I LIKE GEOLOGISTS

 There are a few things that Princess Pirate complains about because I mention them too often. Hexagons are one.  The thing is, she points them out to me now, so I know that they are growing on her too. I mean, it’s a perfect shape, the hexagon. Except for when a designer goes a little crazy and tries to make something new like an elongated hexagon, which is always a mistake. Spring flowers like trillium are another. There is, however, an obsession that we share, and that I never get complaints about. We both love rocks. 

So I was looking for some cool sites to explore that have local geological interest. Since we had plans to go this past weekend for the Tulip Festival, I looked for information about Ottawa. When I found this website about Ottawa Gatineau Geoheritage Day, I was very excited. It was exactly what I was looking for. It had a map, and pictures of what we would see. 

One picture that particularly caught my interest was a familiar phenomenon that I had seen at McGill’s Redpath museum when it was open (pre-COVID). Unfortunately, we did miss the Geoheritage day, packed with tours, as it had already passed a couple weeks earlier. I did, however, identify where the formation of fossilized stromatolites (only two living Cyanobacteria reefs still exist - the Bahamas and Australia) were just off the Champlain bridge, and hoped to visit with my friend. In the end, she was game, and it was just the excuse we both needed for a wander around the streets and along the river on the Quebec side. 

I had noticed that, on three occasions, rocks described on the website were in “plane sight”. I wrote a comment (my inner editor could do no less) that I thought they may be mistaking the homonym for in “plain” site, and I was please to get an immediate answer back. It was even more gratifying that the mistakes were corrected within hours, accompanied by a hilarious email apologizing for the mistake because they did not have a pilot’s license! (Full disclosure, there is a term in geology that can be used with the word plane and not refer to aviation, but in this case I was right!)

Besides giving us places to go, I found that there was a book for sale that reminded me a geologic tour that  Princess Pirate and I loved in downtown Montreal from the Redpath museum. In this case, it was based in Ottawa, and advertised for $20, which seemed a reasonable amount for a risk of possible poor quality or disinterest. I reached out to Dr. Quentin Gall by email, and with a few back and forths, we agreed to meet just beside the Tulipfest.

I suppose I should have been more specific than deciding tomeet at a busy corner of his choosing without even exchanging phone numbers. We didn’t know who the other was, but he did say he was coming by bike, and there was a biker was wearing a very red obvious red shirt that passed the intersection twice while we walking nearer.  Encyclopedia strikes again! 

Quentin was charming, and full of enthusiasm for why I was looking for his book, and what I thought of the website.  He came with change (and wouldn’t keep a tip). The book was sponsored, so what I paid for two copies was a bargain for the work that was put into it! 

He asked me if I was a scientist, and I didn’t know quite how to answer. Not really, was the first thing that came to mind, quickly followed by the thought that, yes, I kind of am. It was the first time in a long time that when I admitted that I was a physician that the conversation didn’t change. He was a doctor too, and that was that, which was lovely.

The book was of such excellent quality, and arranged in small areas perfect for walking tours. He clearly could talk for hours about the rocks in the buildings listed in the book, but he was clear that he also provided the architectural context that I am more used to recognizing as a real bonus to my joy. The book also has an extensive intro to all the terms I need to know and some excellent charts in the back that have already given me a great deal of data that I have enjoyed, sitting at a table reading it. I cannot wait until I can walk around on a nice day and use it for reference. I should be able to make some educational guesses in Montreal with the glossary until I get back to Ottawa later this summer (for Hamilton!)

I’ll also have to return to the Champlain bridge late summer when the water table is low enough to see the fossilized stromatolites, and I think that will not have to twist my friend’s arm to come with me on a geological architectural walking tour next time I can come to town. She might even check it out before I make it back!

So, for now, I have in my calendar to look for Jane’s Walk next May, and look for more geological and heritage events in future.

Here’s another lead for another day. In this case, June 4, 2022. Alas, this year I am working. Most of them are Toronto and beyond, but there is one in Ottawa, in case that’s where you are in  3 weeks time!

Ontario has a heritage site for buildings and an open door day to visit.

ALGONQUIN PARK

Recommended by friends that go every year, a small group of sites with large areas with a beach right there is to be found at Achray and Brent campgrounds. Like our recent trip to Sepaq's Orford park, there are nature programs for kids and interested adults alike.

The toilets are "drop" ie outhouses, and there is no running water, but if you know that going in, it sounds wonderful.

This last year, it seems like the bots won a lot of spots, resold on Kijiji. Seems a shame, but if you haven't noticed overcrowding of the planet anywhere else, when the campsites are hard to come by, you know times are tight.

 

MONT-ORFORD PARK

July 25-29, 2021

Sarcelle 45 at Lac Fraser

I booked next years camping at the same spot. I hesitated because this camping site is perfect uninhabited, but it was distressing to see the habitat destroyed with the backing of colonialist parents who believed it was their kids sacred right to stay off the trails and stamp down the flora with visible destruction within the day. 

