Kenmore

Ski season is here

2012-01-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

Wait, What?! January 19th and I’m only declaring a start to the ski season…. Been that kind of a year. Still, better late than never. We finally got a good storm to track over Ottawa and drop a few decent inches of snow. Before that there was some snow which was pretty thin but skiable. Beggars can’t be choosers though so I got quite a few k’s on the Parkway flats and occasionally ventured off the beaten path – only to find an odd rock or tree still exposed and looking to eat my skis.
Even the base of the feeder hadn't been buried in snow

After last week’s storm the inevitable High pressure cell came in and dropped the temperature 20 degrees in a matter of moments. Cold was the order of last weekend’s skis and lots of layers were a necessity. Still it was great to be out in the snow and skiing some actual trails. Topped it off on Monday with the long loop near Wakefield which cuts across a wide variety of trail types. While I saw very few skiers (not surprising on a cold Monday) Those I did pass had wide grins (possibly frozen) on their faces as the new snow had been freshly groomed just for us. Hard to beat hard packed (yet still snowy) bomber tracks. A few pictures to demonstrate my point.
Easy skiing along the Kennedy road
Skirting the shores of Lac Phillippe
Perhaps a little time for an evening slide in the Meech Creek valley

A New Year - forward to spring

2012-01-04T14:04:00.001-05:00

Decided to kick off the New Year on Sunday with a hike in the Adirondacks. The Christmas break had been filled with some marginal skiing on a pretty thin base. Glad to have the snow for sure as, just before the break, there was almost none to speak of. Time though for a little change so I loaded up the winter gear and- very early in the morning (4am!) drove down to the high peaks. The drive down was mostly ordinary. I always seem to pass the Malone prisons during a shift change so at 6am there is suddenly traffic everywhere for a moment or two and then it’s back to empty roads.

Not exactly "A1" winter hiking trails
The weather forecasts were very clear stating overcast skies with rain after lunchtime. I had planned a slightly scenic walk out of the AMR but that forecast made me change my mind. I decided to head for the Loj with Street and Nye in mind. A shorter hike with middling views (which you wouldn’t feel too bad about if you missed out on) seemed a better choice given the day. I parked at the Loj and immediately started unloading my gear. No snow to be seen – so the snowshoes stay in the car. Warm at +5C… so the winter layers can stay behind. Overcast conditions meant I’d be in the clouds… no point carrying the big camera. Five hour hike, probably don’t need a full lunch. Pretty soon my big “winter” pack was all but empty… so I loaded it back up with some gear just for the chance to get used to the big bag.

Another tricky water crossing... and the water here looks waist deep!
Set off for the short, level walk to the Indian pass brook. This would be the only real obstacle of the day. Warm weather meant the ice would be thin and it might be difficult to cross. As it was I found a decent line and a few hops had me across. The climb itself was pretty straight forward. There was no need for spikes until I got to about 3700ft and even then it was of marginal value. For the most part I put them on rather than carry them in my pack the whole day. Nye being only 3800 ft meant I probably could have suffered the last little climb with bare boots. The climb up to Street (+400feet) was a little more wintry but even then it felt more like spring than anything.

Sun through the trees? Could this be true?
The big bonus came as I neared the ridgeline and blue skies greeted me?! So much for the predicted clouds and rain! In fact the peaks all around me were bathed in blue skies by the time I topped out and I had some good photo ops of the nearby MacIntyres and the more distant Santas. Further still Nye clearly has had some of its forested top knocked down (perhaps from Irene?) since I was here last and there are much better views from this formerly forested summit. I enjoyed a little summit time, snacked and took some pics before turning tail and heading down. An excellent day after all considering I was expecting clouded summits and a quick u-turn at each peak.

