Megan has been visiting from Ottawa for the last couple of weeks and we decided to go out on a small adventure. As we knew in advance that the weather was going to turn we decided to try a trail just outside the city that is referred to as
the BLT, or the Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Trail. It was a section of rail line that passes through Beechville, Lakeside and Timberlea, which is how the trail got it's name. The rails are now pulled up and it is a beautiful hiking path that runs for miles.
As the terrain was half muddy and half icy we decided to bring along trekking poles, which proved to be a very excellent idea. We had planned to only walk a few kilometers so that we could get back before the foul weather started.
Minutes after starting the BLT you pass under the highway, and the bridge is beautifully painted with many animals that you can encounter on the trail. We didn't spot any of these, but our trip did include some wildlife spotting- which I will get to later.
The moose seems to have fared the worst, as her part of the bridge has cracked and chipped away, while the happy little fox in her den seems quite content.
On the other side of the bridge is a happy little bee and a blue jay.
I decided not to take photos of the paintings inside the tunnel as this is a family forum and I couldn't help but feel inadequate next to some of the stick figures in there.
A little beyond the bridge you come to this sign:
This is a side trail called
The Bluff Trails which are just as much a destination as the BLT. The sign recommends that it is for experienced hikers, and that you should expect 3-6 hours per loop- and there are four loops.
We didn't have that kind of time, so we decided to just venture in a little ways and see what it was like. It was very much a woodland path, versus the wide open paths of the BLT.
Almost immediately upon starting the Bluff Trail we encountered this sign:
Fortunately, neither Megan nor I is idiotic enough to harass wildlife (mostly), and especially not extremely powerful and dangerous wildlife like bears and moose, so this sign wasn't necessary- at least not for us. Of course, I was tempted to steal the sign and let Nature take it's course, but apparently that is a bad thing...
We decided after a few hundred meters that the footing was perhaps a bit risky, so we decided to turn back. We will definitely visit these trails again when the weather is nicer.
Getting back on the BLT we enjoyed seeing the hand hewn rock jutting out from the snow, cut over a century ago when the original railway would have been built. Maybe century old hand hewn rock doesn't seem that special to those of you in Europe that have millennia old Roman coins littered around in your gardens, but the thought of men taming this absolute wilderness with nothing but basic hand tools is absolutely astounding.
Me being me, I decided to venture out on the ice even though Megan insisted that the government testers had claimed that the ice on the lake wasn't safe. The lake, called Cranberry Lake extends as far out from the BLT as the Bluff Trail does, and I would very much like to paddle it this summer- assuming I can figure out how to get my boats here without the trailer I carry them on since the parking lot sign says no trailers allowed.
Returning to Terra Firma we continued up the BLT for a while and enjoyed the sun. The temperature was hovering around the freezing mark, but the sun made us very comfortable and happy.
We passed many signs illustrating the types of plants in the area, although as you can see from the next photo we didn't actually see most of them!
This one amused me to no end.
For some reason my mind kept changing it to Tamrack and I belted out "Tamrack and Jalad at Tanagra! Tamrack- his arms wide open!" and giggled loudly. Megan just looked at me like I was an idiot, and she was probably right, but smurf it, I am who I am. For those that don't get the reference, shame on you, but here's what I am taking about.
Anyways....
Moving along we eventually got hungry and stopped at a picnic area off to the side of the trail, and I pulled out my small isobutane stove and started to boil water for lunch.
This would be a great opportunity to test
the new Gerber ComplEAT which I was very much looking forward to. I had brought along the Alpine Aire Mountain Chili as I don't recall having had that one before.
I used the Gerber ComplEAT spoon while Megan stuck to the Light My Fire spork. I have to say, I was pretty happy with the ComplEAT, although you can read all about that in the ComplEAT thread I linked to above.
We continued our hike back and Megan walked right past what was, to me at least, one of my absolute favorite wild animals.
Few other animals embrace my philosophy in life as much as the humble porcupine- leave me alone, let me do my thing. I won't bother you, you don't bother me. However, if you decide that you want to harass me, you are going to be very sorry, and have no one to blame but yourself.
They don't look like much in the pictures, but in person those spines are sharp and barbed. The porcupine doesn't get upset when threatened, they just stick this spikes straight out and whatever happens, happens. Your move smurfhole....
As I said, Megan had walked right past him, and I may have too, had I not intended to take pictures of the adorable choo choo train mile marker signs.
I love porcupines and feel that they are some of the most adorable animals you will ever see, and in Canada you see them a lot. This one had a large number of spines missing from his backside, so I can only imagine someone's dog is costing a lot of money at the vet this weekend.
After bidding a farewell to our prickly new friend we headed back to the Jeep and managed to get out before the skies turned grey and the rain started to fall.
Great timing and a great hike, even if we did only manage about 5kms. I figure with the slippery and uneven footing we managed a pretty good distance!
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