Rideau Trail Milestone

Rideau Trail Milestone

Today The Passionate Hiker was proud recipient of a badge, which marks his completion of the Central section of the Rideau Trail.  This section is 67.4 kilometres long, running from Lally Homestead in the South, to Rosedale in the North, via the towns of Perth and Smiths Falls.  I completed this section in a series of seven hikes between 29 June and 1 August.

My goal of course is to walk the entire Trail, and early planning is already under way for the southern section, much longer at 152.9 km, between Kingston and Lally Homestead, through the rugged and often isolated Canadian Shield country.

Blueberry Mountain

Sun. 10 August:  Blueberry Mountain

Blueberry Mountain, Lanark County's highest point

I’ve hiked up Raspberry Ridge, and into the Strawberry Hills, and today I would explore Blueberry Mountain.

Getting there was half the adventure today, following a rough map provided on the website for this area.  I had made an early start today, and so the road was empty as I drove through sleepy Lanark on my way north.  Turning left at the hamlet of Brightside, I followed the paved country lane into a different land – rolling forested hills and swampy valleys.  I was less than fifty kilometres from Perth, but this was a very different countryside.  I had entered the Lanark Highlands.

At Joes Lake, I turned right onto a gravel road.  The mist was rising off the lake, and a low sun was reflecting in the waters. I turned right again onto the Hills of Peace Road, a narrow lane which climbed up the hillside through the trees to my trailhead.  It was marked by a “Seven Wonders of Lanark County” sign, the last one on my list.

This is private land.  I had completed my waiver form at home, which I deposited at the trailhead kiosk.  The trail immediately climbed up the hillside along a pretty lane, through an avenue of young trees.  I passed a small swamp on the right, where the trail leveled off and continued in a northerly direction past another swamp.  A bench on the trail marked the point where the path turned left, climbing steeply up through the trees.  A short scramble brought me up onto the open ridge and the sudden surprise of a spectacular view.

From this rocky ridge I could see lines of similar flat ridges with valleys below them, with possibly higher hills far off towards the horizon.  On my vantage point were two perfectly positioned benches, on top of a sheer cliff.  Below the forest I could make out a lake with a white house on it.  This was probably Flower Round Lake.

It had only taken me twenty nine minutes to reach the summit.  Yet I felt on top of the world.  And indeed I was at the highest point in the whole of Lanark County.  A light breeze had sprung up, making this a very pleasant place to linger.  

After exhausting my options for scenic photos, including pictures of my shadow (early morning gives the best light, with the sun directly behind me), I returned down the trail.  While not attempting to race, it still only took me twenty four minutes to reach the car.  I signed the visitors book and drove back down the hill.

The start of this hike was fifty four kilometres from Perth.  I drove another hundred kilometres on my return journey, largely down well-graded gravel roads, exploring trailheads at Flower Station, Lavant Station, and Snow Road Station, on the K&P Trail.  There was very little traffic.  Some advice to the reader:  get yourself a copy of the Eastern Ontario Backroad Mapbook before you leave the main highway.  You can have a lot of fun exploring remote routes without getting lost!

Blueberry Mountain is a hidden gem.  I saw from the visitors book that it is not frequently hiked.  I was only the third person to sign the book this month.  The ridge lies on private land, and it is thanks to the generosity of the owner which makes such a magical outing possible.  And given the number of maple trees along the way, I will want to return this Fall.

Statistics:

Total Distance:           5.0 km (hike)

Height Gain:                  230 ft.

Max Elev.:                  1,000 ft.

Time on Trail:             1 hr. 12 mins.

Start:                           7.37 am

Top:                            8.06 am

Ret. to car:                  8.49 am

Temp:                         +10C and rising

Weather:                     Cloudless, light breeze on top

Early morning mist on Joes Lake

Trailhead on Hills of Peace Road

Reflections

Morning sunlight filters through the trees

From this point the trail makes a short climb onto the ridge

Heading up onto the ridge

Fine views from the summit

Artwork on the summit benches

The Passionate Hiker on top of the world (it seems)

Telephoto of Flower Round Lake from summit

Earliest colour:  summer won't last forever

Entranced

Fri. 10 June:  Entrance Ridges, Sheep River Valley

Since these ridges are on the very eastern border of Kananaskis Country, Mike Potter, in his book “Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies”, has called them the “Entrance Ridges”.  They are certainly entrancing.

