There are two ways to get to Western Lodge, one via the Western Trail, now numbered 9, the other via Trail #2 which spurs off to descend from Ridge Road.
Both of these trails are longstanding. Surprisingly trail #2 is the older of the two having been there before the Lodge was. Trail #2 starts at P12 and is also known as the McCloskey Road (for clarification on this see comment below).
Prior to Western Lodge standing at its current spot the lookout it commands was known as McCloskey lookout.
At first Western Lodge wasn’t there, then it was, then it wasn’t again, and then it was once more.
When I say at first it wasn’t there, what I actually mean is that it was somewhere else.
After the Ottawa Ski Club built a lodge at Camp Fortune they were a little overwhelmed by the number of skiers who started to arrive and entertained several schemes for reducing the crowds there.
One of these was to build a lodge on the east side of the Gatineau River.
This didn’t sound as crazy at the time as it does today. Many skiers arrived by city bus to Old Chelsea and from there a ski to the Gatineau River is actually shorter than to Camp Fortune.
But the fact is that few people used the East Side Lodge, as it was known.
Information at the Canadian Ski Museum says that Western Lodge was built in 1930. What it doesn’t say is that Western Lodge had been East Side Lodge dragged across the frozen Gatineau River one previous winter and hauled up the McCloskey Road after the snow had gone.
A 1936 article though mentions that interest in Western Lodge had dropped off and by 1946 Western Lodge had been torn down for use as building material at Camp Fortune.
A 1947 story rumors that the building material might be going into a ski jump being built at Camp Fortune.
And yet, there it stands.
What inspired this lodge (that seems to have as many lives as a cat) to reappear?
I’m told it was reestablished by the Alpine Club of Canada who must have approached it from its steeper side (clarification in comments below).
In any case, by 1963 it is referenced again in the Ottawa Citizen as a place to ski to.
It seems to me that I came across something nostalgic about how the current Western Lodge lacks the signatures of old skiers that used to adorn the walls of the original. Knowing how often the original changed its form I hope there is solace in knowing those lost signatures weren’t the original originals.
I’d love to have anyone with other memories of Western Lodge add them here or send any old pictures to [email protected]
Here are a few of the newspaper clipping mentioned, followed by a 1943 account from an Ottawa Ski Club guidebook.
A clipping from the Ottawa Citizen 1933
A clipping from the Ottawa Citizen 1936
A clipping from the Ottawa Citizen 1946
From an Ottawa Ski Club guide book dated 1943:
There are quite a few points along the long ridge from Kingsmere to Meach Lake where a glimpse of the Ottawa Valley may be obtained but nowhere perhaps is it so sould satisfyin, as from that old look-out which is said to be unrivalled in the whole Gatineau Land – the old McClosky’s look-out.
Never crowded, the lodge is as peaceful as the trail, and soli comfort can be found there – provided one has had the precaution of bringing needed supplies, ad there is no cafeteria.
This lodge has an interesting history. It stood for a number of years on the east shore of the Gatineau river, opposite Tenaga, where it had been set up at the request of a couple dozen or so of highly select members who wanted to get away from the madding crowd and enjoy more privacy. The main argument advanced however was that it would divert the traffic away from Camp Fortune and avoid the necessity of adding a new wing to a building that had too many wings already. It would be used also as a half way stop by long distance skiers going from Wakefield to Ottawa along the shores of the Gatineau river. Money being only a secondary consideration in those days of prosperity, the lodge was built, and widely advertised. None of the things that were expected happened. The select people did not come, the long distance skiers took to slaloming, and the few who ventured across the Gatineau river found the place so private, so lonely, that they retraced their tracks in all haste to join the gay throng at Camp Fortune. When the number of visitors over a week-end dwindled to a corporal’s guard, it was decided to move the building over to a place where there would be no river to cross and the East side Lodge became the Western Lodge, another case of East meeting West.
I like your history tales of the park on trirudy. Many have always wonder why the names. thanks for taking the time.