Poking my head above the clouds

A sunny day afterall!!
The descent was pretty speedy and I met a few groups heading up. Returning to the Indian pass brook I was met with more of an obstacle as the days warm weather had done some damage to the ice bridges. It took me two goes to get across. The first was met with rapidly collapsing slabs of ice and a quick u-turn to safety. The second attempt worked better with a lot of scrambling and a mad dive for the far shore line. Both attempts felt a little like those Japanese game shows where the contestants sprint across the giant dominos… all the while they are collapsing beneath them. In my case it was slabs of ice falling into the brook rather than domino's but “light feet” seemed to be the right solution. In any event I successfully moved on to the “scorpion round”… err, not in the game show I guess so just a dry walk home. Safe on the bank I then spotted a still very solid looking path of ice further upstream so the lesson is don’t always go for the first option. To be honest, the brook is only thigh deep at worst so even if I’d fallen in I would have just had a wet 20-25 minute walk back to the car (and the lovely parting gifts!)… so no big tragedy unless it was -25C (and then the ice would likely be thicker...).

Choose your path wisely grasshopper...
The return drive proved the weather people know their stuff as a warm front chased me most of the way home before catching and unloading rain from Cornwall to my driveway. So, well timed trip, a good hike and an excellent welcome to 2012. Winter returned on Monday with an excellent ski (that could still use some more snow!).

Back to winter conditions

Does 2 years make it “Annual”?

2011-12-23T12:41:00.000-05:00

Not sure if the title applies but I’m willing to say – Yes, it does. Time for our second crack at an overnighter in Gatineau Park at one of the interior huts. Last year we skied in to Lusk Lake hut which was a pretty sweet setup but this year we decided to try one of the yurts. I opted to book the Taylor Lake yurt sitting right on the shores of the lake which sounded nice. Of course it was (almost) the shortest day of the year so the scenic vistas would be limited but even still. So with money down we laid our plans for good trip. We weren’t able to convince anyone else that a little overnighter before the chaos of Christmas was an ideal plan but no worries, just the three of us again this year.
the waxing conditions were pretty tough...

Sadly the snow gods didn’t cooperate and the “ski” part of the trip didn’t work out but a bracing walk on a cold afternoon wasn’t too bad either. I'm sure Dave was secretly pleased as the lack of a ski component meant his camp guitar wouldn't take any hits as his ski skills are still in the "rookie" class. The walk gave us a chance to see the progress on the campground washout near the main gate of the Lac Phillipe campground. Clearly those crews have been making good progress thanks to the lack of snow and the work seems to be close to completion (ahead of schedule?).
Work progresses at the new culvert

After the walk in we arrived at the yurt to find the lake frosted over like a sheet of glass. Chopping a hole to collect some water, I found the ice to be a good 2 inches thick so skating would have been a nice option if we’d have brought them along… but alas this hadn’t factored into my plan so we opted to stay on the shore.
Taylor lake as the storm clouds grew
The hut awaits us(photo courtesy of Bryan)

The yurt itself is pretty nice and – with a good fire in the wood stove – warmed up pretty nicely. A good evening spent making too much food, listening to Dave on the camp guitar and being entertained by various electronic devices(more music, a podcast or two and a few videos). We even had some nice howls bellowing from the woods as the local populace (coyotes?) provided some light entertainment. A good evening spent and even a few stars popped out which surprised me as the heavy clouds rolled over upon our arrival so I thought a star show would be out of the question.
The group settles in for the night ahead

As we hit the sack a pretty big storm crashed about outside dropping a little fresh snow (not enough to ski) but we were safe and sound in our bunks in the yurt. After last years experience of stiffling heat in Lusk cabin (that wood stove cranks some serious BTU’s!) Dave had opted to bring only a light sheet for sleeping. This worked extremely well for Bryan and me. As long as we stayed tucked in our sleeping bags, we could outwait Dave as the fire died down and the winter chill filled the yurt. Dave would inevitably be the first to feel the cold and he’d be forced to get up to stoke/rebuild the fire – a task he did efficiently 2x’s through the night (Thanks Dave!).
Checking out the ice wall on the hike out

Morning and a fresh blanket of snow on the ground as we hiked out. The snow was pretty effective at hiding layers of ice on the trail and Bryan and I took the hits with a couple of nice wipe outs as we hiked/shuffled/slid our way along. This allowed Dave to shrewdly skirt any slippery spots and protect his guitar which would have taken the brunt of any fall. I guess our “spotting” the ice patches for him was fair payback for his hard work stoking the fire overnight. A nice hike out and soon we were rolling back to town and watching the snow melt :( Looking forward to next year already when hopefully the snow will fall, the coyotes will be bolder still and indeed “annual” will seem like the appropriate term.
The motley crew (photo courtesy Dave)

First tracks

2011-11-23T09:59:00.000-05:00

Fresh snow on the parkways!!

