Klicks on Legs

When it's the weekend, and you know the summer is waning, and you also know that Sunday is going to be rainy, it's good encouragement to get out and do something. So off to the Gatineau hills for a hike.

Now, the problem with the Gatineaus, is that you can get there pretty quickly and so the roads are packed with cyclists who want to own the road, plus the hiking trails are full of hikers and bikers. Luckily, on the back side of the park there are some nice, little used trails that don't show up on the trail maps. The vistas are great and the trails are clearly not used much, as brittle branches on deadfalls remail over the path, rendering them rather impaling for cyclists and snap-off-able for hikers.

So we can spend a good 4 or 5 hours getting a real workout, and lounging on big granite cliffs overlooking the valley without being disturbed by other folk, dogs, bikes, screaming kids etc.

Thus we did, and even bushwacked off into the back of the park, exploring remnants of old paths and hints of century old roads. It was good progress on project 4. It also spurs me on to make a trip back to the National Archives when I get the chance to do some more research (proj 11). Eager to read more about Philemon Wright who settled the area in 1830-ish. The trees are all second growth. The rocky soil stops them from growing too fast, but there are lots of stunted oaks everywhere. Since wright started a squared timber business in the mid-19th century, I assume he took a lot of oak out of the area. Quite a shame it's all gone.

There is a decent forested area, and we found a ravine back behind our usual lunch spot that I hadn't seen before. Tall pines create the typical boreal aura around needle covered forest floor and pink granite outcroppings. Also saw a nice cliff face I hadn't come across before. Will have to make my way back out with my climbing gear (proj 12) which doesn't get much use these days.

Food Then and Now
We had a nice snack of mini-pitas, turkey-kolbassa, cheddar cheese, and an orange, as well as some orange juice to drink. We were going to have a cup of tea while lounging about, but decided to do a more agressive hike. While packing the stuff back up, I noticed that we didn't have the stove-fuel with us anyway, so it was just as well I didn't try to whip up some tea.

This evening it's time for some Morroccan Food. We've got an agreeable spot that we'll go again with some friends. The olive salad is a regular favourite, and the tajines with tender lamb chunks and couscous are also a good draw. Should be nice.

Wrap
We'll sleep well tonight, no doubt. Your assignment to do write this minute, should you choose to accept it, is to go to wikipedia and look up your town, and then based on the 'history' section, think up a place in your town to go and visit tomorrow. Even if it's a 5 minute drop-by, go take a look and think about how things have changed since those days. Let me know what you learned if you saw something interesting, then I'll learn about your town too...