MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2017

FALL 2017 ML BLUE 25 Trout Hollow, near the banks of the Bighead River, is a sheltered grove of second-growth forest, not uncommon in the area. Yet it played a singular role in the North American conservation movement. Sierra Club founder, famed American conservationist, and writer John Muir (1838–1913), once lived and worked here. It is a tribute to his legacy that today one can walk through this “retired and romantic hollow” (as Muir described it) and come upon no development apart from that reclaimed by nature. The Hollow is named for the Trout family, owners of a riverside broom- and rake-handle factory/sawmill and a cabin where a young John Muir worked and lived near the town of Meaford from 1864–66. A Scottish immigrant and Wisconsin university dropout, Muir was working with his brother at the factory to earn enough to pursue his true vocation in what he later called the “university of the wilderness.” Canada also served as a haven from the American Civil War. Muir’s Canadian sojourn ended abruptly in 1866 when the wooden factory and surrounding buildings were consumed by an accidental fire. The Civil War over, Muir returned stateside. The history of the factory and other remnant structures alongside the Bighead River is now detailed in several new interpretive signs installed on the Trout Hollow Trail, a footpath maintained since 2002 by the Bighead River Heritage Association. The 14km hiking trail runs on both sides of the river from Meaford’s Bakeshop bridge to the 7 th Line bridge. “Almost from the beginning, there was a desire to provide historical information about the river valley and its past,” says BRHA President Ron Knight, a landowner who allows the Trail to pass over his property. “New trailhead signs have been installed at the Bakeshop Bridge and Riverside Community Centre showing where information signs are located along the Trail.” Knight explains that financial support for the signs came by way of a Community grant from the Municipality of Meaford, and donations from the Canadian Friends of John Muir and other individuals. “These signs ensure that the history of the area will not be lost,” Knight adds. “And the signs are a tribute to the people who developed the Bighead in their day and to John Muir who left Meaford and went on to internationally promote and help preserve his beloved ‘wild places.’” bigheadriver.org/Hollow.htm, meaford.ca/meaford-museum.html —Ned Morgan Muir’s Canadian sojourn ended abruptly in 1866 when the wooden factory and surrounding buildings were consumed by an accidental fire. NEW SIGNS HIGHLIGHT TRAIL’S JOHN MUIR CONNECTION UP FRONT Informational sign at the site of the Trout Hollow sawmill and factory. NED MORGAN