Ahh, always nice to finally strap on the boards and get the first ski of the season in. Last nights snowfall wasn’t a lot but it was enough to get me out early for a little ski. In all, about 5cm fell and to my surprise there was probably more snow in town then up in the park. By the time I’d learned this I was already at P10 so I skied up the parkway to the old Western cutoff before turning around and zipping back. While one skater (!) had skied a few hundred meters up the parkway I was breaking trail myself… and while there was barely enough snow to cover the grass..., and I probably went too warm with the wax..., and the snow might not last to day’s end (much less weeks end)… It was still great to be back on the boards. At least a little reminder that indeed winter may actually arrive (at some point) after this long warm fall we’ve had. Met the ski team “working in my trail” as I skied back to the car. While there was no grooming to be had ( and I wouldn’t have expected it!) they make up for it in sheer numbers so the last little descent was on a nicely compacted trail. Now, do I pack away my bike or keep it out for the +12C weather predicted for Saturday?

Calm and quiet at Fortune Lake - still some open water, so no crossing the ponds just yet

Hmmm, someone, with a draggy tail, used my broken trail to ease their way down the hill.

Trail update

A little detour for this winter should make a nice change from the routine.

On an side note, I went back up and rode at the Lac Phillippe end of the park on Monday. It was a cold day indeed that felt like winter (-4C) even if it looked like fall. As I rode around I discovered some new signs (above) that suggest my original assumption about the Pine road trail (50) were in fact correct. Looks like the ski trail will detour around the washed out road for this winter much like the campground traffic did this summer. Probably a good idea when doing earthworks this late in the season. Let things settle over the winter and then “top them up” after the spring thaw. It will add a few hundred meters to the old route and a nice little hill down to (and back up from) the beach area so should work out nicely. While there was activity at the washout the last time I rode through here all was quiet today. There were still a lot of trucks (loaded with fill) driving out to trail 56 so repairs there seem to be continuing.

A cold day at Lusk cabin.... gotta get me some shoe covers as I froze my feet!

I also took the ride up to Lusk lake. As I anticipated the steep chute partway up is badly washed out. Gonna be tricky to ski that this winter but there was some signs of work so perhaps they have a plan to patch it up before the serious snow falls. No work going on on this day so they better get at it... real snow can't be far behind!

Trailwork underway at Lac Phillippe

2011-11-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

Been up riding in the Lac Phillippe (and beyond) end of the park quite a bit this fall. It makes for some nice riding when the more southerly trails are overrun with leaf peepers. Further north the parking lots are fewer and farther between and fall hikers usually only make it one or two km's. Beyond that it feels a little more like I have the park to myself. I hadn’t ridden up there much this summer so it was nice to get in and explore a bit. Lots of trail erosion on the main trails after the spring melt and heavy rains of early summer. Certainly the Lac Phillippe campground road got some press after it dramatically washed out in the summer storm but riding the back woods I found all kinds of erosion trenches and damaged trail bridges. These were no problems to ride around/over etc. but with the coming ski season they'd be a bigger problem.

Pretty big Bike Eater along trail 56!

On my ride through the park on Monday it was nice to see crews out working to fix some of these problem areas. I didn’t ride out into the affected areas too much as there were heavy trucks and vehicles rolling along the trails so I didn’t want to get in the way. Still, there was lots of activity in the campground which is “closed for the season” so there was clearly some haste to get work done before the snow flies.

Road washout - the water moved some pretty big trees!

The first big repair is the campground road bridge which washed out in the early summer. It sat all summer looking pretty ugly with the culvert pitched in the air and big trees wrenched aside by the strong forces of rushing water. The heavy rains actually washed out the side of the dam upstream which must have sent a tremendous wave downhill. Back in June a temporary bridge was placed in another location closer to the lake so the campground could function through the summer season. I was beginning to wonder if that would be a "permanent-temporary" fix for the ski trail as well. On Monday however it was good to see some heavy equipment in there removing the debris and preparing for new culverts to go into place. I guess, after a design phase they waited to close up the campground before the heavy equipment got to work.

