Walking Paths in Kingston

Exercise during COVID isolation.

Susie and I have isolated ourselves since the middle of March so we are a few days over two months since we had to change our social habits.  I don't know about anyone else but the first month seemed like three months, and the days seem to go by faster now.  I suppose that it has been accepting the social restrictions that has made the last few weeks less onerous than the initial weeks.  Here is how my life has changed.  There are just the two of us in our household, and that has meant that we are each other's company for the duration.  Isolating ourselves from others has not meant staying indoors all day, every day. In normal circumstances, we got our exercise in social settings- Susie in YMCA exercise classes and me playing hockey or ball hockey.  With imposed isolation our exercise had to be solitary or preferably something that we could do together. While the weather was still cold, our daily exercise was walking and with the onset of warmer weather, we have been able to ride our bicycles as an alternative. 

Our initial walking routes were those that we used frequently over the past several years.  A favourite has been to leave our house and walk through Polson Park and the St Lawrence College area into Lake Ontario Park, then to follow the shore of Lake Ontario past Providence Hospital and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.  From there we returned through Queen's West Campus, then up by Calvin Park Public Library and then home via the walk-throughs of Calvin Park.  This loop is about 8 km.  While this walk is really pleasant, it got a bit boring so we explored every interesting walk within a reasonable distance of home.  If you look at a map and place our home at 10 Holland Crescent in the middle of a clock face and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour at 5 o'clock you can follow the routes that we have discovered. 

At ~7 o'clock is King Street West, which we have used to access LeMoines Point Conservation Area to the west and then the start of the Rideau Trail at the west end of Lake Ontario Park.  We have walked Rideau Trail per se up to Bath Road, but have also found a number of side paths toward the wetlands to the west that are interesting alternatives.  From ~10 o'clock on Bath Road we have gone westward as well as northward.  To the west is Arbour Ridge Park.  You can take it from Tanner Drive all along the creek and under Centennial Drive and into the wetlands north of Meadowbrook Park.  It is also possible to cross the train tracks over to Taylor-Kidd Boulevard.  From there it's a sidewalk stroll to the Via Rail Station, which is ~11 o'clock from our house.  From the Via Station there are numerous ways to get back home.  The one we never use is the Princess Street Overpass because of all the traffic noise.  Just beside Princess Street to the northeast is a section of the Rideau Trail along an abandoned road that takes you back to Princess at Parkway.  From that intersection the Rideau Trail runs south to Bath Road.  This is an interesting path because there are many side trails into the the wetland to the west, and toward Balsam Grove and Grenville Park to the east.  There is even a connection in Balsam Grove toward Grenville Park via the south end of Hawthorne Avenue.  Another way to get from the Via Station to Princess Street is to cross the railway on John Counter Blvd then go across Little Cataraqui Creek.  As soon as you come to William Hackett Park there is a paved path along the creek and through a wooded area to Princess Street and Parkway.

From the Via station, we have followed Old Mill Road until it ends and then taken unmarked paths northward through the trees up to the K & P Trail.  There is also an unmarked trail north of the K & P where mountain bikers have created some interesting routes. We have taken the K & P Trail westward under the 401 and then as far as the parking area at the corner of Cordukes Road and Burr Brook Road.  Along the K & P just south of the 401 underpass you can access paths that take you through the woods to Venture Drive.  We have also used the K & P Trail east ward as it goes to the industrial park to the parking lot at the west end of Dalton Avenue.  It follows streets to the intersection of Dalton and St Remy Place where it picks up the abandoned railbed again to the north of the CN line to Division St.  From there you have to follow Division and John Counter Blvd to Elliott Avenue where it again follows the old rail line to Railway and Montreal and then runs parallel to Rideau St to River St. At the east end of River St it runs southward along the Cataraqui River to the south end of Doug Fluhrer Park.  From there it becomes part of the Waterfront Trail and takes you to Confederation Park in front of Kingston City Hall.  Waterfront Trail takes you along Lake Ontario in front of Queen's University to Portsmouth Olympic Harbour at the 5 o'clock position from home.  This spring there has been a real visual treat by the yacht club where a family of foxes has taken up residence under a storage building.  They seem to like posing for pictures.  Bruce Payne says that he has seen mink and weasels in the area as well.

At the intersection of Montreal St and Rideau St you can walk eastward on multiple trails to Belle Island as well as northward to the end of John Counter Blvd where they are building the third crossing over to Gore St. At the 2 o'clock position from home we have accessed the new path starting at the north end of MacDonnell St in Third Avenue Park.  It runs northward through a grassy area up to John Counter Blvd.  We have also picked up the CN spur line at the 9 o'clock position and followed it northwestward to point just north of the CN main line behind the Riocan Centre. There is a short path behind the Riocan Centre that runs northeastward into the residential area west of Centennial Dr.  Unfortunately, we can't walk the tracks any more because we were stopped by the railway police, who warned us about a law that were breaking.  Since they now have our names, we are marked.  We have also walked from our house to the Little Cataraqui Conservation Area north of the 401 at the end of Sir John A MacDonald Blvd.  There are several walking paths there that go north to near Burr Brook Rd.  These are really nice as they are entirely in the woods and away from traffic.

Most of the paths that we walked are essentially flat so we have identified three areas that give us some vertical work for our legs.  There is a good set of stairs in Lake Ontario Park and another one on the the bleachers on the north side of the Memorial Centre. In O'Connor Park straight north of us, there is a hill that we use for vertical exercise. Starting about May 20th I started including some pushups on alternate days.  I hadn't been able to do any since before Christmas because of a torn tendon in my left rotator cuff- specifically "a full-thickness tear of the anterodistal supraspinatus tendon". I struggled to do a set of 10; it's going to be a slow grind back to normal.  Theoretically I am supposed to have an appointment with a surgeon to consider a procedure to repair the tendon.  Who knows when that will happen?  I've had physiotherapy until isolation started.

Two more paths.  At the 10 o'clock position from home, we have found a short but pleasant path in Meadowbrook Park off Kingsdale Avenue behind Frontenac Mall.  Then northwest of that is Trillium Ridge Park just off Edgar Street.  You can walk the marked paths through to Waterloo Drive.  There is a green space further east and just north of Grandtrunk Avenue with rough paths though to Grandtrunk where it turns northwest.