The Entrance Ridges are ideal for early season hikes.  They run in a SE to NW direction, from the Sheep River road, where it crosses over into Kananaskis Country.  In an 8 kilometre circuit, one can enjoy much of what makes K Country so perfect for hikers.  This was also a good route for J to check whether his ankle had healed or not – and it passed the test.

Our route took us up one ridge and then back along another one, running parallel and to the east.  They are quite different.  The first, higher ridge, after an initial open grassy hillside, is mostly forested, but with some superb views west to the Front Ranges.  The eastern ridge, however, was mostly open grassy hillside.  The two are joined at the northern end by a col, reached by a steep, muddy path down through the trees.

Once on the second ridge, we first walked a few yards northwards, for a great view of the snowy line of Banded Peak, Mt. Cornwall, and Mt. Glasgow to the west.

About three-quarters of the way back along the second ridge, we reached the fence which marks the boundary between K Country and the Anchor D Ranch.  Here we followed the fence down off the ridge into a pretty valley – at least, until we reached the boggy section.  Here we detoured back into the trees and found a drier trail, leading back to the start.  

Lower down the fence-line we came upon a cowboy from Anchor D with his horse and two dogs, working his way up the fence, making sure it was secure.  A true Western scene. 

The day had started cloudless, but later, clouds started to form out of the blue sky.  For the first time it felt warm.  Spring had finally arrived, and the hillsides were full of colorful wildflowers.

Back at the car, we decided to drive up to the end of the Sheep Valley road.  We stopped at Tiger Jaw Falls, where the river was in full spate.  After rounding the tight corner at Indian Oils bridge, the river continued down a chute and round another tight bend into a wider pool.  

A family was enjoying a picnic by the falls, and a couple of horse riders ambled down to the river and across the bridge – giving lots of good opportunities for the amateur photographer.

Statistics
Entrance Ridges
Fri. 10 June
Total Dist.	8.5 km (hike)
Height Gain	640 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,180 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 24 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       7.56 am Top 1st ridge:  9.21 am 2nd ridge:       9.44 am Ret. to car:    11.20 am	Temp:+10 to +18 deg.C Warm and sunny, clouds starting to form

Head above the Clouds

Sat. 4 June:  Wasootch Ridge:  My head above the clouds

Today I stuck my head above the clouds – to find a nice sunny day up there.  Back in Calgary it had been a foggy, drizzly morning, and although it stopped raining further west, the clouds were still low as I parked in the Wasootch parking area off the Kananaskis Highway.  Yet somehow I knew the good weather wasn’t far away.  In fact it was about a thousand vertical feet above my head.

It didn’t take long to gain that height.  The trail immediately rose at a steep angle up the forested slopes to the lowest part of the long ridge.  Wasootch Ridge heads fairly straight for several kilometers in a southeasterly direction, rising and falling along a switchback ridge to the far end where a dramatic peak, over three thousand feet above the valley floor,  needs scrambling skills to ascend. I wasn’t planning to go that far, but I hoped to travel along the ridge until I was stopped by snow or by fatigue!

I climbed to the lower part of the ridge top, still in the mist.  A very steep section now followed – which was thankfully hidden from view in the cloud.  I plodded up the trail through the trees, blissfully unaware of the steep drop-off to my right.  Suddenly, above me a hazy sun shone through the cloud, and almost immediately the clouds parted to reveal a world of snow-clad mountain peaks sticking out of the mist.

A little higher up, as I came up to the higher part of the ridge, I was treated to spectacular views up and down the Kananaskis Valley, with the clouds filling the valley to about a thousand feet, above which the mountains rose into a mostly clear sky.  The most spectacular view was north up the Kananaskis Valley to an island in the mist.  This was the Barrier Lake fire lookout hill, which revealed itself as the perfect choice for a fire lookout, the mist accentuating its isolation from the peaks all round it.

