Back on the Manitou Mountain Trail

A couple of weeks ago, we were introduced to the Manitou Trail near Calabogie, Ontario, Canada. We were so impressed, but didn’t have enough time to cover a large portion of the trail network, so now it was time to go back. The weather forecast for this early November day was 10 degrees Celcius and sunny, which was perfect for the challenge.

From the trail map, we thought we could cover the 12 kms or so in about 3 hours. That was based on trecking at 5 kms per hour and plus time for breaks at the lookouts and pictures. The plan also called for leaving a vehicle at the Eagles Nest parking lot, and entering the trail from the Barrett Chute road entrance.

Hitting the trail at 1 PM, we should reach the far end by about 4. That would give us and extra hour before dark if the plan was errored. For the first 1 ¾ hours, the trail was single track, up, down and all around. The leaves were off the trees allowing the sun to reach us and the forest floor. It made for a nice bright walk with good visibility through the heavily treed forest. In short order we reached the first lookout, Red Arrow Rock. We could see the hydro dam at Barrett Chute, and part of Calabogie Lake.

The second lookout was Manitou Mountain, and it overlooked Manitou Lake. There we met another group with the same plan as ours except they were going in the reverse direction. We compared time-on-the-trail and it appeared we were proceeding a little slower than planned. However, we knew the later half of our route would be on some old logging roads that would be straighter with less up and down which would allow us to move along a little faster.

The third lookout was Eagles Nest which is the most well known one in the area. It overlooks Otter Pond which is really a small lake. There’s a 180 degree panoramic view looking west. The lookout also signified that the last leg was next, and our timing was good. The sun was beautiful and invited us to stay for what was going to be a spectacular setting within the hour. Unfortunately, that didn’t suit our dinner plans. 

On the last leg, we were working some soar muscles and commenting on a little fatigue. We met a couple of partridge hunters and heard some gunshots, it reminded us that the deer hunting season was to start the next day, and that it wouldn’t be wise to be hiking the area for the next 2 weeks. There are still some parts of the trail network that we have yet to see. We will be back for sure to cover those, the only question being whether it’ll be after the hunt and before the snow, or whether it’ll be put on the list for next year. Marlene was suggesting we take a picnic lunch and allow a little more time for leisure. For us, that means taking a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and some fruit. I can hardly wait. Maybe we’ll see you on the trail.