Showing posts with label trans canada trail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trans canada trail. Show all posts

Monday, January 26, 2009

Winter Walking

We live very close to a section of the Trans Canada Trail, which supposedly stretches from sea to shining sea. It's a great idea although it's pretty discontinuous. Around here, for example, your would have to travel for about a half hour by car until you could pick up the next section. Pedestrians and snowmobilers share our section in winter, bicycles replacing snowmobiles in summer.



Although the trail is close to us, we don't get around to using it very often, Sunday being only the second or third time since the winter began. We often turn a little chicken in winter when there's usually no reason to fear the weather. Or should I say we turn turtle and stay inside our warm shells?

This weekend the temperatures have been below negative ten Celsius or in single digits on the Fahrenheit scale. While that is cold enough for almost anybody and more than cold enough for many, the problem that I sometimes have is overdressing. I layered up too much for our Saturday stroll around town, for example; I wore three layers on both top and bottom, and it was too much. So, for yesterday's walk along the trail, I held back just a little and was quite comfortable. I know it seems odd to worry about being too hot when it's so cold out, but, sometimes, I tend to overcompensate. However, we're sensible, for as you can see from the photo below Cuppa is still well-bundled.



Unfortunately, they're building a new access road right beside the trail (which is an old railway bed). They've been building the bed for months now by dumping load after endless load of rocks, and the foundation is just about completed. Once they build a bridge over this little stream (see cranes behind Cuppa), they'll be ready to pave — in the warmer weather, of course.

We haven't managed to use our snowshoes yet this winter. We had planned to get away to the cottage when by back decided to act up, so we stayed home. We won't get away for a while now because we're expecting grandbaby #2 to make his entrance into the world anytime now, an dwe need to be around for support.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

At The End of the Trail



A small potion of the Trans Canada Trail lies only a long block away from our place. The trouble is that its westward progress ceases very abruptly right here. In fact, I can't think where it might resume again. I rather suppose that one is to follow the highways for a while and pick up the trail about 30km south of us. In reality, I don't suppose anyone ever does that, but what the heck, it still gives us a bicycle path toward the east.

Oh, it's not that great a trail near here, not by a long shot. It just doesn't traverse any noteworthy scenery. Nevertheless it is a viable route for us to follow if we want to go for an un-trafficked pedal.

As I said, it's not very scenic around here, but the following farm at our natural turn-around point, makes for a fairly nice setting, especially when the sun is westering. What the picture doesn't show, however, is that the surroundings aren't too very grand considering there is a highway not too far off the right side of the photo.

Bike Path Farm

The Ottawa region is fairly loaded with trails, and one could probably take this one for a long way ... if one was younger and fitter, that is.