We covered about 16 kilometres on foot today, starting out this morning with the intention of walking about half the distance my husband rides on his bike to work, up the Ottawa River trail towards Kanata. His whole journey, one way, is about 25 km and he usually manages that distance in just over an hour, pedalling hard.
To reach his half-way-to-work point in a more leisurely manner (he's on holiday at present) took us about three hours, and then we deviated to Lincoln Fields for a pub lunch before catching the bus back to town (we also had to walk home through town). We enjoyed it so much that we'll probably do it again before long, either in the other direction from Lincoln Fields back to our house, or from the Kanata end to Lincoln Fields which would take us through the Britannia Beach district.
Anyhow it made a super walk for a summer morning. The route we took today led us below Parliament Hill and up the hill by the Chaudière Falls to the War Museum, then along the river bank past Remic Rapids and a couple of beaches. Plenty of benches tempted us to take a rest on the way; after 6km or so we sat for 20 minutes on one near the stone sculptures talking to another couple who regularly cycle along this trail.
The river level is still very low, exposing large extents of bed rock and gravelly sand, but the shore is not quite as dry as it was before the recent heavy showers which have turned the grass by the parkway green again. Water lilies and globe flowers were in bloom in the shallows and families of geese (practising their circuits) and herons were much in evidence all the way along.
On some short sections there's a chance to walk beside the bank away from the cyclists and speed skaters along the remains of a former trail. Less well maintained than the main trail, these deviations are only suitable for walkers––plenty of benches on those stretches too, though, under shady trees.
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