, through the Marlborough Forest, with or without the sun.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 12.8 km (hike) * + 13.6 km (bike) = 26.4 km

Height Gain: Negligible

Time on Trail: 4 hrs. 12 mins.

Merrickville (13E): 9.11 am

River Road (13F): 9.44 am

U. Nicholsons Lock (13G):10.19 am

Grenville St. (14A): 11.11 am

Donnellly Dr. (14B): 11.22 am

Paden Road (14C): 12.05 pm

Leave RT (14C+): 12.13 pm

Forest Car Park: 12.15 pm