Walktober - Lime Kiln Trail

My niece does a birthday photo shoot for her boys every year and this year was no different.  She posted pictures from this year's photo shoot of her oldest boy, my oldest great nephew and it inspired me to go hike that trail.

The photo shoot was at a trail across town but not that hard to get to as it is off one of the major roads that crosses the National Capital Commission Greenbelt.  We are lucky in Ottawa that the NCC maintains such green spaces with hundreds of kilometers of trails.

The lime kiln ruins are just 700 meters from the parking lot but the whole trail which goes around a bog is four kilometers (2.5 miles).  I didn't quite do the four kilometers as I took a short cut on a path through the woods rather than staying on the trail and going all the way around the woods.

Looking down into the kiln

Kiln

It was another enjoyable walk. We ran into a school group on a field trip and Beckett and Keltic got plenty of attention.

My photo subjects weren't as cooperative as my great nephew but I did get a few good shots. The first shot is of Beckett and Keltic at the Lime Kiln ruins, the second is of the walls of the small quarry behind them and the third is them on walls of what used to be the powder magazine for the quarry.

The trail itself is wide, most of it looks like it was once a road through the area so it makes for an easy walk.

View from the parking lot

Boardwalk

Marsh

Burnt Out Bog

Still Charred

 There was a fire in the area in 2012 and, while you can still see the impact of the fire, the area is now regenerating. This is a trail, since now I know about it, will likely do again. Dogs are allowed on the trails from 1 Apr to 30 Nov, during the winter they put in cross country ski trails here and then the dogs are not allowed.

I hope you enjoyed our second walktober walk, perhaps there will be another one.  I'm trying to do 10,000 steps a day. I have been pretty successful but not so yesterday since it was Canadian Thanksgiving and I only got in one walk in the morning before spending the afternoon and evening enjoying a wonderful turkey dinner with family and friends.

If you want to join in walktober go to Officially Walktober.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Walktober - Gatineau Park

It was a beautiful fall day out so I decided we should go and see Fall Rhapsody in the Gatineau Park. On the weekends if the weather is nice, it's almost impossible to go as the parking lots are just packed. They do have a shuttle that runs to many of the trail heads but since dogs are not allowed on the shuttle that's not an option for me and the boys.

Today we went up the the Champlain Lookout (Champlain Belvedere, in French). It was a bit disappointing as the lookout was blocked off with signs saying it was dangerous and was under repair.  But we did hike the Champlain Loop trail and got some nice pictures of the Ottawa Valley. 

Champlain Lookout

Ottawa Valley

Ottawa River

The trails was pretty easy but they do make the steps a little big for us short people and little dogs.

Beckett looking down a ravine

Keltic, ready to go.

Trail stairs

There were relatively few people today but still more than I expected.  After we did the Champlain Loop, we drove back down the parkway to the King Mountain trail but found out that dogs are not permitted on that trail so we headed further down to the Lauriault Trail that I knew was dog friendly.  This trail is a longer than the first one we did and is not a loop so you have to walk back the way you came if you want to go back to the parking lot and your car. You can make it a loop by doing the Waterfall trail, crossing the parkway, then working your way back to the Lauriault trail parking lot.

We turned around at the falls. They weren't much to see at this time of the year, there hasn't been enough rain so they were just a trickle. 

I'm not a very religious person but I do believe that there is a creator for this universe. A. All I could think of today was that I was walking through a temple of light and air, how could there not be something that had a hand in it's design.   The camera does not do it's beauty justice, especially when your camera is just your smart phone.


One last photo op at the lookout on the Lauriault trail and then we headed back to the parking lot and well deserved drink of water before heading home.

If you want to read some other Walktober blog posts, head on over to Change is Hard and read Walktober - Katie's Way or Breezes at Dawn for the Officially Walktober post. We may just get out for another Walktober adventure.

Silly Hats

Halloween 2015

While looking for this pirate photo of the boys for the International Talk (Woof) Like a Pirate Day, I found that I had many pictures of them in silly hats.  They sure are tolerant of their crazy mum. But oh the faces I get! Enjoy!

The Words of Wordless Wednesday

The song "Acadie of our Hearts" was written by Lennie Gallant for the first Acadian World Congress (Congres Mondiale Acadien) which was held in 1994.  The CMA has been held every five years since then. It is held in various locations mostly in the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island but has also been held in Louisiana in the United States. Below are the words to the song (the French in blue and the English in grey, my translation with help from Google). I put a link in the song title to another recording of the song.

Acadie de nos cœurs

Séparés par la mer (Seperated by the sea)

Pendant les années tristes (During the sad years)

Dispersés à travers (Scattered everywhere)

On n’avait pas eu l’choix d’partir (We had no choice but to leave)

C’est l’temps pour se revoir (It's now the time to meet again)

Chanter danser ensemble (To sing, to dance together)

Où ça tout commencer (Where did it all start)

Presque 400 ans passés (Nearly 400 years ago)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Viennent du nord et de l’est (Coming from the north and east)

Pour fêter la joie de vivre (To celebrate the joy of living)

Viennent du sud et de l’ouest (Coming from the south and west)

Attirés par les racines (Drawn by our roots)

T’est mon frère, t’est ma sœur (You're my brother, you're my sister)

J’tai point  connu jusqu’asteur (I did not know you until now)

Je peux voir dans tes yeux (I can see in your eyes)

Comment t’a pas pu oublier (How you could not forget)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

  

La douleur du départ (The pain of the departure)

Et les larmes déjà versés (And the tears already spilled)

S’oublie dans la joie (But lets not forget the joy)

Que l’on prend à s’retrouver (we take in finding ourselves).

 Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Wordless Wednesday

Video of the Arsenault Reunion Concert Finale