Challenge Hike #5

Another hike, another change. Despite great hiking weather only one other person joined our 5th challenge hike. We met Ron at the McDs in the Sault at 7am to carpool to the starting point at Cataract Falls. We got to Blind River in plenty of time to take a pit stop at Tim's still get to the falls parking spot in time for our 9am start. Once we arrived, we wondered around the parking area checking out the falls and the small rapids below, hoping that maybe someone else might join us there but to no avail. After 10 or 15 minutes we gathered in front of the Voyageur Trail trailhead sign, which was a bit banged up, to decide what to do. We could do a shorter hike in the direction originally planned but I had forgotten the map, so we really didn't know much about the area. The sign indicated the trail along Cataract Lake and had many viewpoints over the lake. It was a pretty easy decision from there. We decided to hike for 2 hours or so and come back.

So, we crossed over the bridge which spans this part of the Blind River and followed the road until we found where the trail goes into the bush along path where the gas line was buried. Up over the mound we went, talking about who knows what, it must of been interesting because we immediately missed the turn blaze and walked along a very wet and muddy track until someone realized that we could not see a blaze. Back over the wet and muddy track we went until we got to the top of the mound (which is about 20 ft from the road). A good chuckle and back on the trail we went.

The trail climbs up the ridge off the back of a hill that spans the gap between Cataract Lake and Lake Duborne. It didn't take to much time to get to the first lookout trail but it was headed in the opposite direction that had been indicated on the trailhead map. This side trail was relatively well marked with blue blazes so we decided to check it out. Occasionally we had to find blue blazes painted on the rocks, which were a bit slippery with all the rain that we have had over the past few weeks. Neither issue stopped us from getting to the unexpected and excellent viewpoint at the end. This lookout overlooks Lake Duborne and the road which we drove in on as well as the river. Although we could hear the falls, we could not see them despite the leaves having all fallen off but we did see the car in the parking area.

After taking some pictures and admiring the view, we headed back to the main trail. The trail contined to follow the ridge along Cataract Lake, through a maple forest. Since fall is coming to an end, all the trees were leaf-less, making the forest open and offering lots of glimpses of the lake. Soon we began to see a building across the lake from where we were hiking. We didn't know at the time what it was but it seem to be quite a sturdy structure for the remote side of the lake. At the next lookout we got a good look at the lake and the building which at this point we could tell it was some kind of generating station.

After hiking for another hour or so we came to the a road where another blue side trail heads towards the small hydro electric dam. Since we had been hiking over 2 hours and it was close to lunch time, we decided to walk down the road to the dam and have lunch there. This half kilometre road runs along side the lake shore and gives a great view of the lake and the generating station. We explored the area around the fenced off generating station and up the hill to the lake above where there are some makeshift camps and some cabins along the shore.

 After a lovely lunch we started heading back. I was a bit worried as a slip at the top of the hill had twisted my ankle. I suggested that we walk out to the road where the main trail meets the side trail and see how the ankle reacted. During the little walk, I realized that it only hurt when we were going down hill and figured that if I was extra careful that all would be well. Fortunately the trail is relatively level along the ridge. With a bit of care, we made it out fine. I was surprised that our trip back was still only about 2 hours but of course we had not taken the side trail on the way back.

We did have one interesting tangent on our trip back. We managed to find an old route down an embankment and we were already at the steep section when we realized that we had not been up this way. Obviously, this must of been rerouted at some point as once we reached the bottom of the steep drop we could no longer see any blazes. Rather than head back up we decided to see where it would bring us. We were close to the river and the road at this point and confident that it would not be too difficult to find our way back. This led us to our final discovery for the day. An interesting cave made by some naturally stacked rock and the cliff face.

It didn't take long before the old trail met up with the reroute and we were back at the parking area before we knew it. A few more pictures of Cataract Falls and then a drive back to the Sault, arriving just as the daylight was disappearing. We will have to keep this in mind for the next two hikes as the days are getting shorter very quickly now. Oh, and the ankle is fine.