Having reached the main ridge top, I followed the ridge for two or three kilometers as it rose then dropped several times.  The ridge was tree covered, but with plenty of good vantage points.  Higher up I had to negotiate some large snow drifts.  Luckily they held my weight. 

Even higher up, the ridge suddenly narrowed down to a knife edge, but one covered by wiry trees.  These hardy pines cannot be brushed aside as you walk past them.  They catch your clothing and tear your jacket if you aren’t careful.  Up here were great views down to the deep valleys which parallel the ridge on each side:  Porcupine Creek to the north and Wasootch Creek to the south, both leading to an impressive array of snowy peaks to the east.  The summit of Wasootch Ridge looked impossibly distant and inaccessible, even from halfway along the ridge.

Finally I came to the end of the main forested section of the ridge, at a point where it dropped steeply down to a snowy col.  I decided that here was a good place to stop.  I was on top of a cliff with a bird’s eye view down into Wasootch Creek and the avalanche slopes across the valley.

This is a strenuous trip, and I would not be surprised if many people only get this far, especially this early in the season.

I could see that the mist had risen out of the Kananaskis Valley, revealing the road and Barrier Lake below.  To the south and west were the snowy slopes of the Nakiska ski hill.  I was most of the way back along the high section of ridge before I met my first hikers.  It was two groups of about six people in total, one woman carrying her baby in a backpack.  The guy told me he had been up here two weeks ago when the snow was much more plentiful.  They hoped to reach the summit – good for them.

My MICROspikes were very handy in descending the very steep slopes all the way back down off the ridge.  A young couple was toiling up the hill.  Back at the car park a large organized hiking group of about ten people was getting its final instructions in readiness for an assault of the ridge.  As usual I had the solitude simply by getting up early.

Driving the short distance south along the Kananaskis Valley, I dropped into the bookstore at the Kananaskis Village to buy the second volume of Gillean Dafferns’ Kananaskis hiking bible – this one with a bright red cover.  Back in Calgary I found that it had only just stopped raining!

       View across to the Trans-Canada Highway corridor and Yamnuska behind

Statistics
Wasootch Ridge
Sat. 4 June
Total Dist.	9 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,000 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,450 ft.
Time	4 hrs. 20 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:      7.33 am Far point:      10.01 am Ret. to car:    11.53 am	Temp:  +4 to +9 deg.C Misty then sunny.  Dry under foot with a few isolated snow drifts

Soggy Elbow and Frozen Highwood

Sat./Sun. 28/29 May:  Soggy Elbow and Frozen Highwood

Two short trips in two days – but what a contrast.  On the first day I hiked through the snow up a ridge, on an overcast day threatening rain showers, while the very next day I was biking along a road under cloudless skies – but with temperatures only just above freezing.

The forecast for Saturday was not promising.  I was curious to see how much snow had fallen in the mountains over the past week, so decided to drive up the Elbow Valley road – opened two weeks ago.  There was some snow at the Rainy summit, and lots of new snow on Forgetmenot Ridge, hiding a little gloomily in the cloud.  

My first stop was at Elbow Falls.  I guessed that the water might be quite high, and I was right.  It was racing over the Falls with a thunderous roar.  M had told me she had kayaked over these falls recently, but today it would have been impossible.  It was a grand sight.  There was water everywhere, even running down the viewing trail which runs beside the river.  I noticed a very human rock face which looked to be guarding the falls.  It seems that the mountains are full of rocks and cliffs which have a human profile – unless it’s just a sign that I am spending too much time in the outdoors.

At the far end of the road, by the pedestrian footbridge, there was just one car from Saskatchewan which had been parked overnight.  The campsite looked to be deserted – not surprising given the rain and snow and cold temperatures.  Just as I was returning across the suspension bridge, three cars carrying a Japanese family party pulled into the parking area, one guy clutching a brand new map, and several of them wearing shorts.  Good luck, I thought.

Returning back down the valley, I decided to stop at Allen Bill Pond and hike up Fullerton Ridge – a route which C and I last did in 1993.  A large picnic party had assembled by the small lake, the families braving the threat of rain (it stayed dry).  

