New Autumn Venues

Typically, when the autumn leaves glow their gold, red, and orange, I grab my camera gear and head up to the Gatineau Hills to try to do justice to the beauty that beams in the woods, around the lakes, and below the lookouts.

This year, with COVID-19 still going strong, I've opted to stay in my own province. Gatineau, this season, is in a pandemic red zone, and despite this classification thousands are still flocking to the trails to take in the colourful leaves.

No thanks.

Actually, I haven't gotten out much, but when I have taken my cameras out to photograph fall, I've headed to where I have plenty of private space. A friend, who has a farm out toward Plantagenet, has several acres of colourful woodland to capture with a lens. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen many images that I've captured over the months and, lately, with the changing leaves.

But DW and I have also wanted to take in nature like we're used to in the Gatineau Hills, so a few weeks ago we ventured an hour northwest of Ottawa, just past the village of Calabogie, and hit the Manitou Mountain Trail and the Eagle's Nest Lookout.

When we first arrived, we were a bit nervous, as dozens of cars filled the small parking lots and along Calabogie Road. We feared that the trail and lookout would be overrun with like-minded hikers. I was ready to turn our vehicle around and head back to the city.

There are two paths that lead to the Eagle's Nest Lookout. An abandoned logging road offers an easy walk up a gentle slope before you hike a steeper slope up to the lookout. A second path, which seems to follow the cliff that is the lookout, starts steep for a couple of hundred metres, until you're along the cliff. You then follow the cliff, weaving around trees, until you come to the open lookout.

When DW and I arrived, there were only a few people on the steep path, so we took it as we headed into the trail. We were both huffing and puffing when we reached the clifftop, but an easier walk allowed us to catch our breaths as we periodically stopped to take photos.

By the time we reached the lookout, there were several people but not so many that we were unable to maintain a safe distance. We spent about 10 minutes or so, taking in the view, before we headed out.

Going out, we took the old logging road. We saw more people than we had on our ascent but the roadway is wide enough that you can pass people without getting close.

We loved this trail and will visit it again some day.

But these are not the only spots that DW and I have visited to enjoy the changing colours of autumn. Right in the city, along the Ottawa River, is a lake that is home to various species of ducks, birds, and other wildlife. Mud Lake is in the village of Britannia, between the yacht club and the water treatment facility. Several trails circle the lake, and while some of the pathways are too narrow for social distancing, we rarely encountered people coming from the opposite direction. And when we did encounter them, we could step off the path and allow them to pass.

Though it wasn't my first time to Mud Lake, it was my first time walking the trails. It won't be my last time.

This pandemic may have kept me from visiting Gatineau Park this autumn, but the silver lining led me to find equally beautiful venues on my side of the Ottawa River.