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.

The Heart Of The Estate

 More looks at Kingsmere Lake today.

I headed back up the slope, photographing the guest cottage at Kingswood again.

The path led me onwards, passing this quote by Mackenzie King.

As he became leader of the Liberal Party and then Prime Minister, Mackenzie King recognized that his country home ought to become a place more befitting that position. Thus Moorside would end up becoming part of his growing estate, and a proper home in and of itself. 

Most people probably approach Moorside by the main path. But if you know where it is, there's a second path that comes out onto the meadow in front of the house, and it's a better approach. 

The house can be seen in the background here.

The meadow is large and surrounded by trees, in fall glory.

Moorside became Mackenzie King's weekend retreat from the city, where he could entertain his friends and family, but also dignitaries from around the world.

Those would include his close allies Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, the latter of whom is seen in the photograph on this display.

Alongside Kingsmere Lake

 Here's a look at Kingswood. I headed down the slope towards the lake.

A pump house can be seen here.

Kingsmere Lake is a beauty, but especially so in the fall. Its very name was an influence on Mackenzie King buying land here. Some cottages can be found here, grandfathered in from the time of the creation of Gatineau Park.

Here we see Mackenzie King's boathouse, built in the early years for boating and swimming.

A short walk beyond is a set of stone steps leading right into the water. I took several shots.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Best Of The Year

 My last set of posts for my favourite shots of the year date to the fall, and one day. They're from the Gatineau Hills, much of which is a federal park called Gatineau Park. On the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, the park is mostly beyond the limits of Gatineau itself, in the municipality Les Collines-des-l'Outaouais. A shuttle bus takes people from Ottawa and Gatineau up into the hills, and I wanted to see the fall colours.

My first stop that day was a place called Pink Lake. This unusual lake is a meromictic lake, an unusual kind of lake where the layers do not mix.

It's a beautiful lake, and especially so in the fall. A hiking trail goes around the entire lake, though this year I had to turn back, as I was dealing with an injured ankle.

My next destination that day was the Champlain Lookout on the Eardsley Escarpment, where the Hills drop sharply towards the Valley floor. The river itself is seen here in the distance, and the views from this spot are the best in the park.

My last destination that day was the Mackenzie King Estate. This was the home for fifty years of one of our best prime ministers. William Lyon Mackenzie King turned this place into a weekend and summer retreat from the city, crafting his ideas and establishing residences on his land. Upon his death, he willed the property to the country.

One of the residences he called Kingswood, and consists of a couple of cottages and a carriage house. This was the first established residence for Mackenzie King, and this is the main cottage.

Downslope from Kingswood is Kingsmere Lake. The lake's name preceded his presence here, but surely influenced him in buying land here.

The second residence, established as his political star was rising into leading the country, is a proper home. Moorside is a beauty.

Here is the places where his ideas of gardens and follies were fully realized.

The Abbey Ruins is one of those follies on the site- recycled from buildings being torn down and other sources, and made to look like ancient ruins. It speaks to the sentimental streak in Mackenzie King. This particular view of a portion of it is inevitably my favourite perspective of the Abbey.