Passing under the road bridge by the rushing Elbow River, I soon came to a very soggy part of the trail.  In fact it looked very much like a stream-bed, and I only just managed to stay dry crossing the muddy and wet sections.  On Fullerton Loop I soon encountered snow on the trail.  A friendly hiking party of bikers (or quad drivers) came striding down the trail.  

The path climbs up a valley at a gentle angle, before crossing over the stream and climbing a little more steeply to the ridge top.  There are good views across the Elbow Valley to the Front Ranges – except that today the visibility was poor. But I did get a few sunny breaks.  The trail completes the loop by following a pretty tree-lined ridge as it drops back down to the valley floor.  Somewhere along that section I met the only other person on the trail, a girl with her two black Labradors.  This ridge gives a good bird’s eye view back down to the Elbow River and Allen Bill Pond.  There seems to be a small village hidden in the trees, where the park maintenance people probably live.

Safely back across the quagmire, I returned to the car, having remained dry – apart from my boots.  This was a soggy, snowy walk.

Statistics
Fullerton Loop
Sat. 28 May
Total Dist.	6.7 km (hike)
Height Gain	700 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,249 ft.
Time	1 hr. 51 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:     10.25 am Top:              11.34 am Ret. to car:    12.16 pm	Temp:  +8 to +11 deg.C Overcast, sunny spells.  Poor visibility.  Some snow on trail.

The next morning, Sunday, I was up very early, and was able to enjoy the 5.30 a.m. sunrise over the prairies as I drove south out of town.  I always enjoy the drive down to Longview, taking the short-cut through Turner Valley to bypass the road through Black Diamond.  It was a cloudless morning and there was a lot of new snow on the mountains and the foothills.  Entering Kananaskis Country, I could see that the Bull Creek Hills had a fresh snow cover right down to the road.  They had been almost snow-free a couple of weeks earlier.  The grass was bright green after all the recent rain.

Not surprisingly there were no other cars at the winter gate, it not being 7 a.m. yet.  There was, however, a large oil or gas truck parked by the road, for some reason or other.  Perhaps the driver had spent the night there before heading down the forestry road.

It was freezing cold, and I wore gloves and my wooly hat as I biked up the road beyond the winter gate.  The valley was full of elk and white tailed deer, very sensitive to my presence and disappearing rapidly over the hillsides as I approached.  One huge herd stood above me on the mountainside.  It must have been close to freezing here, as the sunlight had not found its way down onto the road until I had biked further up the valley.

Given the late snow cover, it was not practical to be trying to hike the mountain trails. This road was one way of getting into the magic wilderness without very much effort.  Two weeks previously, I had biked along this road and had been able to make it about 15 km up the Pass.  So I had hoped to go further today.  I was disappointed.  The recent snow and cold temperatures soon put a stop to my plans after only about nine km.  There was ice and snow on the road and further progress was simply impossible. 

I was in no hurry to leave this mountain wilderness and enjoyed snapping away with my camera at all the snowy mountain peaks which lined this magnificent valley.  The Highwood River was running high, and I would not have wanted to try a crossing today.  Returning to the winter gate I saw just one other vehicle, and its occupant readying for a bike ride up the valley.  He did not stop to ask me how far he might get, so he would have found out for himself soon enough. 

It was still a cold, but sunny morning, not yet 9 a.m.  How funny it might seem to many people that anyone would get up so early on a Sunday morning to bike in the freezing cold up a lonely valley, and 18 kilometres later, be completed so early in the day.  But why not?  The sun rises early at this time of year, and the morning is the best time to enjoy the wildlife, and you are guaranteed tranquility even on a cloudless weekend day.  I simply felt very fortunate to be there.

Statistics
Highway 40 from winter gate
Sun. 29 May
Total Dist.	18 km (bike)
Height Gain	600 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,560 ft.
Time	1 hr. 39 mins.

Other Stats.
Start bike:       6.52 am To snow:         7.47 am Ret. to car:      8.31 am	Temp:  +1 to +4 deg.C Cloudless, cold