Grand Trunk Railroad Tunnel Hike, April 14 – 2007

Saturday, April 14, 2007
12:00 – 14:30
Start: 12:10
Roads: Dry / Clear
Visibility: 24km
Temp: +6C
Area: Canal Seaway Property
Vehicle: Suburban
Weather: Overcast
Trail Conditions: Mud
Hikers: Chris, Tori, Wolf, Three Dogs
Plan: get out and get some exercise, see the Grand Trunk Railroad Tunnel this year
—> Red Nose Hike <— We parked the truck behind the GM plant 2 on Glendale avenue. The trails were very busy with ATV and ‘ute drivers enjoying the somewhat warm weather and mud to play in. We hiked along the stone road until it veered off into the woods which had some very deep mud puts which we walked around. Then down a large muddy hill to which Chris had a difficult time getting down. HIKES WITH CHRIS ARE NOW CALLED “RED-NOSE HIKES” BECAUSE HIKING WITH HER IS SO MUCH FUN AND SHE ACTS LIKE A CLOWN MOST OF THE TIME WITH HER ANTICS ON THE TRAIL. After Chris slipped and fumbled down the steep trail, we found ourselves at the mouth of the old Grand Trunk railroad tunnel built in 1885. Unfortunately several years ago the seaway bricked-up this large and beautiful tunnel, however vandals have wrecked the bricking and allowed us access to the tunnel again. As we went into the dark tunnel, Chris tripped a few times over the uneven floor, we did not bring a torch. After a few mins into the tunnel, we headed out and took a couple of photographs with our HP 315 digital camera. We ascended a steep rocky roadway to find large timbers all cut up laying at the top of it. Perhaps the seaway has removed them from the tunnel to hope it will collapse and keep people out of this historic site. We could hear the constant hum and whirr of ATV’s and dirt bikes off in the distance. After resting for a bit on the timbers we headed out towards the old canal which was turned into the dam. I showed Chris the collection pond and explained how when it is drained in winter you can see the old locks from the canal. We walked to t he edge of the dam and could see the old car still in the shallow water below. Rusted and decayed by the raveges of time. Brian and I paid and up-close visit to the car last year. We went around the big Sound Dam as you can walk over it, then up a steep hill on the other side of the canal. We took some photos of myself and Lupis. There was someone off in the distance who took several photos of us up on the hill. We found this very irritating. We found no continuing trails on the east side of the canal so we made our way back and over towards the “Siren dam”. As it is called. We hiked along the west bank of the canal for a bit and saw some fo the old canal parts, lock doors and cement mushrooms used to tie-off ships in the 1800’s. We passed the old lock parts and went back-up to the dirt road then started to follow it back to the truck. Morgana got a large thorn stuck in her front paw Tori removed it. We stopped at a look-out point to see even more old parts of the locks. We continued on and arrived back at the truck. Tori wore her Birkenstock calgary boots black pants and red shirt with her hiking jacket. Wolf wore his faded glory boots and gaiters, with work cover-alls and no hat. Chris wore Nana’s black boots, black pants, floral shirt and a purple knit jacket. The hike went fast and well. We would have enjoyed it more had we not heard the constant wine of dirt-bikes and ATV’s on the trail. As we were leaving, we saw several ‘utes coming out of the mud areas – just covered in thick mud from 4x4ing. There was also a dog in the one truck, a kind of pit-bull who was running around and all covered in mud and soaking wet.