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The mountain bike trail has been pushed a bit further from my home in recent years. Initially I had some concerns about this development, but it is growing on me. What I would consider a real mountain bike path is now about 8 km from the house, but it is rideable so I can't really complain.
There is a good stretch of what had been a path beaten down from use being widened and groomed. This removed the tree roots from the path, and fallen trees that you needed to jump over. There is now a nice wide gravel path that accommodates cyclists in both directions and runners and dog walkers. There are enough trees that you can get a break from the sun almost any time of day. You can see the river beside much of the trail. It is a nice stretch of a few kilometers that lets much of the community visit nature for a little while.
There are several rest areas built into the path. They are nothing fancy and each one is a bit different. I think the builders mostly succeeded in making these pause points fit into the environment.
The part of the river this trail runs along was once upon a time deemed a good place to build a series of transport locks. These were long dead when I lived in Newmarket for 3 years as a young boy in the 60s. Many days in the summer I would go and 'fish' with a friend or two. It is a bit hard to imagine a 10 year old being allowed to wander 10 km from home on their bicycle these days, but it was always a great day when you could go to the market and buy a plum, some berries or whatever and take off to sit on an old piece of concrete by the river eating your lunch. Many of these locks are now the location of river crossings that look grossly overbuilt. The locks themselves provide the support for the path bridges. Road bridges are built over top of the old lock. Most of the time, you have to actually know what they are to see them.
For a while at least, beyond the groomed path there is a trail that only exists because somebody decided to go in that direction. Then someone else followed, and over time you get a trail to follow. As people branch off and try something else you start to get an interesting network of linked sections that you can roam around in. Some of these trails require a bit more daring than others, and some will get your heart racing pretty good. There is mud to go through without slipping into the river. There is loose sand to throw off your grip. In places the trail has worn down around rocks that refuse to give. And there are plenty of branches and roots to test your resolve. Whatever you come up against, you want to keep moving so the mosquitoes can't catch up with you.
I've always been intrigued by growth along the river. The trees along the bank are always twice the size of the trees further away. They have these massive trunks that just beg to be turned into a fort. These are the kinds of trees that you could live in. The other side of their story is that they always fall into the river. Spring runoff erodes the bank. They get even bigger. They fall down. They do make good river crossings if you have a bit of daring. At least they did until paths got built. Now they mostly have to be cleared out so nobody tries to cross and falls into the river. You can still observe the phenomena, but you have to watch a bit closer.
Eventually the trail comes to an end. This one threatens to end at a relatively small feeder to the river. A few years ago there was a 2x6 at a particularly narrow spot. Then someone hefted a proper beam to use as a crossing. It doesn't get a ton of use, and to be honest there isn't much of interest on the other side. Still, it does beg to be crossed once in a while.
There are places to extend the trail. In some spots, it is hard to tell when someone else gave it a go. You can't be sure if you will find anything. The timid side says "probably not because if there was anything interesting more people would have gone and there would be a better trail". The adventurous side says "you never know, people often settle for the obvious and never consider what they might be missing". Give it a go and see what you find. Every trail has to be started by somebody.
It is hard to know how the trail will develop. There has been lots of work on it in the last few years. There is a promise that eventually it will run from Lake Simcoe to Lake Ontario. I expect to be long retired before that happens, but it has been interesting to watch the progress or lack thereof. It has stalled completely for ten years in the past. I would love to have a path over the Oak Ridges Moraine. |
