Southward Bound : Grand Remous to Maniwaki

After yesterday’s torrential rainfall and our thorough soaking we were fortunate when today brought great improvement in the weather.  Although very dark clouds were still moving across the sky, they were broken up by patches of blue sky, and the sun showed its face on and off throughout the day.  Not once did it rain on us, for which we are immensely grateful! 

We began today's walk on the Sentier Transcanadien where we left off, in Grand-Remous.  It was a huge relief to finally turn south towards Ottawa, taking a hilly, winding, back-country road.  Almost immediately we were surrounded by meadows and gently rolling hills.  Everything looked very lush and green from the recent rain, but we couldn't help noticing that the fields were still filled with puddles of standing water. It was immediately clear that choosing to not wild camp last night was the prudent choice. 

We passed small farms and homes in the pastoral landscape, and soon found ourselves walking along a forested section of road.  A sudden rustling in the undergrowth right at the edge of the pavement revealed a completely drenched Ruffed Grouse.  It charged at Sean while hissing, then quickly returned to the undergrowth, and then repeated the performance, its ruff fully fluffed up.  At first I thought it was defending a nest, but as we passed by, a pile of tiny, fluffy, completely dry looking chicks scattered and began frantically climbing out of the ditch.  We retreated as quickly as possible, taking a few quick photos from a safe distance.  

We continued on through the damp morning, passing through a pine plantation and then a stand of deciduous trees, where the sweet songs of American Robins, the demanding calls of Ovenbirds, the enthusiastic warbling of Winter Wrens, and the musical trills of Wood Thrush broke the silence.  We spotted White-tailed Deer tracks in the soft sandy road, and caught a glimpse of a white tail vanishing among the trees off to one side. 

At one point we crossed a meandering stream on a small wooden bridge.  A family of Canada Geese was paddling in the swiftly moving dark brown water, and as we stopped to watch a Common Merganser female took off and flew with great speed down the waterway, her white wing-patches flashing in the sunshine.  On the far side of the bridge a large Painted Turtle was basking on a fallen log. 

After the river we again found ourselves walking through a pine plantation, the spicy, fresh scent of pine sap strong in the damp air.  The pavement ended and the road became sandy.  It was still soft from the rain, and in places the edges had given way.  Both sides of the road were posted as Private Property, reminding us of the miles of such signs we've passed in other rural areas of Canada. 

Another aspect of road walking that we'd forgotten about while being spoiled on the P'tit Train du Nord was getting chased by dogs.  There was plenty of well taken care of looking dogs who took their roles as guardians seriously.  Luckily the ones we met today were content to bark fiercely at us without actually chasing us down the road or nipping at us.  If only we were always so lucky! 

As the morning wore on we encountered several Hydro Quebec crews out and about, still removing debris from the storm 2 weeks ago – a strong reminder that the effects of events last well beyond the moment.  Some of the trees they were clearing had fallen and been moved to the side of the road, while others were laying on the lines.  Apart from them the road was pretty quiet, with only a few pickup trucks passing us throughout the morning. 

Although the road we were walking all day roughly paralleled the Rivière Gatineau we didn't actually see it until we were a couple hours into our hike.  This river is 386 km long, beginning at the Baskatong Reservoir and flowing south to the Ottawa River, which it joins at the city of Gatineau.  Some say the river got its name from the fur trader Nicolas Gatineau, who reportedly drowned in the river in 1683.  However, the Algonquin Anicinabek First People say the name derives from their language.   The waterway was an important transport and trading corridor for the First Nations Peoples and later the fur traders, and in the Algonquin language it was called 'Te-nagàdino-zìbi', or 'the river that stops one's journey.'  That doesn't sound like it bodes well! 

We caught our first glimpses of the very wide river through a screen of trees, and it looked like it was running extremely high.  Shortly after coming to the river we saw the smokestacks of a huge looking factory, and we began to hear the roar of industry. 

The 'factory' turned out to be a Louisiana-Pacific lumber mill on the other side of the river, and it is difficult to describe the scale of the operation we saw.  The piles of logs outside the mill went on forever, and the trees were stacked so high that they dwarfed the loaded logging trucks that were coming in to deliver more.  Louisiana-Pacific (or LP) is an American building materials manufacturer, and it is the largest producer of OSB (oriented strand board) panels in the world.  It seemed a bit sad that such large logs were presumably being used to create particle board. 

After passing the gigantic lumber mill we crossed over another small wooden bridge which spanned the Saint Joseph River, and then began walking around Lac Saint Joseph.  It was lined with cottages and small homes, which continued to line the road until we reach the small community of Aumond. 