High hoe clearing the debris to prepare for a new culvert

Of the most concern to me was the bridge at the base of the hill up to Lusk lake. This is a favourite trail and seeing one of the bridge piers collapsing had me worried that the trail would be closed for the season. The bridge itself looked passable for a skier but the heavy snowcats wouldn’t be able to cross and groom the trail up the hill.

Lusk Lake bridge pier looking shaky

Since my first visit in October, it’s nice to see that crews have shored up the bridge. I must say its a pretty ugly "bandaid" approach they’ve applied to the bridge… but I hope it will work. I guess the bandaid approach was employed here because of high costs in other areas. Perhaps next season they will patch up the bridge properly as I think there are a few key flaws to their repair which won’t last in the long term.

How many structural weaknesses can you count - as an engineer, I can see 3 that leave me wondering...

Also at work were repairs to trail 56 which heads off into the woods and up to the Pontiac lookout and Lac Richard beyond. Having ridden through there a couple of weeks ago I had found some pretty big “bike eating” ruts from water rushing down the trails(pictured at the top). It was all well and good to ride around these in the summer but with a blanket of snow these would become a invisible and pretty hazardous crevasses, surely catch skiers out and causing some serious injuries. These washouts of course only occurred in steep parts of the trails so skiers would be going pretty fast when they fell into these unseen trenches. Kind of like an elephant trap! Being in lonely parts of the park would only compound the problem of getting help and extraction of the injured parties. Glad to see those repairs underway.

Trail 56 closed for repair work

Truckloads of fill heading along trail 56 to the washouts

So lots of work going on in the north end of the park. That coupled with big repairs of the culvert on the “Doldrums” – further south - has surely meant a big bill for the NCC this year. Could this in part be responsible for the ski pass price increase? Ah well, glad to see some action which will mean good skiing once the snow flies… which I’m getting really antsy for. My ride on Monday was under sunny skies and +18C!! That’s definitely not mid-November weather and not conducive to snow production.

Lots of work underway to get ready for ski season and beyond

Loon Mountain Treat

2011-11-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

I haven’t had much luck with my “Monday’s off” this fall. A colleague of mine takes Fridays off and he has lucked out with warm sunny days on the golf links (his pastime of choice). I on the other hand have gotten cold grey days with an icy rain falling. Perfect weather to get hypothermia – bleah! It was with great pleasure, however that I woke up yesterday to sunny skies and a good forecast so I decided to take full advantage of the weather. Had to run a few errands in the morning but then chucked some gear in the truck and raced off to the Adirondacks. Beautiful sunny drive down and I arrived at the trailhead with a nice “alpine start” of 1:30pm. No worries though, late day sun often makes for better picture taking so I loaded up all the gear and headed up the trail.
Bright colours still to be had - just not primary colours
Today I had picked Loon Mountain as my destination. It’s actually considerably closer to town than the high peaks so it made for a short drive. The hike itself is not too long either at about 3 miles to the summit. With a firetower on the summit to visit I had often wondered why it was not on the official “Firetower challenge” list. I learned this summer that, until recently, the forests around the base of the mountain had been owned by a lumber company and public access was forbidden. Now – after changes in ownership and new agreements with the state… and all the insueing paperwork and legal hurdles - public access had once again been restored (in 2009). The forest rangers have made a pass at remarking the old fire wardens trail and have plans (one day) to restore the tower but for now the trail is somewhat rough with an additional 1 mile or so walking along the old forest roads before getting to the trail itself. Once it becomes “trail”, it starts uphill in a hurry with some pretty steep scrambly bits climbing close to 1000ft in the last mile. Forest rangers clearly had never heard of switchbacks when they built their approach trails. On this day I even got a bit of a taste for winter as the trail got higher. Never enough for the need of traction devices but just a nice dusting of snow as if to say “we are coming!”
Early signs of the snows ahead
Finally on the summit I added a layer and then took time to enjoy the view. Sadly – while sunny when I started, the grey clouds rolled over as I climbed. And not even very interesting clouds either – just a steel grey November cloud deck(a day early). From the look of the high peaks to the south I would guess the clouds were about 5000ft as the summits of Marcy and Algonquin disappeared in the grey. Undeterred though I shot quite a few frames. While the leaves are mostly gone there is still some beautiful colour to be had. Mostly rusts and bronze with interesting red berries on the Sumacs. The mountains take on an interesting skeletal form after the leaves are gone (appropriate on this hallows eve). Searching around the summit, I couldn't find many remnants of the fire wardens here. Not clear (to me) where the warden’s cabin might have been (up high? down low?) but there was a steady line of telephone poles up the trail indicating his (her?) communication system.
Fall colour - blaze orange - as it's that time of year
The tower itself looks to be in rough shape. The first riser of stairs has been taken down and chained to the base. While it would be an easy scramble on the steel frame up to the first deck, I opted against as the stairs above didn’t look to be in much better shape. The steel frame – while rusty – looks to be fine so I expect a repair job wouldn’t be too onerous. But who has the money these days. Not the DEC that’s for sure. They will be cash strapped for some time repairing bridges ripped out by Irene. The views are fine without the tower so no big loss that I stayed on the ground for this peak. Got back to the car around 5pm and then made the drive home. While only about 2 hours from home my return trip was slowed by lots of goblins roaming the streets of the small towns I passed through. Best to give them a wide berth lest you be “recruited” to their undead army.
Winter looming not too far in the distance

