Meech Lake shortcut

What a beautiful sunday to be out skiing. I chose to ski out of the O'Brien parking lot (P11) as I had not skied from there yet this winter. The weather today was a far cry from a day several years ago when Bryan and I left P11 in a semi-blizzard and windchill values hovering at about -40. My destination today was either Herridge or Healey cabins. Trail 36 is a real rollercoaster of a trail, probably more up and down for its 7k distance than any other trail in the park. It touches parts of Meech lake about three times before it joins up with trail 50. So you work hard climbing each hill and then have a blast going down the other side.

Just before it hits trail 50, there is a short side trail that brings you to a bench that looks out across Meech Lake towards P13. This is a great spot for a break. Just as I arrived at the bench, the previous occupants were packing up and heading out. Perfect! I decided to stay there for lunch instead of heading to a cabin. While there was no stove to cook up my sandwich, the view and solitude more than made up the difference. As I sat there enjoying my cheese and crackers (side note: these make a great ski snack as I learned from a wise friend) I noticed some tracks heading out across the lake.

I figured it was a nice day to ski on the lake and decided to see if I could shortcut my return by skiing across the lake and rejoining trail 36 near the head of the lake. The snow was only ankle deep and it is great crossing a lake as you get views you otherwise wouldn't get. I passed many nicely suitated cottages and as I approached the shore I heard some skiers. Great idea. It turned out I hadn't made much of a shortcut though as I rejoined the trail at the earliest spot. I had needed to gone out and around a much further point on the shore but I only realised that after seeing my map at home.