If you have been following our adventures, you know we are frequent flyers to Frontenac Provincial Park. This Mother’s Day weekend, we decided to hike a section of the Slide Lake Loop. The main loop is 21 kilometres, with a haul to the park office, making it way too big for my little guys legs to complete. So instead, listed on the Friends of Frontenac website, we opted for the Small Slide Lake Loop which we would access off the Rideau Trail off of Perth Road. This would be a more manageable 13 kilometre hike instead.
We are planning on hiking some major trails this summer, so we are in need of these longer treks to help train our son’s legs on what to expect. He has been very good at hiking some pretty difficult trails already, one being Cascade Mountain over Thanksgiving weekend last year.
We got up early on Saturday, prepped our gear, making sure we had water, food for lunch, extra snacks, emergency kit, first aid, and I even brought along some Purinize just in case we needed to refill our water.
The trail we started on was the Rideau Trail off Perth Road. There is a small area to pull off to the side, and there was one vehicle there already. We wondered if we would see anyone else on the trail today.
Up and down we went, as we got closer to the park boundary, there were signs of camping along the Rideau Trail. There is no camping permitted, but with campfire rings and charcoal trees, I was thinking that some people don’t follow the rules.
As we breached the park boundary, we come to the signage for the small loop. It seems that it was a victim of the wind storm that passed through the area a few weeks ago. Hopefully park staff will get around to fixing this sign.
It was a great place to show Hayden where we were located, and how far we will be going. At this point he did his usual complaining, but I tend to ignore it and just keep pushing on. If we gave in to him, we would have turned around and not completed this loop. That was not an option for me today.
The beginnings of this trail meander through fields, wetlands and old homesteads that are in the area. If you have the trail map, you can see all the symbols for these older homes.
The trail leads us to cluster #1 on Buck Lake (North Bay). Near this site there is also an emergency barrel that contains supplies like blankets, firestarters, and a few other items. Luckily we would not be needing any of these today.
As we continue through the trails and walk on very narrow rocks with water on both sides, we cross multiple rivers and creeks. I kept thinking about how I would love to sit in these during the summer and enjoy the cool waters rushing over me. I bet many hikers take advantage of this in the summer.
The trail continues to weave in and out of the rocks, and having a geography background, I just love looking down at the rocks and different features we cross. Of course you have to keep looking up to watch for trail markers. Even some had specific instructions as to “bear right” look for “ess turn”.
As we approach the two look out sections on the North West side of Slide Lake, we stop at the top of a rock outcrop to eat our lunch. The flies were minimal along the trail, but showed up while we stopped to eat. They were not biting, but just being a bit annoying as they buzzed our heads.
This area was up on the ridge and you get a spectacular view of Slide Lake. I’ve seen other people post pictures of the lake and finally figured out which section of trail they completed.
At this point we were just over half way, and my little man was feeling the burn in his legs, feet, body and mind. This truly has become a test of mind over matter for him. He even asked me “mommy, do your feet hurt too?” I just respond with a simple yes. But I keep walking and sing to myself as I push my body more. I know my mind is strong and I can forget about my feet, and I hope he learns how to do that as well.
This next sign was welcoming as it showed we had 1.5 km to get back to our junction point, then it was another 2 km from there to our vehicle. I was running out of water and there wasn’t really many places to fill up and wait for it to be treated. We passed a few creeks on this section, but the water running out of them was staining the rocks orange and there was a funky smell in the air. No new water for us at the moment.
I must say that we have crossed some interesting water features, but this one below took the cake. Not only do you have to lean onto the big rock wall, but you are walking across old downed trees that I would guess someone had placed there to minimize wet feet. I’m actually surprised that Dan did not get wet, as it seems when he is around water crossings it is bound to happen.
The last section was beautiful with big tall trees with fresh light green leaves all over them. We were entering another old homestead and farm section. I actually walked out to the fence to take a picture of the field that seems to be undisturbed for some time.
At this point, my water was gone, so was Dan’s, and we were done. We could start to hear the road and I was glad to be done. My feet were definitely feeling the burn of walking for almost 4 1/2 hours, covering 13 kilometers. Best feeling ever was sitting down in the car and putting on my flip flops! I know all you hikers out there can relate right now.
This trail was definitely something I would do again. I would attempt this during the summer where I could bring a swimsuit to enjoy the lakes and rivers. It would make for a full day for sure. I would even consider camping at cluster #1 and trekking into Slide Lake for the afternoon. I hope you enjoyed reading about this trail and that maybe you will go and enjoy it as well.
(on a side note: I did pick up some garbage along the way, which was definitely fresh. Please pick up after yourselves!!)