Perfect Winter Day

Today is the kind of day that makes me think we would be better off if it were winter all year long. A clear sunny day with a blanket of clean white snow all around. The temperature was just about perfect too at about -10C. I went back to the Lac Phillipe area as it is usually less busy and there were some races happening in the lower park. The tracks were fast and there is still a lot of snow up there even with the recent warm temperatures. Here's hoping the expected rain on monday does not do too much damage.

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!

Friday Birthday

I'm sure I've never taken a friday off so early in december to ski but we have the snow and it was Bryan's birthday so we made plans to ski in to Lusk cabin. Ken, Bryan and his dad and I left P19 at 10 and made quick work of the ski in. I was getting no glide but was like spiderman on the uphills! On the way there we got a brief shower of ice pellets that felt almost like rain. Lusk is a nice small cabin and we had it to ourselves. Ken chopped a little wood and we cooked up our sandwiches on the woodstove, sweet!

After lunch the sky started to clear and we had a fun run down the Lusk trail before making a brief refreshment stop at Renaud cabin where we met a local who seemed unimpressed by the early season ski grooming in the park. After listening to the rant for a while I could take no more and I was off like a tornado down the trail to Taylor lake. My headstart bought me time to take some sweet pics of the great snow coverage.

Once past Taylor lake we arrived at Exclamation Point Hill (only such sign that I am aware of). In fact there are two such signs on this hill that is steep and has an S turn and some bumps near the bottom. I got the task of skiing halfway down and filming the rest of the crew. No one got hurt and all had fun! The Taylor Lake loop is one of the best in the park, very quiet and remote. We saw many tracks in the fresh snow that we guessed were wolf or coyote. Our last stop of the day was for poutine at a local eatery. Again, no one got hurt and all had fun.