Wakefield Steam Train Vandalized
An article at the Ottawa Citizen website reports that thieves have damaged the Wakefield steam train in an effort to steal copper wiring. The police evidently caught them because they were trying to burn the plastic insulation off before selling the copper.
Fifty Years Ago Today
Anyone who has skied at Camp Fortune in Gatineau Park will know that there is a ski run there named Heggtveit running down the east side of the Skyline chairlift. Many will know that this trail is named after Anne Heggtveit who won a gold medal 50 years ago today.
In happy synchronism with the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Canadian Ski Museum (at 1960 Scott Street, upstairs from Trailhead) presented Anne with a commemorative framed poster yesterday.
Here Canadian Ski Museum Chairman Ivo Krupka talks about Anne's accomplishments from a young age.
Here she is presented with her commemorative poster.
Here she shares some reflections on her experiences as a competitive skier.
Here she talks briefly about the training of athletes these days, the difficulty of winning medals, her feelings about the otherwise good but ill named "Own the Podium" program, and an appreciation that the sport of skiing is diversifying.
She also had a vist from Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister who dropped by to give Stephen Harper's greetings (I don't know, but Pierre seemed to me to be in an unseemly hurry).
Here are a few links from the Camp Fortune Ski Club about Anne
Sufficient Snow
The NCC has removed it's notices about there being insufficient snow to facilitate grooming on some trails now that we've had 10cm of wet snow in the last 24 hours and more forecast to come.
Still, the temperature is predicted to soar so...
BBQ, Beethoven, Black Sabbath and (evidently) Gatineau Park Skiing
The Grateful Griller gets some inspiration on the ski trails.
A Toronto View of Gatineau Park
As reported in Examiner.com Toronto.
"Although Gatineau Park is the playground for those traveling to Ottawa, Ontario, the park is actually located in Quebec, Canada (hence the French name)...what is so great about the park? The highlight is probably the fact that access and most programs are FREE."
Pride of Place
Now that Winterlude is over the NCC website main page gives Gatineau Park top billing.
The emphasis of their new banner and links is on cross country skiing, though other activities are of course listed.
So... Environment Canada, get with the snow!
“Parc de la Gatineau hunting reserve”?
In a posting from Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife, that talks mostly about trapping regulations, Gatineau Park is identified as one place trapping is not allowed. But in making mention of Gatineau park the post refers to it as a hunting reserve; one supposes in error.
KamloopsThisWeek Praises Gatineau Park
In an article about a visit to the National Capital Region Robert Scheer says:
The highlight of my trip to the Outaouais was the McKenzie King Estate, located in the heart of Gatineau Park.
We were fortunate to have park manager Denis Messier take us on a short tour.
William Lyon Mackenzie King, he told us, may have been Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, having held the office for 22 years, but he always dreamed of being an architect.
We strolled through the cottage King himself built in 1903 and learned Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Charles Lindbergh were some of his most famous visitors.
Gatineau Loppet Course
XCOttawa has posted the modified route of this weekend's Gatineau Loppet. (click the link to get there)
Don Hogarth – Friends of Gatineau Park Service Award
On Sunday February 14th at a Heritage Day event held at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre the Friends of Gatineau Park awarded Don Hogarth a certificate for his long service to the organization.
A Professor of Geology Don Hogarth has studied Gatineau Park "deeply" producing the book A Guide to the Geology of the Gatineau-Lievre District in 1962 and becoming a founding member of Friends of the Gatineau Park when it formed a decade ago. One of Hogarth's articles was the source of the GuideGatineau video on open pit mining at Fortune Lake.
As he accepted his award he made a few remarks about some of the adventures he's had in Gatineau Park. These can be seen in the video below. Have patience, the lights come on after a minute or so.
Of note were items such as the time he found a dead man in a car; another time when he approached the old farmhouse (now gone) at the top of the McCloskey Road to find a horse trapped inside; or the time Peter Aykroyd, Dan Aykroyd's father arranged to have a bulldozer dig a hole in the park simply for some visiting geologists to have a look at a certain type of rock.