Bang! Bang! - Day 7 - 20 September 2014

This morning we arrived at the trailhead parking lot on Roger Steven's Drive in the Marlborough Forest and couldn't believe our eyes - there were already 3 cars parked there! Just as we arrived a man and his dog came and then just a few minutes down the trail we saw two more people each with dogs. I guess that's where people walk there dogs on Saturday mornings (when it isn't pouring rain).

Cars in the parking lot!

 This is the same parking lot we started at last week and it was completely deserted then. This time we would be walking south towards Burritts Rapids because I couldn't bear the thought of finishing the hike in this mosquito infested parking lot! Although I didn't think to take a photo of it, I would like to note that there was a "no hunting" sign at this trail head.

The trail was in very good condition and not far along we went past a nice pond that I think was a constructed wetland. Thank you Ducks Unlimited! Rolla and I had a conversation about how Ducks Unlimited is an interesting organization in that it promotes conversation so that people have animals to hunt. Maybe we should have taken this as a sign that if Ducks Unlimited was doing conservation work in the area, that it would be used for hunting.

The trail was often a double-track gavel road that was in very good condition compared to most that we have hiked upon so far. We heard the "bang bang" of a few gunshots. A sound that has become familiar after hearing it frequently during our last few hikes. I guess we really are out in the rural Ontario! A ways along we came to an intersection and came upon a group of men wearing hunting camouflage and one guy had an orange hat (safety first!). They were hanging around the tailgate of their vehicle and had their gun leaning up against the tailgate (eek! Even though I'm from Alberta, I'm not used to seeing guns around). I was totally shocked to see people hunting here. I thought that a) hunting season didn't start until Oct 1st b) there had been a "no hunting" sign at the trail head. After thinking about this, I think that sign only applied to the small conservation area near the pond.  We were both a little unnerved to be walking through the forest when we knew there were people hunting, but we continued on.

Somewhere along the gravel road we missed the turn off for the Rideau Trail and didn't realise until well after, but after looking at the map we realised we weren't too far off course and decided to continue along the road and then hook up with the Rideau Trail further along. This was the first time we had lost the Rideau Trail and it was totally our fault because we were so busy chatting that we weren't paying attention to the signs. Today was really turning into quite an adventure! Thanks to our excellent navigation skills (when we're paying attention) we caught back up with the trail with no problem.

Farther along there was a lovely section of trail that people had put some time into maintaining and even made their own sign for it!

Somewhere past this section we saw a beautiful big grouse. It ran away before I could get a photo though. Not long after that we heard a whistle and then someone shouted "hunters!" so I shouted back "hikers!". It turns out we were just metres away from a father and son with their dog. The man was rested his rifle against the front of his chest/shoulder, so I figured he looked like Elmer Fudd. Both of them and even their dog had on orange hats! It was very cute.  They were quite friendly so I asked them what they hunting and they said grouse. Go figure! They also said that today was the first day of grouse hunting season. uh-oh. There were going to excited, un-practiced, trigger-happy hunters out there.

Because tomorrow is the Army Run, I had decided to wear my Army Run t-shirt (also because it was supposed to warm and muggy, so I wanted a top that was breathable with long sleeves). The shirt is Canadian Disruptive Camouflage Pattern (CADPAT), and I also happened to be wearing a khaki hat and kahki pants. Needless to say, except for my light blue pack, I blended in well with the forest. I wasn't feeling too safe about this, so I threw my bright yellow rain coat over my pack so that I would be a bit more visible. The trail continued along sections of the double-track gravel road and then it turned off onto a less well used track. I decided that to be even more visible I would turn my shirt inside out because it is white on the inside.

Am I visible?

Not far along this track, pretty much just inside the treed section you can see in the background of the above photo, we heard "crack, crack, crack". Gunshots that were so close that it was a "crack" sound instead of a "bang". I've gotta admit that I, Zuzka, was scared (that doesn't happen very often and I admit it even less often!). I figured it wasn't worth it to walk through the forest and take an unnecessary risk just to stick to the Rideau Trail, when after a quick map check I realised that we could go back to the gravel road and that would take us out of the Marlborough Forest and out of hunting territory. We only had about 5km left in the hike and we would be hitting rural residential area soon. So we re-routed and went back to the safety of the gravel road. However, we soon came upon three young guys clearing empty birdshot casings out of their guns at their truck. There were about 4-5 empty ammo boxes strewn about. I think those guys just about jumped out of their boots they were so surprised to see us come walking along that road! I asked them if they had any luck (since obviously they had taken quite a few shots!) and they said they had seen 5 grouse, but hadn't gotten any. Yikes, I'm so glad that we didn't go through the forest because they obviously weren't very accurate shooters! The gravel access road soon led us to a parking lot on a main gravel road and there we surprised 2 older hunter men who were having a picnic on the tailgate of their truck. Again, I think we scared them walking out of the forest on the gravel access road! They were quite cute and reminded me of my Grandad. I'm pretty sure their wives had made them a nice picnic lunch complete with a thermos of coffee/tea and nice little cups to drink from. aww :-) 

The trail finished off going along an overgrown, wet snowmobile track and then through some fallow farmers fields and then we walked through the hamlet of Burritts Rapids, an historic town on the Rideau River with some locks and finished on the south side of the Rideau River. Burritts Rapids is in the next municipality, we had finally left Ottawa! It has taken us 7 days to walk out of Ottawa. Seeing the results of the amalgamation of the Ottawa and Carleton municipalities first hand really makes me wonder how the City of Ottawa can try to govern and provide services to such disparate, diverse and far-flung residents.

