The Passionate Hiker: Hiking Hazards

Sun. 24 July: Hiking Hazards

Our hike leaders give us a safety briefing at the start of our journey

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

“Panais Sauvage”! The words seemed to jump right off the warning sign.

Somehow the French name for wild parsnip has a more striking resonance. Either way, we were treated to a grand display of this rapidly expanding hazard as we started off along McLaren Lake Road this morning.

For hikers looking for a challenge, there is no finer test than travelling from one end of the Rideau Trail to the other, a journey of over three hundred kilometres, through often wild and rugged countryside. We call this challenge an “End-to-End”, and those hiking club members completing the trip are rewarded with a special badge to be worn with pride. This year, a series of “end-to-end” hikes has been organized by the three clubs which make up the Rideau Trail Association, allowing keen walkers to complete the whole trail this year, in manageable stages. Our journey today would bring us into the beautiful Town of Perth from the south, a distance of thirteen kilometres.

While this may have seemed to be a simple stroll through the woods and along backroads, it was not without its hazards. The wild parsnip soon disappeared as we left the road behind and plunged into the woods. We soon came to the Hunt Camp. Each time I pass beside this ramshackle building in a clearing in the trees, I half expect an angry hunter to emerge with a loaded gun warning us of the dangers of the woods, but luckily this has never happened! In fact, the hut lies empty for most of the year, and in hunting season we stay well away.

Our next hazard was our favourite footbridge, skilfully constructed by fellow club members a number of years ago, and now sagging alarmingly in the middle. With our party today were two young men with fully loaded backpacks, on a “test run” for a long walk along the trail. As they crossed the bridge I held my breath. The bridge held.

Other hazards along this route included a barb wire fence close to the path – which we flagged - and a few low hanging branches which we removed as we travelled along. And we knew always to be on the lookout for poison ivy. And as for ticks, enough said! They are always our greatest worry. But of course the biggest test on this section of trail is the boardwalk. This narrow pathway, only two boards wide, is a thin lifeline through the swamp. We spend so much energy keeping this link connected – carrying heavy cedar boards across the fields and through the woods, to replace broken sections, trimming the reeds and grass away from the route, keeping an eye out for the return of that hyper-active beaver. We crossed the swamp today without breaking any boards – or legs.

We emerged from the woods onto a side road where we heard a barking dog. This was the house where a fellow hiker had been surprised last year by two aggressive dogs. Holding my breath, I was relieved to see the owner taking a firm hold of his animal's collar as we passed the driveway.

Soon we turned onto the attractive-sounding Wildlife Road. Not so attractive today. This road, running straight across a wetland, was being widened and resurfaced. A few vehicles passed by, kicking up the dust as we tried not to breathe.

More farmers’ fields and pathways brought us into Perth, where our final hazard was the crossing of the busy Scotch Line road. This weekend Perth has been celebrating its 200^th birthday and the place was bulging at the seams. We crossed safely.

Don’t let me put you off. Despite all these hazards, walking along the Rideau Trail is much more likely to extend your life, not shorten it! See you on the Trail.