Human and natural history on Wolf and King Mountain trails

Human and natural history on Wolf and King Mountain trails GATINEAU PARK LOOKOUTS AND FORESTS REMIND HIKERS OF THEIR FOREBEARS

BY KATHARINE FLETCHER

As Ottawa struggles into spring after El Nino’s wintery grip, people of an outdoorsy bent are dusting off the hiking boots and heading for the hills.

Lucky us. Gatineau Park’s Wolf Trail and the King Mountain trail, provide grand views of the Ottawa River and Valley and an introduction to intriguing human and natural history for anyone who pauses along the way.

WOLF TRAIL, No. 62 (used to be No. 16) Access along Meech Lake Road, west of Old Chelsea Time: at least three hours, but allow for 4½

Drove to parking lot 13 on Meech Lake Road, so you can ascend this trail in back of the Eardley Escarpment, aka “the Ridge.” You climb 218 metres through mixed forest, picking your way along a rocky trail throughout this 8.3-kilometre hike.

About 500 metres from the trailhead, the path splits. Stay right, then remain on trail No. 62 following the signs to Mahingan (380m) and then the reward of Tawadina Lookout (335m).

NATURAL HISTORY: You are climbing through mixed hardwood and softwood forest. Watch for black bear claw marks on the smooth silvery-gray bark of American beech trees. When you see them, stretch your hand up to the lowest ones – a great selfie where you can compare the span of your fingers to the bear’s paw.

Looking down at the Ottawa River valley from Tawadina Lookout on Gatineau Park's Wolf Trail. PHOTO BY ERIC FLETCHER

As you approach Tawadina, notice how the vegetation changes to a habitat of stunted red oaks along the escarpment edge. Don’t be fooled by their size: these are not young trees. Their height is limited by the scant topsoil and rigours of weather in this harsh, exposed environment. They are well over 100 years old. Come summertime, roses blossom here, along with harebells and other flowers that need direct sunshine but can get by on little moisture – quite unlike the understory plants of the dense forest you climbed through.

At the Lookout, smooth Canadian Shield rock formations allow an unimpeded view over the Ottawa River. Formed in Precambrian times, these hills are remnants of a mountain range higher than the Rockies, eroded to their current height after millennia of glaciation, faulting, and exposure.

HUMAN HISTORY: The name Meech Lake recalls Asa Meech, a Congregationalist minister, doctor, and teacher who arrived in Hull (now part of the city of Gatineau) in 1815 from New England. By 1821 he owned the first farm “up the mountain” in what’s now Gatineau Park. Although his house isn’t identified by the National Capital Commission, you’ll have driven past this white clapboard home along Meech Road en route to Blanchet Beach.

Hiking Tips

Hike in a group. Always have at least one other person with you if you are going on low-traffic trails or be accepting of the risk you take in having no one able to aid you. • Drink often to stay hydrated.

Carry enough water for the day and your pack will get lighter as the day wears on. • Small snacks often will keep your energy level up rather than waiting for a big lunch meal after you've emptied your body's reserves. • Keep a small amount of surplus food ready, just in case. • Embrace Leave No Trace ethics - using the open spaces is not a right, its a privilege we need to keep available to others years from now. • Leave your hike plan with someone back home and call them when you get off the trail. • Bring and use sunscreen and a hat to prevent sunburn, even on cloudy or cold days. • Leave all your cotton clothes at home. • Keep a bandanna tied to your pack strap for a quick wipe of your brow as needed. • Inspect your emergency and first aid kits before each hike. Replace consumed items. Especially be able to start a fire. • Water is critical for staying alive, but it is also deadly when mixed with cold on the trail. Keep yourself and your gear dry. Put items in zip-loc baggies, sleeping bag in heavyduty plastic garbage bag, clothes in waterproof bags.

Carry and use raingear. • Take a photo ID, insurance card, and credit card on the trail. Before a long trek, taking digital photos of your documentation and emailing it to yourself can be helpful if they are lost or stolen. Easy access to a copy of the document may aid in getting replacements faster.

Both lookouts remind us we are walking on Algonquin peoples’ original territory, where Tawadina means valley, and Mahinga means wolf. Although we’re unlikely to spot wolves here, the view of the Ottawa Valley is awe-inspiring from Tawadina. From it, look for settler Joseph Lusk’s Ghost Hill Farm in the valley below. To find it, locate Highway 148 and look east to a terraced edge whose steep slope is delineated by a dark swath of evergreens. The highway descends towards Breckenridge here via a steep part known as Ghost Hill, named after tales of murder, hidden treasure, and the “ghostly” will-o’-the-wisp marsh gas.

GEAR ADVICE: Sturdy hiking boots rather than sneakers, because exposed ankle bones can bang into rocks – plus, this trail has muddy sections. Take a windbreaker and protection from sunshine, wind and cold. Take lots of water, especially in summer; it’s strenuous hike. Binoculars can help find birds, and locate Ghost Hill too.

KING MOUNTAIN TRAIL, no number Access along the Champlain Parkway for roughly five kilometres from intersection with Gatineau Parkway. King Mountain/Black Lake parking is on your left. Time: 1½ hours

King Mountain is a 1.9-kilometre loop trail. From the parking lot trailhead, keep right alongside Black Lake, then ascending steeply through dense hemlock forest. Notice near the summit of King Mountain, the flora dramatically opens from shaded forest to grasses and stunted oaks. While hiking the ridge top, you’ll see little paths to lookouts over the Ottawa River and Valley floor. The most significant lookout is marked by a stone cairn. Its plaque explains this is where mapping of all Canada started in 1905, “the triangulation system of the Geodetic Survey of Canada, the basis of surveys for all purposes topographical, engineering and cadastral [land ownership and taxation].”

When returning, you descend through a c athedral-like grove of maples. Their deep shade and quiet contrasts markedly with the exposure of the ridge.

NATURAL HISTORY: Eastern hemlocks are evergreen trees that prefer moist, shaded environments and can live for 600 years. Pause as you pass Black Lake, to examine their trunks: you can usually see rows upon rows of tiny holes in the bark. They are left by yellowbellied sapsuckers which have drilled the trunk to drink the sap and attract insects. The bird flies away until a worthwhile bunch of insects have gathered. They become the sapsucker’s next meal.

HUMAN HISTORY: Although some think the mountain is named after former Prime Minister Mackenzie King who owned property nearby (the Mackenzie King Estate), it’s not the case. Likely it was named for Dr. W.F. King of the Geodetic Survey of Canada. In the mid-1900s, Kingsmere cottager and poet Arthur Bourinot wrote that when a boy he saw “the surveyors’ lanterns shining as they climbed the mountain path at night.” In these memoirs he says that prior to this cairn “a huge red cross … could be seen for miles around.” It was erected by Father Maguire, parish priest at Old Chelsea between 1888-91.

Wherever you hike, bike or explore in Gatineau Park, it’s intriguing to know that we follow in the footsteps of First Nations peoples, as well as pioneers from Europe. In the late 1800s there were 200 or more families of the newcomers living in what, in 1938, became Gatineau Park. As we explore its trails, we are walking in their footsteps. Sometimes tumbled stone walls, wells, iris blossoms, and other clues remind a visitor of long-ago human habitation. ~ Katharine Fletcher’s Historical Walks: The Gatineau Park Story invites readers to learn about the human and natural history of the park. For information at katharinefletcher.co m