Sauntering into Jacob's Ladder

A rainy day in the Mono Cliffs Park

In my process to get deep into the comprehension of the summer of 1864 and of Muir, I had previously spent some research time in the nearby Dufferin County Museum. At the time that Muir was here there was no Dufferin County. Only Simcoe County is mentioned as the location of his early wanderings and  specimen collecting. Dufferin County was a later amalgamation that now contains Adjala and Mono Townships that Muir did his first three week wander in. 

 What I discovered in the museum was that the Mono Cliffs area that I had already explored was such a unique local site that the early settlers travelled there for their Sunday excursions. Since they honoured the "Lord's Day" by not working, what they would do after church is head over to this fascinating area for some social time exploring the area. I saw images in the museum of well dressed pioneers posing on the various rock formations. One particular site was called Jacob's Ladder. A very good indication of the prevalent Christian attitudes of the time that you would name a rock feature after a biblical story. 

The classic church on a hill. This restored church is on the grounds of the Dufferin County Museum.


 This reference got me to thinking about the fact that so many of our little villages and hamlets in Ontario have biblical names. We tend today to not even recognize the source of some of these names. We also don't understand the immense impact that religion had on the life of a pioneer. This would have been comfortable for Muir because of his rigorous Christian upbringing. John Muir's father was a religious zealot who drove himself and his family with hell fire and damnation invective. Because of this Muir was very conversant with the Bible since it was the only book allowed in his home. He would have been very comfortable wandering a countryside where he arrived at villages called Bethseda or Palestine or Jerusalem. Going to visit a location called Jacob's Ladder would be an obvious pilgrimage for him. Too bad that we don't have his diaries of the time to prove that he was here.

Mark Whitcombe - the expert on the Mono Cliffs natural world
showing one of the original springs in the valley.


 Although I had already been to the Mono Cliffs area I had never seen any mention of Jacob's Ladder. I contacted a local expert by the name of Mark Whitcombe who I had met months earlier as the President of the Upper Credit Field Naturalist's club. He had spent his working life as an outdoor educator in a school adjacent to the park. We met in the village of Mono Centre on a very misty day to head into the newly reclaimed "wilderness" of abandoned farm lands. Mark was thrilled to think that John Muir had actually walked through the very park that he had spent a good chunk of his life working in. We hiked along chatting and pondering and discussing Nature and the Outdoors and its' relevance to people today; Nature Deficit Disorder, species loss, wild lands recreation, teaching kids and climate change challenges were all part of our talk. I could imagine John Muir having a similar informed chat with someone he would have met "on the road".
The entrance to Jacob's Ladder

As I somewhat had figured out, the Provincial Parks authorities had deliberately removed any reference to Jacob's Ladder from their signage - not from worries over religious controversy but from safety and litigation issues. It turns out that the "Ladder" is actually a deep crevasse descending into the face of the Niagara Escarpment. It is a classic crevice cave that exists in many places on the Escarpment . But the Parks people don't want the general public venturing deep into this somewhat dangerous but very wonderful place. But the spirt of John Muir urged me on as climbed and slithered deep into this deep dark and clammy place. Not my idea of how "Jacob" would have climbed to heaven, maybe more likely he was on the descent to another somewhat warmer place! Now thinking of those early pioneers in their "Sunday Best" of white shirts, suits and top hats and huge frothy dresses doing this exact same thing truly connected me to a different time. The fact that someone had actually hauled a large format camera and tripod and and one of those explosive flash devices to even get a shot of this cavern seemed remarkable.  
A class from Mono Cliffs Outdoor Education Center works on pond studies.

 Although most of my Pilgrimage on this John Muir route is a private event, travelling with an experienced guide had many bonuses. Mark knew the name of every feature, every plant and where all the side trails went. He could regale me with many anecdotes of times spent in this area with city kids learning about the "Natural World". When we did come upon a group of 30 students doing pond studies he recognized the ponchos and from what outdoor school they were from. The leader of the group had been one of his employees so there was a great reunion on the trail.
A spotted newt poses for the next generation of camera.

Closeup of a Spotted Newt

One of the kids had found a crayfish which I had not seen for years. Then Mark found a red spotted newt which totally enthralled the class before it scampered off after its' photo shoot. Another set of eyes sees different aspects of the trail.
Bracken Fern catches the sun.
© Robert Burcher 2017






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