The Passionate Hiker: On the K&P: North from Sharbot Lake (1)

Wed. 13 May: On the K&P: North from Sharbot Lake (1):
Sharbot Lake Station to Hwy 509 south of Clarendon Road Station

On the lonely northern sections of the K&P

I never was a train-spotter, believe it or not. But abandoned railway lines have always fascinated me, and there are so many of them crossing the Eastern Ontario landscape. A lot of these old routes are now snowmobile highways, but they make for good exploring by mountain bike.

Sharbot Lake, not far from Perth, was once a junction for two railways, one travelling roughly west-east from Havelock to Perth, and the K&P, which ran north from Kingston to Renfrew. There is a railway museum beside the lake, with an old caboose on a section of track. Here the two lines crossed.

I had my mountain bike today, which was the right choice. The route was too rough for a hybrid tire. First I travelled a kilometre or so eastwards along the line towards Perth. This is known as the Loyalist County Trail. It crosses under Hwy 38, passing an arm of the eastern half of Sharbot Lake, then heading into lonely wooded swamp country. It roughly parallels Highway 7 all the way to Glen Tay, where it would have merged with the main CP line just west of Perth.

Now back at the old caboose, I turned north onto the K&P, the “Kick and Push” as it was affectionately called. The early sections of line are spectacular, following the edge of Sharbot Lake, past the marina, and hugging the shoreline with views westwards across the waters. It dives under Highway 7 through a small corrugated tunnel, emerging into another world it seemed, and a more lonely one.

For the next ten or so kilometres, the K&P heads north, then west, then north again, through forests, across swamps, around low wooded hills, beside a lively stream running through a hidden valley. There were few birds on view today, and the landscape felt oddly silent – there was plenty of opportunity to imagine a noisy steam train coming round the bend!

I turned around just south of Clarendon Station, where the line came close to Highway 509. It may be a surprise to some, but when you are riding a heavy mountain bike, you can really feel the change in gradient on a railway line. Sometimes I would be slowly grinding along in low gear through a rock cutting to a high point, then I would be flying along down the other side. It must have been fun being an engineer in charge of a large steam train on the K&P, keeping to the schedule on its undulating, meandering route through the wilderness.

Back in Sharbot Lake, I continued through the rock cutting to the beach, where I relaxed beside the lake on a perfect early spring afternoon. I was already planning the next stretch of my northward journey along the K&P.

Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately

Statistics:

Total Distance: 27.0 km (mtn.bike)

Height Gain: 128 ft.

Time on Trail: 3 hrs. 41 mins.

Start Loyalist Co Tr: 9.48 am

Start K&P Tr: 10.14 am

Bell Line Rd: 10.56 am

Hwy 509: 11.50 am

Ret. to caboose: 1.06 pm

Car: 1.29 pm

Temp: +8C rising to +15C

Weather: Sunny, cool N. breeze