Rideau River. The first time we've seen it!

Historic Community Hall in Burritts Rapids

Burritts Rapids was established by Col Stephen Burritt and his family in 1793. I like to think that this was his house!

Swing bridge over the canal, so if a tall boat comes along it swings (rather than raises) out of the way. Built in 1897.

We finished the hike just on the other side of the bridge and as has become tradition enjoyed cold gatorade in the parking lot.

Statistics:
Start Point - 15B
End Point - 14A
Time - 3 hours 45 minutes
Daily Distance -  15.3 km
Total Distance - 85.7 km
Number of hunting rifles we saw - 4
Number of guns that looked more like a military C7 than a hunting rifle - 1
Lesson learned: Always check the start dates of various animal hunting seasons

What Rain? - Day 6 - 6 September 2014

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 can see the rain, but you can't see the bugs!

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!

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!

Note Rolla's brand-new gaiters which were well used today.

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!

It's a fairly odd feeling having a herd of cows staring you down.

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.
 

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

Lessons Learned - Day 5 - August 2014

The map shows today's route as having many long, straight stretches. I thought that meant it would be a lot of walking along roads. The map description mentions the trail going along a "track" in a few sections. It also mentions that one section of the trail is on a  "road allowance" (<-- what is that?) and that it may be "overgrown in muddy in places". ...if only it had just been mud!

We had a guest star hiking with us today, my friend Kizza joined us for the day and little did she (or any of us!) know what we were getting in to! It all started off nicely walking along a gravel road and we made really good time.

We shepherded this turtle into the ditch as it had picked a dangerous spot in the middle of the road to sun itself.

Then the trail turned on to the "road allowance" that started off with this sign

"unopen"? aka "closed"?

Not far along was this bridge made specifically for the Rideau Trail users :-)

But then we came upon lengthy sections of the trail that were completely under water.

We didn't find much mud, but we did find lots of water!

 I felt bad because I had told Kizza that we would be walking on roads so she wore her running shoes and had to hike through this "puddle" that was probably about 2 kms long in running shoes - but she didn't complain once!  Thankfully the trail dried up after a few kilometres of wet and we turned on to a snowmobile trail. I learned that in the summer, snowmobile trails are covered in long grass, which we were completely unprepared for, only wearing shorts.

Kizza breaking trail through the grass.

Other sections of the trail were also quite overgrown.

Yep, that's the trail. Can't you see it?!

Walking though long grass and brush for hours really thrashes your legs. Especially when you're allergic to grass and every time it scrapes against you, you get red welts that swell and sting. 

Kizza, Rolla, Zuzka.  Guess who's allergic to grass?!

The trail did have some really nice views today though and it is always nice to be out hiking in the forest, even if the conditions are less than ideal. We had a really good time out today and it certainly was an adventure! My lessons learned are:

1. Just because the trail is straight on the map, it doesn't mean it will be easy-walking on a road. 

2. Wear long pants and long sleeves to protect arms and legs

3. Don't hike in the afternoon, it's too hot. 

4. Read the trail description on the map while planning the route. 

5. My hiking buddies are awesome! Neither Rolla or Kizza complained at all today!

 

We finished off the hike enjoying some cold gatorade that I had left in a cooler in my car. We certainly deserved it after the hike we had! We've now hiked over 50 kms. Only 250 to go until Kingston!

Trail Marker on a beautiful snag. I always think back to learning how important these are to ecosystems in ecology class. Click the link for more info :-)

Statistics:

Start Point - 16C

End Point - 17D

Daily Distance - 15 Km

Total Distance - 52.7 Km

Maps!

Here is a general map of the Trail courtesy of the Rideau Trail Association.

 
The Rideau Trail Association http://www.rideautrail.org/ publishes awesome maps on fancy waterproof paper with the trail marked on one side and then a narrative about the trail on the back. There are 19 maps in total and they have waypoints marked on each map to use as reference (ie. 18C). I bought these maps in the spring and consult them regularly to plan the route and then refer to them frequently while out on the trail because there are lots of intersections and trail tends to jump from singletrack to the shoulder of a highway then to singletrack, then to double track, so the maps come in very handy.