Thankful for some fall hiking

2011-10-14T15:20:00.001-04:00

Fall colours in the High peaks
This past weekend I was thankful for a chance to get back to some hiking and take in the falling leaves. I haven’t done enough “big” mountain hiking this summer to plan an arduous hike but with warm temperatures forecast there was no need to cover big distance. Rather some shorter walks in the colour rich morning light would be ideal. As luck would have it there is a long list of smaller peaks I would like to explore so I headed down to the Adirondacks pretty early on Saturday morning. Parked in the Keene Valley at the Roostercomb trailhead with this option looking the most appealing on a warm sunny morning. Roostercomb is a little peak that reportedly offers some nice views so it sounded like a start to the day. Pulled into the parking lot as only the 5th car and got booted up for the walk. Beautiful trail work up this peak made for a pleasant walk. Clearly the trail gets a lot of use from the locals as it extends almost right into town. Lots of leaves down but still more on the trees which seemed to range from (pale) greens to (OMG)reds. I never really get the “peak foliage” debate when it comes to leaf peepers but seems like a discussion where everyone wins regardless of the ruling. Either way the relatively short 2.5 miles to the little summit passed quickly as my head swam in the bright colours. Soon enough I stood on an open rocky block staring up the length of the Great Range with views back to Giant and Vermont to the east. It was interesting to note that above 3000ft the leaves were all pretty much gone. After that, the south facing slopes looked most colourful while the north facing slopes looked a little thin. Some spots looked to be hardly started to turn colours while others were already done… so peak? Near peak? Past peak? Who knows… there was lots to look at regardless.

Looking up the Great Range
With the first summit covered I decided to carry on up the range trail to nearby Hedgehog mtn. before looping around to Snow mtn. This was mostly new trail to me so it’s always nice to stumble upon some little gem of a lookout that peers across a valley or up to the high mountains at some unusual angle. It was also my first time since “Irene” to walk the hardest hit trails through here. Lots of signs of fresh chainsaw work thanks to the hard working trail crews. Quite a few of the steeper pitches had a lot of soil washed away in spots and it was clear a lot of water had rushed down the trails. This left some significant stretches with deep ditches where the trail was and a lot of loose boulders which makes for tricky footing… but I guess with time they will get locked in again. As I crossed Deer brook, the “after” picture was quite startling. The brook itself had been swept clean and no earth or moss of any kind was left behind. All that remained was a wider stream bed (what was 3 or 4 feet is now 10ft) and polished, white rock faces and boulders. Again, clear that a lot of water had pounded down this brook during the storm.

