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la Magie de la nuit

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  Grad students from Concordia University flank one of the coordinators of Sauvons la Falaise welcoming everyone Des étudiants de troisième cycle de l'université Concordia encadrent l'un des coordinateurs de « Sauvons la Falaise » qui souhaite la bienvenue à tout le monde As an introduction to the Grand Parc de la Falaise a coordinator of Sauvons la Falaise gives a crash course on its great potential for sustainable lifestyles in surrounding neighborhoods En guise d'introduction au Grand Parc de la Falaise, un coordinateur de l'association « Sauvons la Falaise » présente brièvement son immense potentiel pour favoriser des modes de vie durables dans les quartiers environnants.                At the sunset of a beautiful balmy summer evening a large group of local citizens gathered tor a night walk on the Falaise St Jacques to see its fireflies and bats, and also to experience the forest at night. This was July 8th.  It was made possi...
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Indigenous History Month / Mois de l’histoire autochtone

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      Sauvons la Falaise would like to recognize National Indigenous History Month      There is ongoing discussion among scholars, historians, and archaeologists about where and when Indigenous groups may have lived in what is now Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Ville Saint-Pierre, particularly around the Saint-Jacques Escarpment. Source: Souvenirs et mémoires Côte-des-Neiges Notre-Dame-de-Grâce et Outremont      What we do know is that at the base of the Falaise Saint-Jacques once lay a lake: Otter Lake, also known as Little Saint-Pierre Lake. It is said to have once been the largest body of water on the Island of Montreal. It is believed that, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the lake’s shores were cultivated by Indigenous peoples and that the lake served as a travel route.      There is still much to learn and perhaps to uncover...      SLF volunteers look forward to continuing this journey. More importantly, we lo...
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Éco-pont Dalle Parc eco-bridge

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  Dalle Parc eco-bridge with the Bande Verte at the left edge and cour Turcot at the right edge / Dalle Parc, un pont écologique reliant la Bande Verte à gauche et la cour Turcot à droite                     Here are three of the latest images of a 1:250 model of the eco-bridge Dalle Parc.   They are a result of our design efforts.   The three images show an east side dedicated active transport path equal to the width of the existing Bande Verte path.   But it is important to remember that the total width of the Dalle Parc eco-bridge is 50 meters.   The Dalle Parc has a small stream and shallow pond which are fed by future storm water retention ponds situated within new residential layouts on the plateau above the Falaise but south of rue St Jacques.   There are irrigated planting trays between the centre-stay cables.  There is a raptor nesting level high on the centre...
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Randonnée au clair de lune

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                 Les dieux de la lune nous ont encore une fois été favorables. Le ciel était parfaitement dégagé. Comme cela faisait deux mois que nous n'avions pas fait de randonnée au clair de lune, le soleil s'est couché beaucoup plus tard. Nous avons donc pu descendre la vallée Bird au crépuscule, avec une vue imprenable sur la ceinture de Vénus, cette bande rose qui s'étend à l'opposé du soleil couchant. Magnifique.  En nous dirigeant vers l'ouest le long du sentier de randonnée, nous avons eu une vue imprenable en regardant par-dessus nos épaules.  La pleine lune se levait à travers la silhouette des branches de la forêt.                The moon gods were again kind to us.  We had an absolutely clear sky. Since it was two months since our last full moon walk, the sun set much later.  Thus we were setting out down Bird Valley in the dusk with a great view of the Belt o...
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Bonne année 2026 Happy New Year

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Nous étions un petit groupe à participer à la traditionnelle randonnée pour lancer l’année. Le temps était clair, mais venteux et assez froid. Heureusement, la veille du Jour de l’An nous avait offert une légère couverture de neige. La descente de la Vallée des Oiseaux était praticable à partir du boulevard St-Jacques, mais de justesse ! Le sentier cordé, quant à lui, était impraticable. New Year's Day.   Happiness to All!   A small group of us turned out for the traditional walk to start the year.   It was bright but blustery and quite cold in the wind.   Thankfully the new year brought fresh light snow.    Heading down Bird Valley was just manageable beginning at St. Jacques.   The rope path down was impossible. Nous avons donc décidé de nous diriger vers l’est, portés par le vent, le long de la Bande Verte- une excellente décision ! En chemin, nous avons admiré les différents peuplements d’arbres et d’arbustes, la grande bio...
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Moon Walk 4th December 2025

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      The full moon walk on the Falaise St Jacques was great with a perfectly clear sky.  The bowling alley parking lot though was a wickedly dire place with freezing wind gusts but once we were on the eastern hiking path there was not a trace of wind, very pleasant.  The trail had a dusting of snow, very little ice.         We were four.   Very soon we saw that there was no need of headlamps.  Chris gave us a running description of nearly every feature as we made our way in the moonlight.   Luiza let us know of her interest in astronomical photography and how she would take Jason on long evenings to different telescopes.  Emma and Roger traded stories of winter camping.          We decided at the eastern pavilion not to do the return by the Bande Verte because we found a stiff wind against us.   Instead we returned by the same hiking trail and found a good l...
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22 April 2023 Falaise St Jacques Garbage Picking under the Rona Hardware

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 Saturday 22 April 2023, about 20-25 volunteers gathered to clean up garbage from under the 5890 St Jacques Rona Hardware store.  As with most Falaise clean ups, they started from the Valley of the Birds near the Rose Bowl then walked  Eastwards along the  Hiking Path.  At first the hillside was clear of garbage as it had been that had been cleaned by many of the same volunteers in years past.  However the area under  Rona hardware was an different,  this section was covered by new garbage.  After scaling the cliff, the volunteers gathered about 20-30 bags of garbage.  In addition the took down bigger items such as 20 sheets of insulation, the usual assortment of metal and pipes, a few tires , a deck umbrella and a chaise-longe.      The bags of garbage were hauled over to the Eastern Access road.  However the large loose items were left by the path.  Another group of volunteers will have to be organized rem...
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