Vankleek Hill and the Prescott-Russell trail
In Hawkesbury, the day is a perfect 22 C with a breeze floating across a cloudless sky. I cycle to Vankleek Hill since, on a day like this, there is no excuse to use the car. It's about 9 km south. A few people have warned me it's all uphill and Highway 34 is dangerous. However, most of the ride is quite doable. Traffic ambles along at 80-90 km an hour. It's noon, so there's no rush. Then again, rush hour in Hawkesbury is a 30-second wait at most, in general.
There are no bicycle racks that I can see on Main Street. Despite this, plenty of people are out riding their bikes. Perhaps no one thinks of locking them up here. It's a town of about 1,000, where farmhouse silos are just up the road. I remember going to a farm in nearby Dunvegan and locking my car. The farmer laughed at me. "Expecting a break-in around here?" he said. The snow was two feet deep. Guess he had a point. Urban reflex...
Vankleek Hill as a whole must have more artists, musicians and artisans per square meter than any other town in the province. I'm not sure if this is because of its reputation as the "gingerbread capital of Ontario", with its many well-preserved Victorian houses. Before leaving the village, I visit the Arbor Gallery. I've grown fond of this venue, as it often displays good taste in its choice of artists in my opinion. Jungle-coloured and stylized paintings by Wendy Tillett catch my eye. There's also a display by Michael Cartwright called "Pick your own nose", composed of fridge magnets in the shape of blue noses. It's a play on words about the Blue Nose ships. He's also selling keychains. I buy two magnets, in different shades of blue. Apparently this Victoria Day weekend will be a madhouse, as it's the annual May Show, with artists and concerts everywhere in town.
On the way back to Hawkesbury, since I'm in no hurry and it's beautiful out, I look for the Prescott-Russell recreational trail, built along an old railway line. It'a a multi-use trail 72 kilometres long and passes through Hammond, Bourget, Plantagenet, Vankleek Hill and St-Eugène. Eventually, the plan is for the trail to stretch all the way from Ottawa to Montreal.
I find the old Vankleek Hill station. The published of the town paper remembers standing on the platform here. Now it's gone, along with the trains and tracks. There's just a green and white structure with a sign.
The trail is paved on this particular stretch. I cycle forth, surrounded by green and birdsong. Farms line either side of the trail. Inevitably, with the hot sun warming the ground, the pungent fragrance of manure assails the nostrils for quite a stretch. I try to tell myself it's organic and it smells like horses, but my nose rebels. Some of this may be sewage sludge from the Hawkesbury waste treatment plant.
I veer off the trail, heading north again. I find a familiar road going east: Borris. Then I see a paved road heading north. This is Cassburn, aka Highway 11. Dogs bark dutifully as I whiz past, three of them sheep dogs guarding merinos and goats. Inexplicably, I frighten two cows away from a fence. They trot toward the relative safety of the farmhouse. Perhaps they had a traumatic run-in with a cyclist in the past.
Finally, I hit Highway 17. I'm just west of L'Orignal, which is Hawkesbury's tony sister now. It has a public beach, though locals shake their heads when I mention I'd like to swim there. Given the untreated sewage being dumped into the Ottawa River from the Quebec side, and Hawkesbury's non-compliance with sewage dumping guidelines from the Ontario ministry of the Environment, they are probably right.
No town in the surrounding area seems to have a good extensive public waterfront. However, L'Orignal has a marina and a waterfront park as well as the beach. There's also a marina in Hawkesbury, as well as a park on Ile du Chenail, the Island between Québec and Ontario. The Ontario side has a business with kayak rentals to go up or down the Ottawa River. Most of the river's shoreline, however, is privately owned in both provinces.