EtoE #5 - Long Sault CA. to Hwy’s 35/115 2015-6-01
E2E hike #5, June 1st 2015.
Place: East bound hike from Long Sault CA. to Hwy’s 35/115.
14 hikers shuttled from our meeting place (Hwy’s 35/115) to Long Sault and the start of our hike to Hwy’s 35/115.
Three inches of rain had fallen on the trail over the preceding weekend which nicely dampened the sandy sections of the trail so our passage didn’t stir up dust.
The air temperature was cool at 12 deg. C. with a high cloud cover and light winds.
An ideal day for a hike!
The section of the trail covered by this hike consists of forest trails, road allowances and both hard and gravel surfaced country roads.
The trail was easy to find however there were several long sections with no blazes in evidence. In the absents of blazes, there was an occasional large ORTA trail sign to confirm we were on the trail. The section of trail to the east of Mosport from Boundry Rd. to Darlington Conc. 8 could be improved with additional blazing.
The weekend weather apparently brought down a few branches in the forest between Sandy Hook Rd. and the Scugog-Manvers Townline. The attached photograph shows the worst situation but the E2E hikers were up to task, rolled up their flannel shirt sleeves and dragging the limb off the trail …. all the time, and in unison, singing a chorus from Monty Pythons ‘The Lumberjacks Song’.
The weekend rain created the occasional large puddles of standing water with slipper mud the but the stream/swamp just east from the Darlington-Clarke Townline was surprisingly easy to cross on the rickety planking.
Considering the amount of rain that had recently fallen there were very few mosquitoes but we decided to eat lunch on the grassy knoll beside Mosport Rd. to minimize feeding the bugs.
After lunch we pushed on through the beautiful Old Swap Road forest that leads to the Leskard Rd.
Then north to Skelding Rd. and the rolling hills that lead east and the growing sound of speeding vehicles on Hwy 115.
Near Hwy 115 the trail heads north, a large steel gate bars the way to vehicles but there is plenty of space for the agile hiker to either scale the gate or Limbo under it.
We reached Hwy’s 35/115 at 1:10PM having covered the 18Km. in 4 hours, including stops along the way.