Busy spot - Lots more cars out on the road
Back at the car I discovered (not a surprise really) that I wasn’t alone enjoying the fall foliage. While I was 4th or 5th car in the lot in the morning, there were now close to 50 cars jammed in the little lot making it a chore to get out. Once on the road there was more (and more and more) cars parked everywhere! Every major trailhead had 1 or 2 kms of road approaching it with cars parked on either side of the highway People were not willing to let a 2km walk - to the trail head mind - deter them from getting to those fall colours!

Fall colours in the Keene Valley this year (hopefully this year only)

Got back to the car with plenty of time so I toured around the valley to see some of the repair work that has gone on post Irene. Indeed lots of signs of people hard at work. The highways were repaired in record time so driving around was easy but the side roads still have a long way to go before the locals can move about freely. I wonder if a lot of current enviro-policy in road construction was … umm, ignored, for the sake of speedy economic recovery to the area. I would wager it was as there were lots of “poor construction practice” here and there. Still, the economy in this area is so razor thin that it was clear getting things moving was paramount in the governors mind. Act first, respond to criticism later. Lots of demo work on houses is obvious as well with flooded basements and damaged homes being ripped out and rebuilt. Only a few signs of folks abandoning there destroyed property. Otherwise the locals are rebuilding with fervor. High water marks everywhere are always a little surprising. At one point a sign indicated the Ausable had topped out at ~25 feet above its current level… and taken quite a few homes with it. Impressive stuff to see.

The Ausable river is behind me... some 15 feet below where I'm standing

Early morning in Lake Placid... I wonder if they'd mind if I borrowed the canoe?
Having not made any plans I decided to head to South Meadow to camp… which proved an experience for sure. Again, cars were parked on either side of the Loj road some 3km from the Loj itself. The South Meadow road was pretty busy as well but I did find one spot that could support 1 or 2 cars so I quickly pulled in and set up camp. As dusk fell, others drove by and first 1 car and then a couple of more groups jammed their cars into my little spot to camp in any few, free square inches they could set up. Busy spot to be sure but most everyone was pretty quiet and soon off to sleep with plans of a full hiking day dancing in their dreams.

Looking south to the high Peaks
Sunday dawned early for me and I snuck out of camp and headed through Lake Placid to check out another trail I have been meaning to explore. This one would likely be quiet as it gets little use compared to the more popular spots nearby. The hike up Scar mountain was another treat. Flat for a mile or so before turning up the fall line and ending with a few nice scrambles. Just before the summit ridgeline a nice view to the south opened up but I continued on to the summit which turned out to be fully treed. No matter, a quick jaunt back to the lower balcony and then lunch in the warm sunshine. Over lunch I chatted with a couple from New Zealand who were spending a month exploring America. They had opted for this little trail hoping it would be somewhat less busy than their hike up Cascade the previous day – and apart from myself they had it mostly to themselves. Interesting folk to talk to. Most everything was new to them in this environment (no snakes, or mammals, or deciduous trees of this size back home!) so they were quite happy with their choice of hikes and forever swinging their heads around with a “hey, look at that!”.

This little guy should be looking for somewhere to spend winter - but a warm sunny weekend had him thankful to get out and explore
Quick change at the carpark and then I closed out the day with an amazing lunch at a (new to me) secret campspot where I broke out my chair, and had a good afternoon relaxing in the sun, reading a good book and enjoying the fall weather. As dusk settled in I packed up and headed for home. Another great weekend in the peaks. Weather outside my window (as I type) suggests that regularly scheduled fall weather is on tap for a while. Cold and wet will be the norm as we head towards November.

Fall! And a post

2011-09-24T18:13:00.000-04:00

Well summer has turned to fall and I’ve decided I'm well behind in writing a blog post. Been a busy summer but sadly not enough trips to the woods it seems. Never enough I suppose. From mid July into August it got plenty hot and humid and I’m never motivated to go climbing in that weather. Have to carry too much water and fight off the deerflies and it all just seems like a chore. Instead it was easier to get out the road bike (and sometimes the mtnbike) and ride close to home. A lot of trips away but more often than not they involved sitting in stands and watching others exert themselves. Always fun but starting to pay for it now as dryland work starts in preparation for the ski season ahead.
A day at the races in Watkins GlenA little cardio to climb the grandstands… and I was weighted down with a beer or two so maybe I can put this in my training log? A set of photos here from race weekend

Good to get out to the Ball yardHmmm, field boxes and they bring the beers to you…. Cardio today = 0

The pro peleton on the Camelien HoudeFollowing the pro peleton at the Montreal GP counts as a workout. They wait for no one and a 12km walk around the circuit was a beautiful fall day out. Waaaay too many pictures here.

