Mary Lou had a passion for horses and playing outdoors as a child. In her teens she learned her claims of Native ancestry were untrue, but maintained her love of nature. At 56 she took a horseback riding trip in Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula to rekindle her spirit, seeing landscapes and plants that reminded her of past botanical work. The trip was a success and she looked forward to future adventures.

1. It had been a long time coming…
With
Louise Gratton
In the leading role of Mary-Lou
Text by Louise Gratton
Graphic art by Jean Gaudet
Photography by Louise Gratton, Serge Côté and Mélissa Plourde

2. Prequel
As a kid, Mary Lou had two favorite games :
horses and Indians. Yes, not cowboys, horses. At 5
years old, she would run and run around the
park, neighing and shaking her curly head, jumping
over any obstacles that came in her path, including
dogs and other kids. Her mother said to calm
down, it made her dizzy. But Mary Lou ran until she
was all sweaty and too tired to go on or too hungry.
Her brothers said she even ate grass but when they
did she would cry out “ It ain’t true!”. Well… she did
try it once.

3. Later on, when she was allowed to stay
outside until dark, Lou would play Indians with her
friend Luc, who always wanted to be the Chief
because he had a authentic apache headdress
(yeah, right!). But Lou didn’t care. She was a
ferocious warrior and darkened her face with dirt
to blend in with the environment. They would spy on
the neighbors laying low behind hedges, moving
stealthy between bushes, running fast and hurdling
fences after startling the unsuspicious white faces
with a piercing war cry. Once at a safe
distance, they would fall down and roll on the
grass, giggling.
It was a lot of fun, until summer 63, when
Luc decided he wanted to play Batman and Robin.
No way man…

4. In her teens, Lou’s pride of having Abenaqui
and Mohawk ancestry was broken by her stupid
brother who gave her the family’s genealogy for
Christmas. She was shattered because, all these
years, she had believed her Grandpa who had told
her she had Indian blood. He had also promised her
a pony like her mom had as a young girl, to go with
the wicker buggy still hidden in the barn behind old
and dusty hay bails. Now, he was dead and Lou
couldn’t bring anyone to accurately tell the story
that she wanted so badly to be true. Not even her
Grandma who’s last name, Gill, was that of half the
people in the Odanak reserve near the village where
she was born. Anyway, she still had two things that
her Grandpa had given her and that no one could
ever take away: the love of horses and a passion
for nature.

5. No one was really surprised when she
decided to study ecology. At age 56, although she
loved her nature-related job, Lou felt strayed.
The same old, same old, eat/work/sleep routine
left her empty - while still gaining weight. She
needed a serious brake. She took a 3-month leave
to think about what she wanted to do with the
rest of her life. Browsing the net one rainy
day, she came upon the website of a ranch that
offered expeditions in the McGerrigle range, west
of the the Chic-Chocs mountains. That was it! She
would learn to ride and go on a five-day horseback
riding trek in the Gaspé Peninsula, a part of the
Appalachian Mountain Range she cherished.. Two
years later, she did.
It had been a long time coming…

6. I was in the Chic-Chocs a long time ago with
other botanists. We were there to survey rare
plants growing on the serpentine taluses and
summits of mont Albert, in the Parc national de la
Gaspésie.

7. Serge Côté, owner of the Domaine du Centaure and
professional mountain guide with Vanessa Moreault, intern
at the ranch.

8. The tag line for the Parc national de la Gaspésie is “ a sea of
mountains” and it truly is. A large forest block on the Northern
Appalachian Ecoregion maps. A wild landscape seen here from the top
of the Petit Mont Sainte-Anne at 1,147 meters with , in the
back, mont Albert at 1, 151 meters.

9. Also in the park, mont Jacques-Cartier, the highest summit in
southern Quebec, culminating at 1,270 meters. Together with the
Chic-Choc Mountains to the west, the McGerrigle Range provides
habitat for the only woodland caribou herd south of the Saint
Lawrence. We actually followed the caribou’s path on which we could
clearly see fresh tracks, browsing and feces. They must had been
here not long ago.

10. The diverse alpine vegetation is closely tied to the geology of the
region’s highest peaks, which include extensive areas of
calcareous, serpentine, and potassic bedrock, each harboring a
representative alpine /toundra vegetation. Seeing the plants was like
meeting old friends I had not seen in a long time. Once a
botanist, always a botanist…

11. Early morning , mont Table. It’s hard to believe this is Quebec.

12. Flats, at the foot of mont Xalibu and montTable - to the left -
are in fact the restoration site of the former Mines Madeleine
that extracted copper and gold. It is now a very famous winter
destination for backcountry skiers and snowboarders. Maybe in a
near future…

13. Back at the ranch. From the inn’s dining room, a peaceful view of
the Bay of Gaspé, Gulf St. Lawrence.

14. Resting the horses on a one-day trek that took us across Forillon
National Park. The Portage trail we rode on is the actual path used
by the Micmacs to reach the bay of Gaspé from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, therefore avoiding the treacherous water of Cap Gaspé.

15. Like all riding destinations near the ocean, the beach is a must. This
place is called Sandy Beach but locals also call it Boom Defence . It
was, with Halifax, part of Canada’s defence strategy during Second
World War. An actual net prevented U-boats from moving inland!

16. Behind the 3-km sand spit colonized by sea grass, Sandy Beach
harbors an extensive salt marsh renowned for its diversity of aquatic
birds. It is the site of the most important common tern colony of the
Gaspé Peninsula. Their cries, a farewell at the end of perfect time
for nature.

17. Stay tune for the
sequel
“A free spirit”
Fall 2012
Louise and her new buddy Fortune

18. THANK YOU
To Nature Conservancy Canada
and
to my new friends at the ranch “Le domaine du
Centaure” located in Cap-aux-Os, near Forillon National
Park
Serge Côté (Guide and owner)
Mélissa Plourde (Guide and cook)
Vanessa Moreault (intern guide)
Fortune (Appaloosa), Doc Jim (Canadian)
Sheba (Arab), Flash and Jesse James (Quarterhorse)
July 2012