Fall thrills on Blueberry Mountain hills

BLUEBERRY MOUNTAIN – Earlier this month (Oct. 18), hikers flocked to Blueberry Mountain to take in one of Lanark County’s Seven Wonders at the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) annual Fall Colours Walk.

In 2009, landowner Howard Clifford created cliffLAND a 506-hectare wilderness tract as a land trust open to the public for hikes or to be used by groups for nature education. The trail which starts at 502 Hills of Peace Rd. leads up to Blueberry Mountain and Pike Peak, two of the highest elevations in Lanark County.

When West Carleton Online arrived just before noon on a perfect fall day, parked cars lined the access road and hikers of all ages were headed to and from the trailhead.

“There are at least 50 cars here,” MMLT volunteer Bill Armitage said as he directed overflow parking. “We are thrilled with the turn out. It always depends on the weather.” 

Clifford who was meeting hikers trailside, told West Carleton Online the purchase of this land over four decades ago was, “a miracle.”

“One day in the fall of 1980, I noticed an Out of Town Properties ad in the Ottawa Citizen,” he said. “For reasons I can’t explain I decided to drive out and take a look at the 1,250-acre parcel. I was short on time so I only had about 10 minutes to have a look. I loved it and wondered, what if? Could I could get a co-op together to buy it?”

Although the price was out of reach, Clifford wasn’t deterred.

“I suggested to the seller a trade for a cottage we had in Calabogie and it turned out the seller knew someone who wanted a cottage there. Then, I added in a lot on the Gulf Islands, BC, and he said that his mother-in-law always wanted to live there. We met for breakfast and we had a deal.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

“Purchasing what became known as cliffLAND meant a change in residence and we commuted from here for the last 15 years of my career,” he said.

“I wanted to create something good for the kids,” Clifford wrote in his online blog. “We also wanted to have the land opened to the public. I had seen how profoundly nature could move people, sometimes to tears, and change lives in ways I could never have imagined achieving through my work as a social worker.”

It took six years from the incorporation of the MMLT in 2003 to finalize the Conservation Easement agreement for cliffLAND in 2009.

“It became the first land trust protecting public access forever,” Clifford said.

The trail welcomes 2,500 to 3,500 people a year. During the pandemic Clifford said there were nearly 5,000 visitors.

The five-kilometre out-and-back trail winds up a gradual incline through scenic forest, past a waterfall and a pond enroute to the lookout. About half way up we met MMLT past president Bob Betcher who was chatting with hikers about local geological history and displaying rock samples characteristic of the area.

“The history of this area goes back a long way to when all the continents came together to form the supercontinent Rhodinina 1.5 billion years ago,” he said. “Then around 650 million years ago they broke up but were still close enough to crash into each other. Although crashing isn’t quite the right word, they are only moving at a couple of centimetres per year. In places where they came together the ocean sediments between the continents got pushed up and formed mountains. One collision formed the Grenville Mountain range which stretches west all the way through eastern North America to Labrador and all the way into Scotland.”

Betcher said hikers are walking over rocks that existed about 400 million years prior to the formation of the Grenville Mountain range, a landscape that was as high as the Himalayan Mountains.

“These rocks show evidence there was a great deal of volcanic activity at the time,” he said. “Most of the volcanos discharged beneath the ocean. We can see ash layers in rock. The rocks subsequently metamorphosed (due to heat and pressure) into a type of rock called amphibolite. These are the rocks you will be climbing over on the way up to the look-out.”

The last leg of the trail takes hikers up Blueberry Mountain via a steep 185-metre long pitch for a spectacular view, the grandeur of which has surprised many, including Clifford.

 “No, I didn’t know the view was there when I bought the property,” he said. “I only had 10 minutes to get a look at it, so I couldn’t get very far. About three weeks after we bought it. I said, ‘oh wow, look at this Bob.’”

Clifford is also the inspiration for the Circle of Gratitude, a trailside clearing where four posts display plaques that recognize individuals who have contributed to the dream of the Clifford family and the MMLT to have nature forever protected.

“Howard Clifford and family created the gratitude circle as a way to acknowledge the interests and love of nature of the people that visit not just here but all over,” MMLT secretary-treasurer Bob Stearns told us as we chatted at the Circle of Gratitude not far from the trailhead. “It is a way to memorialize a love of nature.”

Stearns says donations really help to fund MMLT’s work.

“There is a memorial legacy post with special occasion gifts with people listed on there,” he said. “It is a $100 donation to put a plaque up. There is also one for pets, because pets and nature go hand in hand. There are also two other donations posts: one for monthly donors (over $100 a year receives a plaque) and one for sustainers and landowners who donate land to the MMLT.”

The trail takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete and is a marvelous way to experience nature. It also offers an opportunity to contemplate the foresight of countless landowners, donors and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to ensure these lands are protected and will remain accessible to the public in perpetuity.

For further information see:  www.mmlt.ca.