Calm

At any time of the year, Merrickville is a lovely town to visit. At least, it is in the summer and fall.

I can't remember if I've been there in the spring and I have yet to visit the town, which is less than an hour from home, in the winter.

Last weekend, DW and I drove out to Merrickville to meet some friends, who live in Smiths Falls, for lunch. DW and I wanted to do some hiking before meeting up, so we arrived a couple of hours ahead to walk the Limerick Forest Trail, which is just a couple of minutes outside of the town.

There isn't much information about the trail online but we learned that parts of it can be inundated, especially in the spring. But because it's autumn, we didn't think we'd have any issues.

The trailhead is on Scotch Line Road, which narrows in a suburban neighbourhood and becomes unmaintained. It's part dirt road and part bare bedrock.

Less than 100 metres into the trail, we encountered depressions in the roadway that were underwater. It wasn't a problem because we could walk along the shoulder and keep our hiking boots dry. But less than a kilometre into the trail, it became a different matter.

A stream crossed the roadway, flooding the entire road. We tried keeping to the side of the road but at one part, there was no escaping the water.

DW, who was a few metres ahead of me stepped into what she thought was shallow water and discovered that it went over her ankles. Her hiking boots sunk below the surface and she instantly got a soaker.

"Thanks for being the Guinea pig," I said, "I'm turning around." We made our way back to the car and into the town.

In Merrickville, we still had about an hour before we would be meeting up with our friends, so we decided that instead of doing a hike, we'd wander the town. After all, we didn't need to walk on nature trails to get our training in.

We did end up finding a short nature trail, near the public library and a migratory bird sanctuary, which I already shared this week. But with about 15 minutes to kill before our rendezvous with our friends, we made our way to the locks.

DW and I haven't been at the locks, together, since our canoe trip in 2013. Seeing them again brought back some wonderful memories. We had made it to Merrickville in the late afternoon and rode the locks down to the bottom, where the Rideau River continued, but made our camp here.

That next morning, I remember waking up to mist on the water and warm, morning sunlight over our site. It was such a calm morning and I remember feeling at peace, ready to tackle the day.

More than 13 years later, I was standing atop the swing bridge, over the canal, and I saw a new calm morning, made warm by the autumn leaves. The still, mirror-like water was perfect.

DW and I have recently discussed the possibility of paddling the Rideau Lakes system, from Kingston to Ottawa, next summer. And this time, we'll do it in our kayaks.

And I hope that when we pass through Merrickville, we find the same sense of calm.

Happy Friday!