Upper Works Ghost town

Upper Works Ghost town

After the hike on Sunday I decided to take some time to explore the ghost town at the trailhead. These are predominantly the old buildings from the Tawhaus club that operated in the late 1800s and into the 1900s as a fish and game club. Along the road – and a little deeper in the bush - are a number of slowly collapsing buildings. Just recently a brand new asphalt road surface has been put down on top of the old gravel roadway. This provides a smooth access to the ghost town.... I assume its for the hiker traffic as the ghosts probably don't care if the road is paved.

One of the buildings has recently been stabilized. This is the MacNaughton cottage where Teddy Roosevelt was vacationing in 1901 when he got the news that President McKinley was succumbing to his assassins gunshot wounds. He raced to the train station but arrived only to receive a telegram that the president had died…. Thus he took office. It holds some significance in US history so it is being preserved. Not sure of the preservation techniques however. I took a close look and the new siding (to replace the rotted out boards) is a pressed board siding... I don't think its historically accurate but I guess the important thing is its helping to keep the rain and critters out.

A little further down the road is the MacIntyre furnace that is also being preserved. This was a remnant of an iron works built here in the 1840s. The furnace towers some 60feet in the air and looks a little like a Mayan temple but is perhaps more a monument to the industrial age. It is kind of nice to see it enshrouded in the forest. In its day it would have consumed every tree for miles but Nature has reclaimed her own. It’s a nice example of a dry stone tower using massive stones. The flue and fireboxes are all mortared brick masonry. The preservationists are installing a high quality copper roof and rebuilding the brickwork to keep the water out. They’ve even installed a plexiglass arched roof (not original ;-) over the open chimney tops to keep the rain out. I wandered around the site for a short while and can see all kinds of remnants of the ironworks including the compressor and bellows for the furnace, a breached dam and other decaying structures. Definitely worth the time to explore some more the next time I come down.

Flowed lands
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Sunday I wanted to head up and hike somewhere in the Adk’s but I wasn’t sure what trail to do. Mike was going to the Santanonis but – while I’d dearly love to get 2 (or all 3) of these peaks off the list – I didn’t feel I was ready for this hike. It’s purported to be long and rough and, once you head in, there is little in the way of options. I felt I should go somewhere with more options in case I had a problem with the ankle that forced me to choose not to push to a summit. I flipped and flopped – maybe this… perhaps that… and finally on Saturday afternoon I chose Marshall. It provided me with a choice to enjoy Lake Colden and Flowed lands (low elevation) even if I didn’t go for a summit. This was also the summit Mike and I were headed to when I first injured my ankle…. so there was a score of sorts to settle.

I parked at the Upper Works trailhead and hiked into Flowed lands (pictured) under dark skies. Flowed lands are the remains of a lake, which sat behind a dam that was breached 20 or 30 years ago. Thirty percent chance of showers became 100% as I climbed and the clouds shrouded the peaks all day. After climbing the bouldery trail up to Flowed lands I made my way to the herdpath for Marshall. This herdpath is a beauty that looks very much like a west coast trail with thick dark evergreen forests and moss everywhere – it was a nice climb up. When I got to the summit however the rains started to fall more consistently. Light drizzle to start but heavier as I descended. The beauty of the trail quickly became a slippery, muddy mess, which took me a fair bit longer to descend then it took to go up... and of course the views were non-existent as the cloud level was quite low. Finally down I had lunch at Lake Colden and then headed back to the car – somewhat soggy but none the worse for wear.

In spite of the rain and tricky trails things went well so the ankle is healing nicely. It still feels “soft” and tweaks incredibly easily given some bad footing but it’s getting there. I probably won’t have a carefree hike until next year but I should have a good fall season this year as long as I’m careful.

Marshall - 31 of 46

Nippletop summit
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After Saturdays short (but successful) hike (and the evening rescue operation) I decided to try something more challenging on Sunday. I weighed my options and decided the right answer was a loop over Nippletop and Dial. The hike had all the right elements including some good bailout options if needed.

The day was overcast and cool (10C) – I must have missed all the hot hazy weather during my convalescence (that’s a shame ;-). Dark clouds filled the sky as I started but I gambled that it would clear up by the time I got to the summit (it never really did until I was driving home but at least it didn’t rain). The start was the walk up the Lake road, which – being a gravel road - was smooth and flat. Then the trail proper started uphill past Indian head to the Elk pass before the serious climbing began. The final ascent to Nippletop was really (really, really) steep - unrelenting steep for over a mile. At least the footing was good so I was able to climb well (albeit slowly). The summit was a gem with a good-sized balcony looking over the high peaks. I had some lunch and took a few photos before heading along the ridge to Dial. The rest of the walk was pretty easy. It was a gentle forest stroll with occasional (short) steep downs and ups… good walking.

By the time I reached Dial my ankle was starting to ache and it only got worse until I got back to the car. It forced me to slow down the pace and limited my mobility quite a bit as I descended the last mile or so. Seems like 5 hours is the current limit before it maxs out and starts to rebel… but hopefully with time that will get better. Today’s hike was 7 hours and change… not the longest but a good loop to be sure. I was hoping to do a few long hikes (10-12 hours) this summer but I may have to wait until later in the fall at which point some of the walk will be in the dark…no biggie as long as the things that go bump in the dark leave me alone.

