After a week off hiking, we had been anticipating this hike all week long and as always seems to be the case, the Rideau Trail didn't disappoint in giving us an adventure! To be fair, it wasn't the trail this time, rather the weather. Friday evening there was a massive thunderstorm in Ottawa, but the forecast for Saturday was still nice, +20 and sunny. Except I woke up to the sound of pouring rain in morning. So it would turn out to be a gaiters kinda day!
Rolla and I met at the parking lot of a mini-golf where we had started our hike last time. We had asked the owner if we could park there and he was more than happy to let us . He was friendly and very interested in our hike. Last time he told us that the route would be impassible, and today I told him that he was right. We made it through, but it wasn't a great route. Today he told us that the area we would be hiking through would be drier. So we parked and drove south down to a trailhead parking lot in Marlborough Forest. We would be hiking north through the Marlborough Forest for much of the hike today.
As soon as we got out of my car, into the rain, the mosquitoes swarmed in. Mozzies in September?!
You'll notice that both of us are wearing yellow jackets. Rolla's husband calls her jacket "Old Yeller" since she's had it for years and mine is "New Yeller" since I've had for only a couple of years. Old and New Yeller did their jobs today and kept the rain off us. It was so humid and warm though that soon we were both sweating underneath our hats, jackets and rain pants.
The trail wound through the dense forest and of course there were some water-covered sections. We were surrounded by water; trekking through the large puddles below and the rain came down pretty hard for a while from above!
We have seen many, many frogs along the trail. As you walk alongside the puddles they jump into water with a "plop!" and swim away. Here is one little frog that we saw along a drier section of the trail.
The trail through the Marlborough Forest changed into a rock/gravel road which was really good walking. However it was really, really pouring rain! Thankfully the rain started to let up and we even saw a patch of blue sky!
Even with the rain it was lovely walking through the forest. Walking through the trees, it felt like my "forest batteries" were recharged. I find if I don't get out into the forest regularly I just feel "off". It's so nice to be out in the peace and calm of the forest. Both us felt that we had missed hiking the last weekend and we were both happy to be out getting some fresh air and exercise. Thankfully after a few hours the weather turned in our favour and it stopped raining. Yay!
Today's hike had us crossing an active rail line and we even heard a train blowing its whistle when we were about a 1km away. Rolla was brave enough to stand on the tracks for a picture!
We had been walking in dense forest from the start of the trail until the railway crossing and then once we crossed the tracks there were a few houses. I was surprised to see houses because it felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere! The trail went along the road for a bit and then turned north onto a "farm track". I've become suspicious of when the trail is described as a "track" because it seems to mean that it's not so much a trail at all! In this case, there was a herd of cattle hanging out on the track. At first the cows looked cute poking their heads through the fence and they were scared and ran away from us. Then as we went closer, they started mooing menacingly and ALL of them turned towards us to stare us down and wouldn't move. I missed not having Kizza with us as she grew up on a cattle ranch and was telling us how she's somewhat of a "cow whisperer" (my words not hers!) We certainly could have used her skills!
Rather than tangle with the cows, we detoured along the fence of their pasture that went parallel with the track about 100 ft east until we passed the herd. Then we climbed the fence, cut through the brush east back to meet up with the track. The cows had scattered into the forest and we could still hear them mooing for some time but we didn't seem any more. Phew, we escaped having a cow incident!
Farther along the the track opened up into a field with an old homestead. The rain had stopped and there was a breeze keep the bugs away so we stopped for lunch. It had been too rainy and too buggy up until then to even stop for a snack. After hiking non-stop for a few hours our legs were happy for the rest.
After checking the map we realised we only had about 1 km left on the track and then the remaining 8 km of the day would be along roads. The weather was really nice for the rest of the hike, but the time passes more slowly walking along a road than on a trail and we can really feel the effect of walking on hard asphalt on our feet and knees. Plus, but the last couple kilometres we were pretty tired, so they felt much longer than the first few kilometres at the start of the day.
