Trailblazing

I made some randomn plans with Ken to ski in the Lac Phillippe area today. I was surprised to see plent of space in P19 as other lots that I passed on the way there seemed quite busy. It was quite cold in the wind but sunny, a perfect winter day with 25 cm of snow fallen in the last week. I headed towards Taylor lake along Trail 55. I was cooling off rapidly in just two layers of fleece so I was making my way along the shore of Taylor Lake towards the yurt to warm up when I met Ken. We made a quick pit stop at the yurt. It's new location near the shore of the lake is a great spot and I think a local colony of turtles are in agreement. It was cold inside with no fire so we decided on a plan and left.

We took a shortcut across the lake. It looked like the thing to do from the shore but it was hard work making trail in snow that was 2-3 feet deep. I stayed behind taking some good photos before feeling guilty and taking over. It was no picnic getting up the slope to the trail at the other end of the lake but no complaints here about the abundance of snow. It was 2-3 kilometres up trail 56 to the lookout and at first it too was unbroken but we soon encountered a threesome who had skied in from Lac Richard so it was broken until the trail split. Mostly uphill but a lot easier than crossing the lake. It sure was a winter wonderland with snow covering all the trees along the trail. We broke out a short section of the trail to the lookout and then stopped for some snacks before heading back. The descent was a blast in a track that was more like a 2 foot deep trench, gotta love gravity!

On our return, someone had started a sweet fire at the yurt so we stopped for lunch, The fire was so hot that the sandwiches toasted in a couple of minutes and mine burnt on one side. We returned to the car the way Ken had come along trail 55. This has to be one of the nicest trails in the park. It makes its way through a remote valley and has a nice combination of ups and downs. The steep descent away from the lake and the hydro line section near the parking lot make all the uphills earlier on worth the effort. This loop is on the must-do list for every ski season!

Toasted fleece at McKinstry

The weather forecast called for 2-4 cm of snow and temperatures around -5 and Bryan's carpool gang were taking the day off so we decided it was a good idea to do likewise and go for a ski. Today's goal was McKinstry from P12. This is a 20km ski on some of the less travelled trails in the park. Some healthy climbing right away to get you up the ridge and then up and down along Ridge rd. There was a real frost in the air right from the start and the temps were a bit colder than forecast. The climb up from Meech lake really gets the heart pumping and warms you up. We had a brief encounter with Santa at the Wolf trail bench but it turned out to be a snowshooer with bear bells. The trail up on the ridge was a winter wonderland of snow covered evergreens.

It took a while to get the fire going at the hut to toast up lunch and dry off clothes. I added a new item to the menu, home made chick pea and tomato soup. This was a success although a biggger thermos will be required for future trips. The stove is a good place to warm up food, dry off clothing and if you are carefull...warm up clothing. A strange odor that wafted over while we eating suggested someone had overdone their fleece. Turned out it was Bryan's and his sleeve had reverted back to some sort of plasticy goo that quickly hardened to a sharp edge. He etched "BvT" into the picnic table before deciding to remove the offending part to avoid cutting himself accidentally.

It took a while to warm up on the way back but it was great to be going down all the hills. A great ski day for sure!

Slow down, old fella

It was a sweet day skiing in the lower part of Gatineau Park. I think I may even have gotten a little sunburnt. Today's route was a loop from P1 along the Gatineau Parkway then Trail 5 and Trail 15 to Pink Lake and then back via the Gatineau Parkway. I hadn't done this route in several years and my recollection was that it was somehow uphill in both directions. Of course that is impossible and just an illusion.

Conditions were perfect with a nice glide. The sun was warm and although it was -10 it did not feel cold at all. I aggravated some muscle strains from earlier in the season and was laboring most of the day being passed by a steady stream of people with babies in sleds and retirees. One retiree (a 78 year old) even stopped to chat before saying he wanted to pick up the pace to get some exercise. But hey, I enjoyed the day and made it back to the car under my own steam. There was some brief alarm when I saw two airplanes that seemed to be on a crash course (see second pic below) but they missed each other and all was ok. The parking lot was 3/4 full at 10:30 when I set off but when I returned it was overflow with lurkers circling the lot waiting for someone to leave. I got home in good time to build a roaring fire and watch some NFL playoff football.

Short walk, Nice view

I went out to get a Sunday paper this morning and got a nice view as I walked across the intersection of Jackvale and Fable. Looking west was the full moon setting while in the east the sun was just coming up on the horizon.

Rideau canal skate

Instead of going for a ski today I headed down to the Rideau canal for a skate. It has been years since I laced em up on the canal. This is often true of tourist attractions in one's hometown. It was a great day for it with the sun out but a mighty cold wind. Yeah it was cold but warmer I'll bet than Winnipeg :-). The ice was pretty good although you could tell it was windy the last time they flooded it. The only section that was closed was from the Laurier bridge to the NAC and there were crews out on Dow's Lake removing the snow.

It was not too crowded for a Saturday morning and it was an great skate although I would dress warmer on the next occasion.