The Passionate Hiker: The Cataraqui Trail (3): Portland to Crosby

Sat. 16 May: The Cataraqui Trail: Portland to Crosby

Back on the trail, heading south from Cedar Valley Road

One third done – sixty eight kilometres remain!

It was perhaps surprising that, at the end of today’s hike, we were still travelling through rich, open farmland. Only at the very end of the walk, as we approached Highway 15 at Crosby, did we see the first sign of a change in geology, passing beside a rock cutting of red granite.

Spring was in full flight today. The trilliums, white, pink and red, were still on display, also bright yellow marsh marigolds and a pathway lined with dandelions and overhung with May blossoms. At Portland Station, at the top of the high-voltage power-line tower, ospreys had built a gigantic nest. As we watched, an osprey flew up into the nest. In the swamps, birds were also nesting, while the woodlands seemed to be full of birdsong.

The highlight of today’s trip was Forfar Station. The word “station” conjures up scenes of activity: buildings, platforms, signals. Today, so many decades after the line was closed, the station at Forfar, as at Portland, was nothing more than a clearing in the trees. The rest was left to our imaginations. Here at Forfar Station the Canadian Northern line (our Cataraqui Trail) crossed almost at right angles with the railway line which used to run from Brockville to Westport.

The impressively named Brockville, Westport and Sault St. Marie Railway opened in 1888, but never got further than Westport. Within six years the company went into receivership, and was taken over in 1910 by the Canadian Northern – which itself was amalgamated into CN in 1919. So these two lines belonged to the same company for a while.

The line to Westport had a short life, being abandoned in 1952. It is now, along with the Cataraqui Trail, part of the long-distance Ontario snowmobile trail system. Here at Forfar Station is a sign pointing to several far-off places, such as Calabogie (179 km).

This poignant corner of the old days of steam served as a good stopping place for lunch, even if there was no station restaurant serving hot tea and stale sandwiches!

Being a railway line, I had hoped to find a few railway relics along the route. There were very few. A signal foundation here, an old electrical junction box on a post there. Perhaps the most interesting items were several rusty signs, placed just short of each road crossing, which might once have proclaimed “WHISTLE” to the engine drivers.

We had reached the Highway 15 crossing point. Our next hike would take us across the highway, which we had been roughly paralleling for the past thirty four kilometres, and would now head towards the Canadian Shield. Plenty of excitement to come.

As for today’s hiking party, we returned by car to Forfar to enjoy a snack at the old cheese factory, not far from the point where at one time its products would have caught the train to destinations in all directions!

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

Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.5 km (hike)

Height Gain: None

Time on Trail: 3 hrs. 12 mins.

Cedar Valley Rd: 10.00 am

Harlem Rd: 10.40 am

County Rd 42: 11.39 am

Forfar Stn: 12.06 pm

Hwy 15 Crosby: 1.12 pm

Temp: +17C rising to +19 C

Weather: Warm, cloud, bright intervals