The weather was less than stellar. A lot of rain. I mean a lot. I figured it was the universe testing my resolve. So, after sleeping a little later than planned, I was up far too late last night mucking about, I got up. I heard the rain. I saw the rain. I heard the sump pump running constantly.
So, in order to "prepare", I had a couple of coffees. Following that I reviewed my gear. I knew I was not fully prepared. Contrary to what I tell our Scouts and other people about being equipped to be outdoors, I went anyway.
Fortunately, as I was preparing to leave I could hear birdsong. To me that is usually a good sign about the weather clearing up. Now the trails I would be on, that would most likely be another story. I expected to hit mud, washed out sections, slush, and deep snow. I was going anyway.
So, after my coffees and a couple of trips to the can, I strapped on my black cadillacs, a Canadian Army euphemism for combat/field boots, and jumped in the truck to drive to the trailhead. By the time I got the the trailhead, the rain had subsided.
Well, the little parking lot was encased in ice with a thin layer of slush. Not very promising. Looking down the start of the trail it was all ice and hard pack snow. I do not have any crampons yet, so I started down the trail with a sense of foreboding and trepidation. As they say, "These boots were made for walking!" Not skating. Fortunately, my boots are not high heeled like Nancy's.
the parking lot, my truck in the corner, i am all alone
the ditch at the entrance to the parking lot
that is a lot of water flowing
I crossed the threshold, passed through the gate and the trail was hard packed and a bit icy as well, but I was not slipping and sliding. Not so bad so far. It was fairly easy walking, even with the smooth hard pack. The trail was cut in a few places by run-off streams, but they were tiny. One just needed to step over them. This trail follows the eastern shore of a pond, but I took the fork to the western side. This fork is actually part of the Rideau Trail and the pond trail links up with it at either end to make a loop.
the trailhead, the start of something great and wonderful
the trail right after the gate
just after forking over to the rideau trail, the pond on is on the left
I approached a small bridge that goes over a spillway from the pond. There was quite a bit of water flowing under the ice. I still expected washed out sections and deep snow at this point.
a view of the pond from the bridge, still frozen over (view to the east)
the view on the other side of the bridge, enough water flow to keep the ice down (view to the west)
the spillway under the bridge, always a lot of debris at this choke point
Just past the spillway, the trail enters the woods. It is quite peaceful and the only sounds I can hear are my boots crunching in the ice and snow and my stave piercing the crust. When I pause to look a round, I can hear some geese flying overhead and some cawing, which I presume are crows. And, unfortunately, traffic on the main road.
No fresh tracks from humans so far, but the rain earlier may have made it difficult to see new footprints, but I doubt it. Not many people like to hike in crappy weather. The trail is gently undulating and there are a few little bridges that cross larger, year-round stream and boardwalks that cross over most of the areas that flood regularly.
a pretty little bridge on the trail, i almost lost my water bottle at this bridge
a view to the east from the bridge
a view to the west from the bridge
I made my way to the fork that led me back to the pond trail and made the approach to my favourite place to stop on this loop. It is a shelter with a small clearing and a gentle slope down to the pond. The roof of the shelter is now pretty dilapidated and does not keep precipitation out. I have to remember to contact the city, as they administer this area of crown land, and see what can be done to put on a new roof. There is plenty of deadfall cedar that could be cut lengthwise for roofing. Maybe it could be a project the Chief Scout Award candidates from our Scout Troop could tackle.
the approach to the shelter
below a couple of shot of the shelter
a view of the pond from the shelter
another shot of the pond at what I presume is the water's edge
the dark hump in the middle is, i believe, a beaver lodge
So, I decided to pause for fifteen minutes for my break, and breakfast. I took a couple of layers off, so I would not soak myself with sweat, and had a fig, some raisins, and some of my water, the bottle of which I recovered from the creek at that wooden bridge. At this point, I had been hiking, with the occasional pause, for about forty-two minutes. My Google Tracks app, told me that, at this point, I had walked 1.73 km (a little over 1 mi.) and had paused for about six minutes over this whole leg of my hike.