I received an email from Michael McConaill that said in part:
The Joe Morin map shows the road ending at the McCloskey Farm, merging into the Ridge Road which then also ended there. There is a trail showing from Blanchet’s Trail near McCloskey’s to the Western Trail: given the geometry of the intersection of these trails, I would consider that that part of the present Trail 2 was opened for bringing the original Western Lodge in, and was probably contemporaneous with the Western Trail…the NCC’s trail numbers do not in general match to specific old trails, but may only include some segments, or may concatenate parts of several.
The Alpine Club’s hut was never at the site of Western Lodge: it was further up the escarpment, at about 75° 57′ 30″ W. Members of that Club skied in from the McCloskey parking (P12) via the McDonald Road, and then the Beaver Trail (now 38 in part) to the Ridge Road, then went over the ridge to the next valley, and thence to their cabin. The Beaver and Wolf (part of 62) trails were opened by Tony Stolfa of the Alpine Club, as was the now abandoned Lydia trail, named for his wife. Another Alpine Club member at that time was the late Hans Weber.
Update on the Return of the Western Lodge.
In February 1960, Frank Cooke of the Ottawa Ski Club organized a 30 km cross-country race, at a time when most racers only went for 15 km or less. The course went out the Western Trail, then the Ridge Road, down the McCloskey Road and back up via the McDonald Road and Bradley trails (40 & 33)before returning towards Camp Fortune.
The NCC gave the Ski Club permission to use the McCloskey Farm building as a check-point and feeding station, and a group of us were transported out most of the way on John Clifford’s Sno-Cat (quite a ride in itself).
That was a one-shot deal for the 1959-60 season. The following season, there were discussions between the Ski Club and the NCC on re-establishing the Western Lodge, and as an interim measure, the Club was allowed to use the McCloskey farmhouse as a lodge, providing a weekend caretaker (one of the Old Chelsea Hendrick’s who rode his horse up the McCloskey road each Saturday and Sunday).
By 1962, the NCC was worried that the farmhouse might be a target for vandalism, and was an obvious fire risk, and so decided to demolish it, and provide the present building on its poured concrete base. I understood that this building was one of a pair from the Notch Road near the Parkway overpass, the other of the pair becoming the Gatehouse at Lac Phillipe.
[editorial note: don't you love the "might be a target for vandalism...and so decided to demolish it"]
Dave Shaw concurs saying:
I used to be involved in the Alpine Club. During that time I recall hearing on several occasions that many years ago, long before my time, the Alpine Club did have a cabin on the escarpment. However I understood that it was not Western Cabin and was not located where Western Cabin stands today. I understood the Alpine Club cabin was a different cabin located in a different site further along the escarpment. I don’t believe it was called Western Cabin either.
I recall once hearing there was a hike organized by the Alpine Club that passed the location of the old Alpine Club cabin and people were able to see the remains on the site.
[editor asks: anyone know what it WAS called (this Alpine Club cabin)?]
The old and now gone Alpine Club of Canada Ottawa Section hut in the Gatineau Park was only ever called the Alpine Club Hut. The hut was removed many years ago and there is hardly any trace left. The club usually hikes up to the old hut sight several times a year on our way to the Balcony and Gallery etc.
The Longitude given in an earlier post would place the hut at the top of Farm Rock which is a climbing sight. The ACC hut was located near Noprth 45 Deg 31′ 35″, West 75 Deg 58′ 07″ above “Home Cliff” , a climbing area, about 800M to the west from Farm Rock.
Usually the club would ski accross the field at Cregheur Road and depending on snow cover would hike up or ski up to the hut.
I will try to find out when & why it was dismantled
Right now I don’t know when it was built. However it was supposedly built and/or used by a local farmer for winter wood cutting.
It was dismantled in 1980, after the Ottawa Section notified the NCC that it was giving up its lease.
The reason for giving up the lease was that the club could no longer protect the cabin from vandalism, or provent people from lighting bonfires in front of it. These fires were against Gatineau Park regulations, and the club was blamed for them.