City Daily Photo Theme Day: Best Of The Year

 My last of the three today. In October I took a shuttle bus up into Gatineau Park for a fall colours tour. Most of the park lies within the boundaries of Les-Collines-des-l'Outaouais municipality, and it is a federal park administered by the National Capital Commission.

One of my stops was at the Champlain Lookout, with a breathtaking view down to the valley floor. The Ottawa River is over there, and across it are the last stretches of the city of Ottawa, mostly village and countryside at this point.

Another stop was at Pink Lake, an unusual lake that is popular for hiking. It is a meromictic lake, one in which the layers do not mix. 

My visit included a tour of the Mackenzie King Estate. One of our greatest Prime Ministers, William Lyon Mackenzie King, started buying land in the Hills as a young lawyer and politician, building a weekend retreat and ultimately a home in a place that gave him much solace. He was instrumental in the creation of Gatineau Park, and left his estate to the people of Canada in his will. This is the old cottage, Kingswood.

Down slope from the cottage is Kingsmere Lake, particularly beautiful in the fall.

The main house, which he built as he became more and more prominent as a national leader, is Moorside.

He was a character. Mackenzie King had a sentimental streak and a love for nature, as well as an eye for landscape design. He would take pieces of buildings being demolished in Ottawa and bring them to the estate. Some are found on their own. Others are incorporated into a larger creative work called a folly. This is the Window on the Forest.

This is his Arc de Triomphe.

While here we have the Abbey Ruins.

A beautiful day to be at this estate.

A World Where There Are Octobers

 "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." -Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

More shots today from the Champlain Lookout. It was a joy to be back here.

I took a panoramic shot.

One last shot from this visit. I'll return to the Gatineau Hills after the theme day.

Through A Forest Wilderness

 "The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir

A very wise man. The American naturalist John Muir spent time in Canada as a young man before his journeys into the west. I suspect he would have liked the Gatineau Hills. I took shots of the Valley and the slopes with the developing fall colours.

There are a series of panels here along the upper wall of the geological history of the Hills and the Eardley Escarpment, stretching back far into the primordial past.

I descended to the lower area.

There is a trail here that descends down the slope.

The Champlain Lookout

 The Champlain Lookout is arguably my favourite place in the entire Ottawa Valley. Here, where the Gatineau Hills descend down the steepness of the Eardley Escarpment to the valley floor, with stunning views. Rural countryside stretches towards the Ottawa River, and on the far side is the northwest corner of the city of Ottawa- the village of Constance Bay is over there. I sat on the stone wall for a time, closed my eyes, let the wind flow across me, and felt at home. This is my sanctuary.