 

The township of Aumond is named after Ignace Aumond, who was a major timber merchant in the Ottawa Valley in the 19th century.  In 1862 Oblat Priests built the first sawmill on the Saint Joseph River, and a few months later a flour mill was built adjacent to the saw mill.  The mills were powered by a water wheel that was replaced at the beginning of the 20th century, and from 1929 onward provided electricity to the villagers.  The buildings were destroyed by flames, but rebuilt in 1989. 

We took a break at a riverside picnic table in the municipal park at Aumond.  An octagonal information centre was located in the park opposite to the mill, on the banks of the Saint Joseph River, which flowing through in a huge torrent of rushing white water. We walked down to the river, sitting at a picnic table at the river's edge, just beside the old turbine mechanism.  The rushing water had an energy that threatened to pull us in. 

We eventually continued through town, passing the large, metal steepled protestant church.  We stopped at the variety store for ice creams in the hot afternoon sun, and sat at a picnic table under a roof at the edge of a small park and a hockey rink to eat them.  It was good to take a rest for a few minutes in the shade. 

Aumond marked the halfway point of today's hike, meaning there were another 17 km or so to go to reach Maniwaki.  The climb out of Aumond was a little steep, making us miss the 2% grade of Le P'tit Train du Nord. 

We soon found ourselves on another hilly, winding, dirt road, this time with a caution sign indicating that sheep might be on the road ahead.  Indeed, we spotted a small flock of free-roaming black and white sheep frolicking and playing in a nearby pasture. 

As we approached Maniwaki we began to pass more modern and upscale homes and cottages.  We were still in the countryside, surrounded by small fields, woodlots, and waterways, and we still had two more interesting wildlife encounters ahead of us.  The first came when we spotted a small, reddish, furry animal ahead on the road.  We followed it for a while before we realized it was a baby fox!  To our horror it turned over and rolled in the middle of the road, apparently enjoying scratching its back on the rough pavement. Thankfully it then bounded off into a nearby pasture, hopefully to join its family. 

A little farther down the road we had another treat. At the edge of an un-mowed hay field we spotted a Bobolink on a fence.  It was posturing and fluffing itself up as it gave its electronic calls.  It reminded us strongly of the Bobolinks we saw while walking in the Lanark county region of Ontario.  Indeed, we can see the similarity between the landscape we are now walking through and the one we started in when we left Ottawa on the Trans Canada Trail in May of 2020. 

A few steps latter we found a Drumming Sword Wolf Spider possibly with a huge egg sack in tow.

Soon we came to the edge of Maniwaki, which was our goal for the night. We passed a very large hotel and spa complex, and then came to the impressive Église l'Assomption-de-la-Bse-Virge-Marie.  Beside the tall, grey brick church a grotto had been built in commemoration of the events at Fatima, Portugal where three children reportedly witnessed the appearance of the Virgen Mary in 1917.  The grotto in Maniwaki was built in 1947 under the direction of Father Ernest Castonguay. 

After visiting the grotto and reading some of the historical plaques about the church, we continued on through nice looking neighbourhoods, passed a long metal pedestrian bridge over the river, and then followed a wooden boardwalk along the waterway.  

We'd noticed the water levels were high, and large concrete blocks had been dropped onto the boardwalk to keep it from floating away.  When we reached the school the river had actually escaped its banks and flooded the road (hopefully not a sign of trail conditions to come).  

Historical signs indicated that Maniwaki is no stranger to flooding.  There have been seven big floods since 1865.  About once every 10 years the Mercier Dam is unable to withhold the spring floods, and the Gatineau River overflows its banks.  The worst recorded flood occurred May 1947, when the water levels rose at a rate of 1 ft per hour, and parts of the town ended up sitting under 12 feet of water. 

As we walked the boardwalk along the waterway we learned about another piece of interesting local history.  Apparently log driving was an important part of the local economy from the 1920's until 1991. A large, white boat named The Pythonga is now displayed along the river, which was used to tow wood along Baskatong Reservoir.  The Canadian International Paper Co. opened in the Outaouais in 1925, and it was much cheaper to drive logs along the Gatineau River than to transport them by train or truck.  As a result, river driving became part of the local culture. 

Although we missed walking on a dedicated trail, today's stretch of road walking was pleasant, and we ended up seeing quite a lot of interesting wildlife. Tomorrow is supposed to bring another 25 mm of rain, which we aren't looking forward to after our recent soaking, but we'll try not to borrow trouble.  Tomorrow is tomorrow and for now I’ll just enjoy the wonders of today.

See you on the trail!

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