We did make it back to the mini-golf parking lot and were delighted to have cold gatorade waiting for us in the car. We went inside to let the mini-golf owner know that we had arrived back safely . He was happy to see us and told us that he had been thinking about us when it was pouring rain earlier in the morning. He asked whether we had hidden under a tree for shelter during the rain and looked very surprised when we said that no, we just continued walking along in the rain! As we left he gave us each a lollipop sucker that he usually gives for getting a hole-in-one. He said that even though we didn't get a hole-in-one, we still deserved a sucker! I meant to get a picture of him, but I forgot, which is too bad because he was such a nice man. We'll miss not seeing him at the beginning and end our hikes. But it's a great feeling that we're progressing farther and farther south towards Kingston with each day we go out hiking.
Statistics:
Start Point - 15B
End Point - 16C
Time - 4.5 hours
Daily Distance - 17.7 km
Total Distance - 70.4 km
Liquorice flavoured suckers mistaken for grape flavoured suckers - 2
Rusted out car wrecks in the middle of nowhere alongside the trail - 1
Rolla and I met at the parking lot of a mini-golf where we had started our hike last time. We had asked the owner if we could park there and he was more than happy to let us . He was friendly and very interested in our hike. Last time he told us that the route would be impassible, and today I told him that he was right. We made it through, but it wasn't a great route. Today he told us that the area we would be hiking through would be drier. So we parked and drove south down to a trailhead parking lot in Marlborough Forest. We would be hiking north through the Marlborough Forest for much of the hike today.
As soon as we got out of my car, into the rain, the mosquitoes swarmed in. Mozzies in September?!
 | |
| You can see the rain, but you can't see the bugs! |
The trail wound through the dense forest and of course there were some water-covered sections. We were surrounded by water; trekking through the large puddles below and the rain came down pretty hard for a while from above!
We have seen many, many frogs along the trail. As you walk alongside the puddles they jump into water with a "plop!" and swim away. Here is one little frog that we saw along a drier section of the trail.
The trail through the Marlborough Forest changed into a rock/gravel road which was really good walking. However it was really, really pouring rain! Thankfully the rain started to let up and we even saw a patch of blue sky!
 |
| Blue sky! |
Today's hike had us crossing an active rail line and we even heard a train blowing its whistle when we were about a 1km away. Rolla was brave enough to stand on the tracks for a picture!
 |
| Note Rolla's brand-new gaiters which were well used today. |
 |
| It's a fairly odd feeling having a herd of cows staring you down. |
Farther along the the track opened up into a field with an old homestead. The rain had stopped and there was a breeze keep the bugs away so we stopped for lunch. It had been too rainy and too buggy up until then to even stop for a snack. After hiking non-stop for a few hours our legs were happy for the rest.
 |
| Long sleeves. Long pants. |
After checking the map we realised we only had about 1 km left on the track and then the remaining 8 km of the day would be along roads. The weather was really nice for the rest of the hike, but the time passes more slowly walking along a road than on a trail and we can really feel the effect of walking on hard asphalt on our feet and knees. Plus, but the last couple kilometres we were pretty tired, so they felt much longer than the first few kilometres at the start of the day.
We did make it back to the mini-golf parking lot and were delighted to have cold gatorade waiting for us in the car. We went inside to let the mini-golf owner know that we had arrived back safely . He was happy to see us and told us that he had been thinking about us when it was pouring rain earlier in the morning. He asked whether we had hidden under a tree for shelter during the rain and looked very surprised when we said that no, we just continued walking along in the rain! As we left he gave us each a lollipop sucker that he usually gives for getting a hole-in-one. He said that even though we didn't get a hole-in-one, we still deserved a sucker! I meant to get a picture of him, but I forgot, which is too bad because he was such a nice man. We'll miss not seeing him at the beginning and end our hikes. But it's a great feeling that we're progressing farther and farther south towards Kingston with each day we go out hiking.
Statistics:
Start Point - 15B
End Point - 16C
Time - 4.5 hours
Daily Distance - 17.7 km
Total Distance - 70.4 km
Liquorice flavoured suckers mistaken for grape flavoured suckers - 2
Rusted out car wrecks in the middle of nowhere alongside the trail - 1
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