During the winter I gave some emphasis to one of my favorite trails, #11. This prompted GuideGatineau user Frank to ask about a small building beside the trail. I’d actually never noticed it which Frank rightly explained as because it is situated to the right at a downhill corner that I was always negotiating left.
So I went back to look for it without skis and you can click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of what I found.
What the heck is it doing there? What was it for?
Note the heavy steel door and cinder-block walls. Even in Frank’s initial query he called the thing “strong.” Yet the roof is what gives it away. It is actually less strong than most of the cabins and buildings you might see during a walk in the woods.
During the 1950s when the parkways were being built the construction crews obviously used explosives to open up the rock cuts needed for the road. These days such explosives are stored in a sort of metal safe but back then this special building was constructed. It has hard walls and a soft ceiling so that in case of accident the blast would go up.
Mystery solved, or should I say exploded?
The cards that GuideGatineau has begun distributing to promote the website are considered to be highly environmentally responsible due to the fact that the paper used is 100% recycled and is produced using energy from biofuels plus the ink is vegetable based.
Never had the chance to see that building, I might have to go play in the mud.
It used to say “Explosif” on the door but I guess the paint has worn away.