It was close to a wonderful lake that had naturalist activities called Beaver Hut lake, where I actually saw a Beaver (heard first) at dusk. Hopefully next time Rebecca will be with me to see it too!

There is a nice trail near the water to the small beach. I think it would be fun to be on the  Stukley Lake side near the Bonnallie service centre where the lectures were.

This is the view from our picnic table. Very restful, until the children run through it and wake you up!

 The trails are likely beaver made. This pond has an old hut, and trees felled in clear"a beaver was here" fashion. They have had to move their hut upstream (I couldn't find it, but I had fun trying!)

A tiny red-backed salamander on the Three Pond trail, near Cherry tree Lake.

We didn't see a deer, but we did find tracks (Three Pond trail, again!)

Mount Orford Trail Map

CAMPING GOOD AND BAD

I have been in camping sites across North America and Europe, and the ones close to me have really improved the bathroom facilities from what I remember from my childhood and young adulthood. 

The ones at Mauricie Park were almost spa-worthy!

Our food depended on being non-perishable, so we did not always have the healthiest food, but here were a few of our meals:

Our s'mores were made over a propane stove which made it quicker and less smoky, but just as prone to burning! I found the special edition Maple Leaf goldfish after Canada, and grabbed the opportunity to try them.

We were never far from poison ivy, and wore long pants hiking so we didn't haven't to pay such close attention to avoiding it while walking.

This American black duck was very chill and came up on the beach very close to us. Not unduly tame, but clearly had been fed before by humans, although not crestfallen when these humans didn't.

Squirrels left their crumbs from pinecones they were eating.

A curious garter snake (his head is sticking up from the shadows between the boards).

Butterflies of all sorts.

I found in the camping supplies a ring to light to smoke mosquitos away that worked quite well.

The ground was a weird mix of sand and gravel. It drained well, but it was impossible to hammer the tent stakes in all the way, and bent most of the aluminum stakes which was less than ideal for a couple of rainy nights.

PARC LA MAURICIE

We spent a few days last week in one of two Canada Parks that we discovered last year. Parc La Mauricie is close to Shawinigan, and on our epic trip last year our visit to the park was during the day only, because we were staying in a hotel last time. 

This time we stayed at one of three main camping sites called Mistagance.

The park experience was everything I had hope for, except for three nights that were never clear enough to go start gazing.

We visited several lakes, and beaches. We took paths through forests and hiked paths that seem to go straight up a summit. It was a beautiful place to spend time in. 

Here are some pictures:

At the foot of the waterfalls

Lake Wapizagonke at Shewenegan beach under the bridge to the Waterfalls trail

                                      Pine Island from the peak of Bluff trail

An inviting dock at Alphonse Lake where we thought we swam alone, but Princess Pirate came out wearing a couple of unwanted leeches!

 

SNOW GAMES

Princess Pirate in her natural habitat, training dragons and defending against monsters from angry coconuts to hydra

Between the two of us, we almost didn't go out at all. The day had gone fast and the sun was setting.  We were supposed to get some exercise and we both wanted to do it outside. Princess Pirate was ready to go out when I saw that the snow had started to turn to rain and changed my mind. I thought about the options and the outdoors was the best place to do it. If we dressed properly, we'd be fine even with the weather. I sent her out the front to check if the sunset changed the sleet to snow. Now it was her turn to back out, but I started getting out our snow pants and the most rain resistant winter jackets before we could change our mind again.

I had the forethought to save her good parka and hat and a pair of mitts to stay dry for the next day at school. We went out to the local park dragging the toboggan. PP didn't want to sled, but she liked to be pulled around the paths and through the woods. I wished I could run for longer, but whatever I could do was going to be good cardio. 

We did a few rounds, climbed mountains of snow, and fell a lot. It was sticky heavy wet snow, and the walking through it was unpredictable. On moment we fell deep into it, with our boot stuck, leaving us to fall forward so that we could turn around to dig ourself out. I thought that if you could film us and then erase the snow, like the nighttime technology that makes it seems like day, it would be ridiculous looking, with us falling forward and sideways oddly and at random times!  The snow was so thick in the air it was cloudy in the light. 

We were about to leave, and my idea to go sledding was not popular enough to go to the school where the hill was larger. I had her in the sled and I tried to drag her up the tiny hill in the park before we left. Again, PP stated her dislike of sledding, so I tried to slide down but found it too slow to be fun. She had made a body slide in the meantime and told me to check it out. It was pretty good! I brought the sled up for her to try once before we left. She took it down and had a little fun. I came down, thinking I would pull her home but by the time I was at the bottom, she was going back up for another round. This is when the game began. 

