The Passionate Hiker: 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