Nippletop 30 of 46
Dial 29 of 46

Back to square one...

Hurricane firetower
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

I decided to head down to the high peaks to "test drive" my slowly recovering ankle and see how it coped with the mountain trails. Hurricane Mountian seemed like a good choice - the trail isn't too long (2.5 miles) and not too tough (although it does climb 2000ft). Add to that a nice open summit and it was a done deal. I drove down after lunch with a plan to summit in the early evening. For the most part things went well. I had to pay special attention to my footing at all times as the ankle still feels a little soft. There was a nasty stretch of trail that was loose and gravelly (tricky footing) but for the most part it was a great trail. I only tweaked my ankle twice and neither time was too serious. That said, having been off the mountain trails for 6 weeks meant that it was a pretty tiring hike. Legs and lungs were put under duress... but that's all part of it and the first step back to trail fitness is now taken.

After the hike, as I headed to Lake Placid I was flagged down by a group near their car. It was a group of students (pdf's) from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal whose battery had died while they enjoyed a hike. We tried to boost them with their wimpy light duty jumper cables but it was a no go (I don't usually put my good cables in the car till the snow flies). In the end I ferried 2 of them into town where we got a mechanic to call a tow truck to help them out. I like to think I topped up my good karma quotient with that save and - while I waited at the garage to make sure they would actually get a tow truck - one of the girls ran next door to the depaneur to buy me a box of cookies for my efforts... so there's that even if the karma thing doesn't pan out!

Island Park Bridge

Making the turn
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday night was a big night in Ottawa for civil engineering fans... of which I am one. I headed out to watch as the Island Park bridges on the 417 were removed and replaced by new ones all in one night. The highway was closed at 8 pm and then the old bridge was lifted by a hydraulic system and gently driven over to a nearby staging area where it was placed to be dismantled. A new section (built over the last two months) was then picked up and driven back into the gap where the old one once stood. The whole operation took some 16 hours and the highway was reopened to traffic about noon on Sunday. It was a real marvel to watch the 600 tonne bridge casually driven down Island Park and then - just as casually - a new section driven back up to span the gap. For the European contractor this was old hat but this was the first time something like this was tried in Canada so it drew a lot of "white hats" to inspect.

The event drew huge crowds (in the thousands) and bleachers were set up. There was a VIP area where large plasma TVs braodcast closeup details and appetizers were served... but I didn't order my tickets in time for that area. For the rest of us "fans" we stood outside the fenced off areas and marveled at the sight and enjoyed snacks (for a fee) from the snack trucks. There was much applause as the bridges started to move... but then people didn't know where to applaud after that - kind of like the symphony where a pause in the music gets a smattering of erroneous applause only to be greeted by more music. Some folks stayed all night but by 2 am most of the significant lifting had taken place and I headed home to get some sleep. Again - this hardly seems like a trip to the woods but Hampton Park does have a lot of trees, and paths, and animals, and things so maybe...

Test walk on the Rideau Trail

Monarch on a thistle
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After leaving the crowds of the Montreal race weekend I drove just north of Kingston to camp and get ready to do some hiking. With the recovery of the ankle going slowly I decided to ease into it with a few sections of the Rideau trail. I hoped this would be slightly less demanding trail and I could evaluate how my ankle was doing. I recently got the newest version of the Rideau Trail guidebook and noticed there were a few relocations of the trail in the southern portion so I thought I would check them out.

The RT has a wide variety of conditions along its length from bushwalking and swamp crossings to hydro easements or farmer’s woodlots and fields. I took a nice stretch south of Sydenham to start and walked through some farmer’s fields to a hydro easement. The new trail was a bit spotty to navigate. The grass was pretty tall and there hasn’t been too much in the way of trailwork so it was sometimes tough to be sure I was on the trail at all and not just bushwhacking but every now and then a trail marker appears to remind you that you are still on the right path. At one point I was stopped by a herd of cows passing through the bush in front of me. They actually flanked me and soon surrounded me! They passed me by with little more then a sideways glance. This was good as, while I have seen my share of cowboy movies, I’m not actually sure I know how to “punch those doggies” in practice.

By the end of the day I had tweaked my ankle more then was probably good for it so I’ll have to give it some more time before I hit the rugged mountain trails. Back to the bike for a while longer yet.

A day at the races

Lining up for the start
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Okay, not exactly a trip to the woods but I decided last minute to make a trip to the Busch Grand National race at Isle Notre Dame. Of course several famous F1 drivers claimed to be concerned about the wildlife on the island. In both cases they incorrectly referred to groundhogs as deer(?!?) and beavers…. so maybe it’s a trip to the woods after all. The day was perfect – hot, sunny weather – great for sitting in the grandstands with 70,000 friends and watching a race. The racing was also quite good with a lot of clever strategy, a hometown (province?) hero (almost), and some great controversy that made for a fun race to watch. Of course – being “closed wheel” racecars - there was a fair amount of bent sheet metal and frayed nerves, which also adds to the fun. I’m sure Montreal race fan enjoyed the inaugural event and will be back for more next year.

Did a fair amount of walking around the track over the course of the day although the trails on the Isle are well paved so my ankle held up well. At the end of the day I met up with a friend who lives a few minutes from the south shore metro stop and we grabbed a bite and relived the racing action as the sun went down.