Wait for me, I cried, as I reached the bottom of the hill, and as I raced up, she grinned and slid down before I could get to the top! I ran downhill as fast as I can, and she laughed and raced up the other side of the hill. I lunged after the sled, but was too slow, and laughing chased her uphill again fruitlessly. She jumped in the toboggan and laughed gleefully, keeping ahead of me, and taking run after run down the hill in the sled.

By the end we were breathless, laughing, and PP liked sledding again. It felt like a Laurel and Hardy skit! It was the highlight of both our weeks.  

We walked home happy and wet, surprised to see it was 2 hours later and we had forgotten to eat supper!

Another fond memory to remember on the days when it seems like the weather might not be a good enough excuse to go outside.

INSECT PATTERNS ON OLD WOOD

A METAPHOR FOR HARDSHIP

A tree growing in the space left for it in a sidewalk downtown

PEAK SPRING ON A BIZARRE ISLAND

Trillium grandiflorum (Trillia grandiflora?)

Morel mushroom look-a-like off the trail

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Local Trenton 470 million year old limestone on the beach with brachiopods 

Peace

Tigers and whale sharks and brachiopods and mussels (a microcosm in a grain of sand, echos of nature)

Purple Trillium

Hybrid pink

Mutations of 4 petals (that must be lucky) and more

Perfect for a pair of mallard ducks

Princess Pirate and I went for a long walk in one of our favourite parks. The main highlight of a boardwalk over a marsh filled with creatures has been closed the last two years, but we took a chance to walk the loop that was left and wandered a short route by the beach, where our geology lessons expanded. Turns out, spring flowers flourish for such a short season because they whither once the leaves of a forest grow, and last Saturday was one of the last days. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

My neighbour isn't from Holland. Can you guess where he is from?

IMAGINING PETS TO TRAIN WHILE WALKING ANYWHERE AND DOING ANYTHING

2 horses Mo and Ro
1 pig Rosie
2 cats Butterscotch and Caramel
1 wolf Luna
1 goat Fiesty
1 dolphin Marina

SKYGAZING AND LAST SNOW

Skygazer

What she sees (Can you see the crescent moon right there in the center?)

I don't know how much snow is left but what is left has sure been fun. A lot of Princess Pirate's classmates have stopped wearing snow pants, but not her, and for good reason. Here we are walking through the park. She throws herself on the ground constantly where there is snow, but this was an unusual pose, causing me (who also is still wearing snow pants in -4 weather so that I can keep up but not go home soaking wet) to lay down and see the view. I find myself more often injured though, wearing snow pants in the last of the season's snow. What with icy hills and rolling snowmen, I have bruises all over my knees!

A blizzard of snow people 

This last photo makes me feel such joy! Instead of a snow angel, she made a snow alien, but I think it just looks like the happiest imprint around! Happy spring everybody! But enjoy every last scrap of snow because we will miss it!

Snow Alien

COMMUTE ON AN ICY DAY

SNOW KITTY AND SNOW RIDER FAN

FINALLY, SNOW!

Untraced tracks but a lovely ski nonetheless

CRYOSEISMS, FROST QUAKES OR ICE QUAKES

My neighbour asked me yesterday if I heard the loud noise this past Friday. I had to admit that I hadn't, but I had just come off a series of late evenings so the timing was likely at the beginning of my deep sleep and I could definitely sleep through something at that point in the night.

She told me that night, all around the city, people heard noises at different times, and they said it was the result of a phenomenon of freezing earth after saturated soil. They call them frost quakes, and they were loud enough to wake my neighbour and cause her and her husband to search the house before turning to facebook to see what had happened on Friday January 26, 2018.

Apparently this is not the first time this has been reported in the West Island, with a wikipedia entry on the subject listing an "ice quake" at 2:30 am on January 6th, 2015. These frost or ice quakes are not to be confused with snow quakes (I name I really prefer, but is less scientific), which appears to be a dirt bike race in Europe set on ice or a delicious cookie confection. Under the heading "Snow Job" I did find a description of a snow tremor or quake in a google book called "The Indispensable Book of Useless Information". It stated the sound occurs when a large field of snow settles down on an air pocket beneath it, producing a very loud sound, possibly even resulting in a snow geyser! I'm not sure this is meteorilogically accurate, but I though I should mention it just in case it is!

I am sorry I missed it! I am glad to know that I am a good sleeper though. I am sure it will happen again, maybe still this year!

I USED TO THINK THE ICE STORM WAS IN 1998 BUT THIS IS MONTREAL. ICE STORMS ARE A MONTHLY OCCURRENCE!

Even with a protective layer of snow, this took me almost an hour to clean off.  Strange how the ice fractures in ways that resemble glass, but the paint on the car under is 

How the snow layer saves a little time!

Unfortunately the most important doors were shaded against the rising sun. Still, parking backwards is a winter essential in case you need a battery charge.

Ice with chunks of ice embedded (from blowing off the tree branches the night before) and ice chunks from the car. 

What I came home to from commuting by foot and train (AMT was on time!) from work