Rideau Blog

If you are on the water, near the Baxter Conservation area during a summer week-end, you can actually order ice cream on the water. Just look for a pontoon boat called the Ice Cream Float, pull your boat up along side, and order your favorite ice cream treat. The gentleman that owns the Ice Cream Float, has been selling ice cream on the water for the past 8 years, and seems to be out there every nice day during the summer. I don’t think that he will actually pull up on the beach and sell ice cream, but if you have a canoe or kayak, you can paddle out to him to place your order

This morning it was a perfect morning to go out for a paddle on the Rideau River. It was a beautiful spring day, there was not a cloud in the sky, and there was absolutely no wind at all. As usual, there was hardly anyone on the river this morning, which meant that it was good opportunity to see wildlife.

This morning was no exception, and I saw a turtle warming up on a log, geese and ducks, a Blue Heron, and lots of other birds and fish jumping. I have included some of the photos below, and as you can see I was able to photograph a nice variety of wildlife for just a one hour paddle.

I also find it great that I was able to take all of these photos inside of the city of Ottawa itself. Of course the city covers a fairly large rural area, but in many cities you would have to drive hours to see wildlife like this. In Ottawa you can take photos like this, and then paddle into down town and go to a museum, stop at an art gallery, or go shopping. There is just a great mix of urban and rural in the city right now, and I hope that it stays that way as the city continues to grow.

Today I decided to get the kayak out and go for a paddle on the river. It was a little on the chilly side, but I put on some neoprene gloves and a wind breaker.  The warm clothes, combined with having to paddle hard against the current, managed to keep me very warm.

The river is still pretty high from all of the recently melted snow, and is running very fast. It was surprising how strong the current was in areas that usually do not have any noticeable current in the summer. I have been kayaking for many years, and I also used to white water kayak, but I decided to stay close to the shore as much as possible. The Rideau is not that wide, and I did not expect to flip over, but if something did happen, it was going to be a chilly swim.

It was great to get out on the river again, and I saw lots of ducks and geese along the shore. There were also lots of pieces of wood, logs, and I even saw part of a dock. I guess that the high water, is causing more things to be floating down the river that you would see in a normal year.

In the loast and found department, here is a dock that is sitting at the South end of the Long Island in Manotick.

If you live in the city of Ottawa, and want to know if you are in the flood plain, the city of ottawa has a great online map. You can find it at the following link. To use it, you need to have java enabled, and enable the flood plain view since it is not enabled by default.

After you log in, you can zoom in, or just enter your address, and it will automatically zoom in on your address. Once you have zoomed in, just click on the 2008 Draft Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw radio button, and you will see the flood plain on the map.

I am sure that the map is getting lots of hits from people living along the Rideau, Jock River, and and South of Manotick. It turns out that part of my property is in the flood plain.

This year we received close to a record amount of snow, and it has been a little colder than normal recently.  Of course, this means that there is still a large amount of snow left to melt. The current weather forecast is calling for weather well above zero for the rest of the week, and we are also going to get rain.

because of this, there is a very good chance that there will be flooding along the Rideau some time this week. The people managing the river are going to be busy this week, and the RCVA already issued a flood advisory last week. That advisory warned of flooding, but that was on March 28th, and I am sure that it is looking worse now than it did last week.

The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has done a good job of lowering the level of the river recently. Near Manotick, it is lower than it has been all winter which is good news. Hopefully, that will be enough to prevent flooding, but I think that the water is still going to get pretty high. There is also a large amount of ice in the river too, which will probably only make matters worse, since it could create ice dams.

I have been talking to people that have lived in the area for some time, and they tell me that the closer you are to a dam, above the dam of course, the less chance there is of flooding. This is why it is worse in places like the Carleton Golf and Country Club, which is in the flood plane and far from the dam in Manotick.

In any case, it could be more interesting than the big thaw that we had earlier this winter.

I do enjoy winter, and I even went north for a winter vacation, but this is going to be a long one even for me. We are close to a record amount of snow, and it looks like there is some more on the way. I am now looking forward to getting the kayak out, and also going boating again.

Having said all of that, I did go cross country skiing again today, and it was kind of interesting. We received some rain this week, and it has created a thick crust on top of all of the snow. You can actually walk on top of the snow, and not sink at all. If you go skiing on an open field you can go really fast and cover much more distance than you would if you were skiing in powder. Unfortunately, the existing trails are not that great since your skis get stuck in the grooves.

At least it isn’t ice or slush, and it is still a great way to get some exercise, but I am now ready for spring.

When it comes to winter, there are the people that participate in winter activities, and those that just hibernate all winter. I am part of the second group since I definitely love winter sports, and this past winter has been perfect for skiing and skating. It started snowing early, and we have had plenty of snow for most of the winter.  It has also been cold enough to keep the snow and ice from melting, but it has not been so bitterly cold that it is tough to stay outside for very long.

The days are getting longer and there is also more time to enjoy the nice weather.  Last week-end I went skating on the Rideau Canal in the morning, and then went cross country skiing in the early afternoon. I got back from skiing around mid afternoon, and then sat out in the sun and had a beer.  For me it just does not get much better than that.

Cross country skiing is also such a great sport. It allows you to get out and enjoy the fresh air, and if you push yourself enough, it must be one of the best exercises around. It is relatively low impact (unless you hit a tree), and it seems to use every muscle in the body. I have been skiing on a regular basis this winter, and I think that I am in the best shape that I have been in a long time.

The snow will probably be all gone in a few weeks, and I am starting to look forward to my summer activities such as kayaking and boating, but I am hoping that the great ski conditions will last longer than normal this year. Sorry hibernators, but I am sure that you can handle a couple of extra weeks of watching T.V., or reading a book by the fireplace.

The past few weeks have just been great for skating on the the world’s largest skating rink, the Rideau Canal. This time of the year, the temperature during the day is just below freezing. This temperature is perfect for skating on the canal since it is relatively warm, but the skating conditions are great since the ice does not get soft. The ice is also very smooth and the entire canal is open for skating.

If you are thinking about going for a skate on the canal, now is the time to do it. The weather is perfect now, but we probably only have a couple of more weeks before it will too warm for skating. So go out and skate for several hours, and then have a coffee and a Beavertail to warm up. That is what we did, and we really enjoyed it.

I went for an early morning skate on the Rideau Canal this morning. Getting an early start is nice since there are fewer people on the canal, and it is easier to find parking. Of course there are some drawbacks to being an early bit since most of the services are not open until around 10 a.m., and it will be colder in the morning than it will be in the afternoon. Because of this, it is a good idea to bring a backpack for your boots, and a thermos of something hot.

The Canal surface is a little bumpy, and I think it will need to be flooded a few more times before it will be really good. You can currently skate from Bank Street to Sommerset, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes in each direction. It was snowing a little bit this morning, but not enough to cause any problems. It is supposed to warm up this afternoon to a few degrees above zero Celsius, and it should be a perfect day for skating by mid aternoon. As you can see from the photos below, there were already many skaters on the canal by around 9 a.m., and I expect it to be pretty crowded by this afternoon. Of course even when it is crowded it is still fun, and some people prefer going when there are lots of people.

You can also look at the Rideau Canal Map, for more information.

The Rideau Canal is open for skating, but we received about 5 centimeters of powder last night, so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and to go cross country skiing instead. The conditions were absolutely perfect since the temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There was also no wind, and it was extremely quiet on the portions of the trail that went through the woods.

I could go on describing the conditions, but I think the photos below say it all.