my stats so far
Unfortunately, I could still hear the traffic from the main road. As to nature, I only head the occasional cawing and dripping and flowing of water. It was actually very quiet. As they say in the movies, almost too quiet. But it was a gloomy, wet, foggy, and cold day. Most of the animals would have gone to ground. I definitely saw no signs of humans, either by sight or sound. I saw some pretty fresh tracks of canines and I think wolves, way too big to be a dog. Definitely not coyote, which is odd, but no coyote scat, which is easy to recognise. Break over, I headed back on the trail.
the trail leading from the shelter
As I am hiking down the trail and looking around, I see some new tracks. Deer tracks I presume, but when I get home and check my book on animal tracks, I am not so sure. Our area has white-tail deer, but the tracks are not quite right. Now I am not an expert, but they look more like mule deer. Mule deer are not indigenous to Ontario. The closest they get to Ontario is at the junction of the US-Manitoba-Ontario border and near the western edge of Lake Superior. Now, I did see a roadkill dear once not too far from this location that to me and the person I was with definitely looked like a mule deer, but I have never heard of them in the area. What the tracks could have been was elk.
Elk are not indigenous to this area either. However, elk were introduced in various areas in Ontario, including way down the other side of the Ottawa Valley. There were also elk farms in this area, where they were raising them for meat. I do know that many have escaped these farms. I have actually seen one just outside of town and the guy who swears we saw a dead mule dear has even seen them in the area as well. No, we were not drinking.
So, I was looking at the tracks a little more closely, but foolishly I did not take any pictures. The one set of tracks that I thought were wolf tracks, I was no longer sure. They looked more feline than canine. It may sound crazy, but I think those tracks were either of a bobcat, lynx, or cougar. The range of bobcats and lynx overlap in this region and there have been sightings. As to the cougar, again, there have been many sightings in the area. Try finding any photos though. I know, probably a longshot. Next time I am out I will try to take pictures if the tracks survive.
map showing sightings of cougar from the ontario puma foundation (website defunct)
plenty around these parts
So, no worries. Down the trail I go. The second leg is a faster walk, although it is not much shorter. Fairly flat and open. I take the second leg in about twenty-five minutes for a leg which is only about 100 metres shorter that the first leg.
the end is near, the trailhead from the trail side
The whole time I do not see or hear anybody or anything, except for a few birds. No fresh tracks, those deer/elk and bobcat/lynx/cougar/wolf tracks are pretty fresh, probably less that two days, maybe less than one. Wait a minute, fresh tracks. Heading towards me, how did I not see them. Wait, this is where I doubleback on the trail to get to the road. The other person probably took the fork to the right before I came down. Hey, they have the same boots as me. Hey, what a dummy, they are my tracks. The great outdoorsman!?
Anyway, after a chuckle at myself and a headshake, I get back to the trailhead. Check my stats, 3.36 km (just over 2 mi.), just under one hour and twenty minutes to do the loop. Max speed, wow, 12.24 km/h (7.6 mph). Not bad, max speed up to the shelter was 8.1 km (5 mph). That is my normal routine, the second leg is always faster.
stats for the whole walk
a little weird as i stopped for 15 min at the shelter
mind you i did not really sit still
Lucky me. No rain while hiking. When I got back in the truck and headed off to the plumbers to pay the bill, it started drizzling. Lucky me. After the post office and the library, where I picked up a dozen books on canoe routes, it was wizzing down. Lucky me. It was 5°C (41°F), good temperature for a hike, although my truck told me it was +3, still a good temp.
Tomorrow's forecast? a low of -19°C (-2°F) and snow. Oh boy, I cannot wait!
my route
not sure why the loop is not closed
i will muck around with it next time on the trail
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