Portage Bridge And Richmond Landing

 Today I begin a set of posts taken on a late October day. I was en route to the Portage Bridge to take my twice a month shots of the river and decided that with conditions being as they were, it would be ideal to follow the river downstream. This first shot, taken near the bridge, is actually uphill from one of the channels of the Ottawa River, which between the Chaudiere and Portage Bridges goes through a series of channels among islands in the river. 

I emerged from an underpass into the upper area of Richmond Landing, a park descending down to the river, and took this shot.

Victoria Island lies beyond the second of the channels, and this first view is from Portage Bridge. Note the old mill hidden among the trees. The island is still closed off for remediation work after flooding  in 2019 wrecked the eastern point of the island. It was necessary to shore up the north flank of the island, where the main channel of the river lies.

Here we have a look from the north side of the island.

I took two shots looking downstream as is my custom. The first will be in a post sometime in March, I expect. Here we have the second shot of the main channel of the river as it winds between Gatineau at left and Ottawa at right. Landmarks of the city are seen here: the Alexandra Bridge, Nepean Point, National Gallery, Notre Dame, Parliament Hill, and Supreme Court.

I headed back towards Richmond Landing, first taking this shot on Victoria Island through the fenceline.

Descending past Richmond Landing, which houses the Royal Canadian Navy Monument, I headed along the path along the shoreline, and took this shot looking towards the monument and Victoria Island beyond it.

A short walk away, I took this shot of fall colours on the slope. This is the same ridge that Parliament Hill itself is part of. 

I leave off today with this view of two of the river channels, with Richmond Landing meeting the water between them. The landing is the spot where veterans of the War of 1812 and their families landed and made their way inland to found what would become the village of Richmond, a decade before Ottawa itself would be founded.