The Passionate Hiker: The K&P Canal

Mon. 21 August: The K&P Canal

Exploring the K&P Trail north of Tichborne

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

More wet feet!

It was just over two years ago (see ** below) that I first explored the section of the Kingston & Pembroke (K&P) Trail from Tichborne north to Sharbot Lake. Given all the publicity about ribbon cutting ceremonies next weekend to celebrate the completion of the trail, getting wet feet wasn’t what I had expected today.

I would estimate that the stretch of trail beween Tichborne and Sharbot Lake is only 20% completed, and they will be doing very well if they get it done by this time next year. There are stretches of trail that have been graded and covered with a white stone dust. But some of this new cover is already showing signs of erosion due to rain, and one new section of about a hundred metres was under water.

Between these new pieces of trail lie long stretches of untouched, overgrown, and sometimes flooded trail. The worst section, north from Bradshaw Road, lies under water, exactly as it was two years ago. Once again, I defied common sense and waded up to my knees along what looked very much like a canal, for the best part of a kilometre, with some short drier sections along the way. As I had noted before, this is going to require a heavy investment in rock or stone to bring the trail up above water level.

I reached the end of the completed trail, six and a half kilometres north of Tichborne, where it ends at a “private property” sign. Apparently the land has been purchased, but ahead lay a house and a gate. There is still lots to do before the trail is ready.

After biking back down Highway 38 to Tichborne, I drove up to Sharbot Lake and biked a few kilometres south along the trail. Some of it is paved, but there are missing sections, and it finally ends beside the highway at someone’s front lawn.

Altogether, it seems that this has been a very challenging project for some luckless project manager. I’m sure the job will get done, and it will be a magnificent route all the way north from Kingston, but as for an opening ceremony next weekend, it’s probably premature by about a year.

Good luck to the work teams as they finish the job. They are creating a very special trail. Once it is completed, it will rightly become one of the great trails of Eastern Ontario and will bring pleasure and wonder to countless outdoor enthusiasts in the years to come. What more could anyone ask for? Apart from dry feet, that is!