Gatineau Park

For my last day in Ottawa we headed out and across the Ottawa River to Gatineau Park. The park is enormous, a lot bigger than it comes across on the maps I'd looked at prior to our visit. It took us a while to get there and we headed first to Pink Lake which had a great lookout point from which to admire the view. From there we still had quite a long drive through the park to get to the visitor centre. Sadly by the time we arrived it was raining heavily and our aim was to do some walking but we would have been soaked if we'd have stayed out in it for long and gotten cold as there was quite a chill in the air.

We had a very early lunch and headed further around the park in the hope that we could at least get out at some of the other lookout points marked on the map we'd picked up. We drove to the Champlain Lookout for great views of the Eardley Escarpment and Ottawa Valley. It stopped raining just after we got there so we took a walk around the 1.4km trail which gave further good views and plenty of opportunities to take in the autumnal colours and nature around us. Although the trail wasn't too long it was up and down a lot so took a while to walk.

We drove on and to the King Mountain Trail. This was said to be 2km long but felt much longer and wasn't an easy trail as it included a number of rocky passages and climbs up and down steep gradients.  Both trails featured a series of interpretive signs telling primarily about the ecology on show but neither were particularly well signposted and it did feel like we were almost off the trail at times. Again there were some fantastic views to be seen and a wide range of trees and plants growing around the mountain dependent on conditions in particular areas. That walk must have taken a good 50 minutes. 

We drove out of the park and back to Angela's apartment to have some tea and then to Osgoode to first see my cousin Kate's daughter Samantha who's in town for a few days (I'd not seen her since I was about 10 years old). We went around the corner to see my cousin Sarah and her sons, Colin and Michael and then back to Angela's apartment via the grocery store. 

My laundry has been done and we've had a good supper. We're both tired after all the exercise and fresh air and I need to finish packing including fitting the things into my bag that I left here on my previous visit. My bus leaves midway through the morning so it won't be a rushed start tomorrow.

With Angela at Pink Lake, Gatineau Park

Panoramic view from the Champlain Lookout, Gatineau Park

Black Lake, Gatineau Park