We found mud! Day 2 - Saturday 5 July 2014

Since we are hiking each section end-to-end, we always need to have transport worked out for the start and end of each day. For this section that meant dropping my car off at Westboro Beach and then we caught the bus at the busway heading west out to the intersection of Moodie Dr and Highway 417. Yes technically, we are walking this section from "Kingston to Ottawa" but we weren't fussed about that. The transportation worked out better that way and the map narrative is easier to read in the order that it is written in (ie. not reading it backwards).

The bus dropped us at an overpass in the middle of the Greenbelt. The bus driver must have wondered why we were getting off at that stop on Saturday morning. Perhaps people get off there during the weekday as commuters, but it is in middle of nowhere, with nothing close by, so I can't imagine it's a well used spot on the weekends! It was the perfect location though for us to start our hike that day because the Rideau Trail started only a couple hundred metres from the bus stop.  The trail paralleled the the 417 for a while.

 

In the middle of the Greenbelt, next to the 417 near Moodie Drive

Thankfully the trail veered north and away from the highway and eventually went along the Ottawa River. While walking along the Ottawa River Pathway we met a group of women who were probably in their 70's walking along with their hiking poles, chatting away and laughing about something. What an inspiration to see older women out enjoying a walk/hike! I can only hope that we're still hiking when we're that age!

We saw this sign along the trail. Apparently there was a problem with people chopping trees down?!!!

I can't say as I've ever seen such a sign before!

 We continued along, and the RT left the Ottawa River Pathway and went on to the trails around Mud Lake

A break from the pavement! Finally, a "real" trail!

Zuzka finds mud!

Mud Lake?! It was pretty enough. A wetland oasis right in the city of Ottawa. 

The RT continued along the Ottawa River pathway with scenic views of the river

Ottawa River with some sort of large bird.

We finished the hike with an ice cream at the Westboro Beach Cafe. They served liquor but we figured that 11:00 am was a bit early for a drink. Arguable I know, but we were being responsible.

Westboro Beach Cafe has a lot of rules. I think we managed to avoid breaking any of them.

Statistics:
Start point: 18H
End point: 19D
Daily Distance 10.2 km
Total Distance 17.8 km