Here is a map of the entire trail with the 19 maps overlaid. Here is the link to this map which is easier to see on the website http://www.rideautrail.org/maps/IndexMap.html

We're very indebted to Rideau Trail Association for making all the maps and ensuring that the RT is well-maintained and that the trail has access across private and public lands. Thank you!

Hike Night - Day 4 August 14 2014

After having to change our route last weekend due to the traffic jam at Moodie Dr., we decided that we would go back and hike the section we had missed on a weeknight as it was close enough to drive there and not that long of a hike.

It was cool and rainy so it was the first time we've been out hiking on the trail when we didn't need sunscreen. Thankfully because it was cool there were virtually no mosquitoes out, so it was actually a really pleasant evening out on the trail, especially because the rain held off for the most part.

Technically we only have 269 km to make it to Kingston because we have already hiked a 9 km section south of this sign.

This section of the Rideau Trail went on more of the Stony Swamp Trails and it was lovely walking through the forest.

On some sections of the trail we walked right on the edge of suburban condos and then just a few minutes further down the trail we came upon farms. I always find it surprising how Ottawa transitions so quickly from urban to rural.

Then we made it back to some familiar territory.

Hello Hwy 417 and Moodie Drive exit.

The trail definitely took a less than direct way to get to the north side of the Hwy 417-Moodie Dr intersection. It meandered through fields and skirted a forest.  For the first time on this hike (and I suspect not the last) we crossed train tracks.

We walked past the Ottawa equestrian grounds which I believe were the cause of the traffic chaos last Saturday. On this evening there were only a few deer munching on the grass.

We finished off our this section right as darkness fell and then headed home. Not too bad of a way to spend a Thursday evening! I don't think we'll be able to do this again though because our next sections are too far out of town.

Statistics:
Start point - 18C
End point - 18H
Daily distance - 10.9 km
Total distance -37.7 km

It Started with Cows. Day 3 - 7 August 2014

After meeting at 8:00 to get an early start to the day before it became too hot, Rolla and I drove in our cars out to the intersection at Moodie & the 417 to drop one car off and then we would go together in another car to our start point, south along the Rideau Trail. As we took the Moodie exit off the highway there was a traffic jam. At 8:15 on a Saturday morning. Huh? We waited on the off ramp for 15 minutes making little progress. I had thought maybe there was construction or an accident. But as we inched along, it looked like there was some event and all of Ottawa and Gatineau were going to park in a field at this intersection. We cut our losses, turned south on Moodie, met up on the side of the road and planned our new route. Cause we are dynamic, problem-solving public servants and that's how we roll.

We left Rolla's car at an NCC parking lot and realised that we would be starting somewhere on a rural country road with no parking, so I promised to myself not be too shy to ask a farmer if we could park on their property. Good luck had it that right where we wanted to park at the back of a dairy farm, there were some people standing around at the front, so I drove up and explained that we were hiking the Rideau Trail and asked if we could park along their access at the back of the farm. They were kind enough to oblige, so we parked and started on our way.

It's the first time I've ever started a hike at a barn.

Rolla with the cows. Moo.

The trail was actually on the shoulder of the road for quite some time, but it was a very quiet road and we saw only one vehicle and about five road bikers. And quite a few cows.

Zuzka with more cows. They looked like happy cows. Moo.

We continued along the road and came upon this unique mail box / address post combination. The property was not only a farm but also had a welding shop. The sign post made me think of something my Dad would make. He always made lots of metal stuff for us when my brother and I were kids including a raised outdoor fire pit that actually looked like an alien spaceship landing craft. It was awesome!

Dad, this one's for you!

The RT then (thankfully) left the road and went along a tractor track on the edge of a corn field.

Alongside some corn. Check out the red triangle trail marker on the tree at the left.

The respite from the road was short-lived though and the trail went back to a very busy road this time. There was a new subdivision off the road, so there was lots of traffic. Not really the nicest place to walk along.

Walking along a busy road.

The final section of the trail for the day went into the Stony Swamp area of the Greenbelt. I was so happy to be in the forest and on proper trail until I realised that there were mosquitoes. Lots of them! We had intended to do a longer route but because we did a last minute re-route our hike was a lot shorter than planned so we finished our walk for the day part way through the Stony Swamp trails.

We had to resort to long sleeves in the forest because of the mozzies. Next time I'll remember the insect repellant!

Next time we'll the do the section of trail from Stony Swamp north to Moodie Dr 7 & the 417 that we had originally intended to do. We're really not being very strict about adhering to the Ottawa to Kingston direction of hiking or doing it in sequence but I'm not very bothered. In the end we'll walk the entire trail regardless of what order we do it in or whether we walk it north to south, or south to north.  Just a few days in and we're already having some good adventures and getting to see some parts of Eastern Ontario that I wouldn't have otherwise seen. The section of trail we walked today wasn't very well used and we didn't see any other hikers at all!

Statistics:
Start point - 17D
End point - 18C
Daily Distance - 9 km
Total Distance - 26.8 km
              

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