P9 to P9 ... the long way round

I went out for a short ski today as a way to get some fresh air after recovering from a bad cold. It was a sweet day with sunny skies and fairly warm so it wasn't too surprising that P10 was full to overflowing when I got there. I opted for P9 (just down the hill) and a short, flat ski out and back on the doldrums. However, when I got to the gate at the far end, I decided to cross the road and continue. After climbing the first few hills on the Gatineau Parkway I was committed to the parkway loop. I've skied this loop a few times now and it is a great way to spend a sunny day. There are several long hills but because it is road they are never too steep. The stretch of the Champlain Parkway between the Gatineau Parkway and the Fortune Parkway has the most uphill and I was really feeling it near the highpoint and was pretty happy to finally see the intersection with Fortune. From there it is flat for a few kilometre and then at last you see the road sign with the car pointed diagonally down (the universal symbol that tells skiers that they can glide from here back to the parking lot.

A great day to be out, work on the winter tan and sweat out some germs!

The night shift

With several days of rain/freezing rain in the forecast and a full moon, Bryan, Ken and I decided to go for an evening ski from P10 up to Huron cabin for supper and some then skiing under the full moon. The outing took a near disasterous turn right at the start as Bryan left something behind at work: it was his foil wrapped sandwiches. The traffic was much lighter now that the busses are back running. We got to P10 under sunny blue skies and headed up the Fortune Parkway to meet up with Ken around Fortune Lake. The tracks were slick which made for lots of poling on the way up and predicted a quick ride back to the car later on.

We stopped in at Shilly Shally for a beverage before heading up to Huron Lookout to check out the sunset. While the sun was blazing, the mostly cloudy skies kept the photo session short. We headed back to Huron cabin and started preparing supper. There were pots of soup and sandwiches cooking on the wood stove, chili bubbling on a portable burner, french bread and cheese on the table and a well stoked fire. As we were working on dinner we were making mental lists of items to add to the menu for next time. We had the cabin to ourselves for more than an hour before a birthday celebration arrived.

With that we made our way back down Ridge road through the Khyber pass by the moonlight. The was no one coming up through the pass and it was clear sailing back to Shilly Shally. From there we stopped several times to take photos of the moon when it emerged from various bank of clouds (I have some practising to do on my night photography). The ride back down the Fortune parkway was awesome, other than a few bumpy moments in the tracks. At the parking lot there was some debate about finding the steepest, narrowest trail in the park and doing it in the dark but that was all talk.

Nights at the cabins are a cool scene and something to be done again, soon!