Walking on the Lebanon Mountain Trail
Steve Izma’s Return to Lebanon
by Gerry Schaus
“I still intend to make a presentation about Lebanon on the 26th, although I’ve been set back in most things for the last month because of a serious fire at our house in early December. We’re all fine and set up quite comfortably in a neighbouring house (for several months). With some difficulty, I’ve managed to salvage my computer equipment and get back up to speed in that respect, but we are spending a lot of time dealing with listing and salvaging everything else in the house.”
Steve in Lebanon in 2017, wearing a WLU Press cap
One of many waterfalls along the walls of the Qadisha Valley
Ancient Cedar, apparently the model for Lebanon’s flag
The Lebanon Mountain Trail
With these brave words, Steve Izma informed the WLURA Executive that he was still going ahead with his presentation to us on January 26. His audience of over thirty people were delighted he did.
Steve began by telling us that three of his grandparents arrived in the Waterloo area from Lebanon around 1900. His parents’ generation lost contact with Lebanon almost completely, but in 2017 Steve was one of the first of his family born in Canada to travel back to Lebanon. In three trips—2017, 2019, and 2023—Steve spent much of his time hiking the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT), about 600 kilometers long, that runs from north to south through the mountainous middle of the country.
He informed us about the trail’s significance to a sustainable environment and agriculture in Lebanon and followed it with a summary of the complex politics of the country. We were told that news of the country’s deep troubles, including bloody and destructive sectarian violence, an economy in collapse especially after the deadly grain elevator explosion in Beirut, and the relentless bombardments from Hezbollah on the southern border, colour our views of the entire country and blind us to the beauty of the peaceful countryside and walking trails of the interior.
This was Steve’s message to us as he showed beautiful images of the villages where he and his family stayed on their walks and the spectacular scenery all along the LMT.
The Lebanon Mountain Trail Association has a great website: https://www.lebanontrail.org/home for more information.
The website of the Canadian Friends of the Lebanon Mountain Trail: https://cflmt.ca.