About an hour north of Ottawa is a virtually unknown hiking trail near the town on Denholm. Parc des Chutes de Denholm is located on the Paugan road which connects Denholm with Low, Quebec. I drove in from the Denholm side as I was staying at a cottage near by. From the Low side you would have to cross the Paugan dam. The hike consists of a 4km loop plus several smaller side trails. The hike starts at a small falls and climbs quickly and steeply before leveling out. One interesting aspect to the trail is commissioned public art that pops up along the walk. The hike is well marked with a single picnic table near the falls at the bottom and at the first lookout. There is also two rustic outhouses near the small parking lot. If you want to get away from it all this hike is for you. We didn't see a single person for the 2 hours it took us to take in all the trails. The main loop travels mainly through dense hardwoods crossing a creek at the half way point then connecting briefly with a gra...

While I have been off the radar this summer more than usual, this will hopefully make up for it......a little. I just returned home from a week in PEI and I could not leave the island without a visit to the Mark Arendz Provincial Ski Park At Brookvale. Recently renamed from Brookvale Provincial Ski Park, to commemorate Mark Arendz's achievements as a Paralympian for Team Canada. The hill is located in Brookvale, PEI about a half hour's drive from Charlottetown. It is pretty much in the central region of the island and fairly easy to get to. The mountain has one fixed-grip Quad, and a learner's magic carpet along with 9 trails and a vertical of 250 feet. Of the 9 trails, 3 are Easy, 1 Intermediate and 5 are Difficult. There are a ski school and rental shop located in the chalet. The property is well maintained as you can see from the main photo. It looks like the trails are one big lawn to mow in comparison to some trails here at home that I have seen! This would make for less snow to b...

While taking the weekend away from the Eastern Townships, visiting family in the Quebec City area, I decided to visit Mont Sainte Anne with the family and ride the gondola. It was a very humid day with the temps in the low 30's. Partly cloudy skies with a breeze. We arrived mid afternoon around 2:30, and picked up the tickets for the ride up. The parking lot was not busy at all, and the ones who were there were biking. I noticed that at the bottom of the mountain there were a few giraffe guns spraying water to cool things down for the bike riders. There was no wait at the Gondola so we got right on and went to the top. When we got to the top, there was a steady breeze which made the heat more bearable. The views from the summit are amazing! Looking off the South side, you have the St. Lawrence River, and on the North side you have miles and miles of mountains. There is a look out tower that you may climb to get a better view. You have a full 360 degree view from up there. The View Look...

This past Saturday, we visited Wakefield and decided to hike up and down Ski Vorlage. The mountain is part of the Wakefield Trails network (a collection of official hiking and walking trails in and around Wakefield). For the trek up Vorlage, we followed the gravel path that works its way up the mountain via North Slope and Snow Dance ski trails. The bottom section of the trail is a bit steep, same for the very final pitch near the top but the rest is fairly easy to handle without too much effort.  With our little toddler in tow, or I should say, nestled safely and comfortably (although he would vocally disagree) in the Osprey backpack carrier, we started our ascent. As mentioned just above, the first pitch at the bottom while not overly steep, did present a challenge due to the added weight while climbing. Once we passed this short pitch on the slope, it went much better. Weaving back and forth along the way up, we got to see increasing views of the mountain range in the distance....

A beautiful late summer day, it was time to get out and do some exploring and hiking in nature. The valley of Wakefield is actually home to some rather fun and enjoyable hiking trails, mapped out by Wakefield Trails. For this outing, we explored the Blue and Red trails, located adjacent to the Fairbairn House, on the opposite side of the river via the famous Red Covered Bridge. Before hitting the trails, we took the time to cross the bridge and took the stairs to reach the river and rocky shorelines. Shortly after, we continued on and passed the Fairbairn House, just across the street and to the left after crossing the bridge. Following the path into the mountain, we arrived at the trailhead. A Story Walk was set up on these trails, with a short novel perfect for kids to enjoy and read as they complete the trail. Heading up, up, up into the mountain, the forest really takes hold and surrounds you. As the trail weaves its way in and out of the tree canopy, the story continues with a new...