Trail crews debating which trees to clearI did get out over Labour day weekend to do … well some labour. After Irene swept through, the Adirondack park suffered some significant damage. More of a rain event than a wind storm (like Floyd in ‘99) the high peaks got over a foot of rainfall in a 10 hour span! The result was new landslides (great for the skiers this winter) and overflowing brooks. John’s Brook rose 10 feet during the storm and washed out bridges , roads and flooded homes in the the Keene Valley. Quite a storm indeed! Labour Day had been a scheduled work day on the Mt Adams firetower but our crewleader offered us up to the DEC for trailwork. In the end they put us to work on… the Mt Adams trail clearing blowdown and inspecting for damage. Turns out with our “Adopt a natural resource” paperwork already in place they felt it best to stick to our area rather than head into some of the hardest affected areas. Not that the Adams/Allen trail was unaffected as we cleared a fair amount of debris. A pretty big crew was raised and it was a treat to be allowed into the high peaks as the rangers had closed all the trailheads for the long weekend except for trail crews.
High Peaks closed - on a long weekend. You won't see that very often

It was a good example of many hands make light work as we swept up the trail in pretty short order and the firetower showed no signs of distress after the storm. Sadly the bridge across the Hudson, which had washed out this spring -and just been replaced a week before - washed out again!! Not sure when that will be fixed as there are many (many) bridges in the peaks that washed out so the rangers will be busy replacing/repairing a lot of trail infrastructure.
The bridge is down again!
Today - with the start of fall - I headed off to ride the Wakefield triangle out of P17. Not an overly long route but it has a wide variety of trail including some pavement through the campground, wide woods roads and then some steep grinders and fast single track on trail 52. A bit of everything to satisfy.
Fall Mtnbiking - no bugs, no heat....perfect!
I noted the NCC trail crews have been working out here… and as always I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them. From the looks of it several big storms brought down a lot of lumber in the forests along my route today – and the crews have done a good job clearing them up (love it!) Alas they are also doing some “trail improvement” – particularly along trail 52. Sadly their idea of a good mtnbike track is piling a lot of loose sand and gravel over an otherwise excellent base (HATE IT!!). The loose material acts as a sand trap and the tires auger in and fishtale around trying to launch me off my bike. Booo! Ah well, if other parts of the park are any example the loose stuff washes away with the spring runoff (making one question why they do it) so next spring should be back to good trail beds. Onwards into fall now with more riding, trail running and rollerskiing and hopefully a little hiking in the mountains. First snow is still a ways off but I want to be ready when it gets here.
Rolling along Lac Phillippe

Mount Adams firetower

2011-07-15T16:35:00.000-04:00

An old archive photo of the Mount Adams firetower. The trees have grown back (in force) since this photo was taken
Back to the tower for last weekend for work trip. This time there were only 2 of us which was a shame as the weather was just about perfect. That said one of the tower roofing guys had been up a week before and put the last touches on anchouring the roof… so some work had been done since my last visit. To be fair the new roof had withstood some pretty serious winds over the months of May and June and had come out unscathed so the “extra” anchours might not be necessary but better safe than sorry. Saturday, Jack and I headed up to the tower at about 8am and made short work of the climb. We are both getting pretty familiar with the twists and turns of the steep trail and know well when to expend energy and when to relax and grind out the steep chutes. On top we set about our tasks after a short break. I was back on stair tread duty and have become somewhat of a professional at it. Jack on the other hand took to painting the existing window frames with both a primer and (after the primer quickly dried) a final coat of paint. The day started out somewhat cloudy with a good breeze. As I changed stairs high up in the tower the wind picked up significantly. So much so that after about an hour I was quite cold (and a little unnerved) and decided to work a little lower down where the wind didn’t blow so strong.
Fresh paint on the window frames and a new roof above
Mid-morning we took the 2x8x10 foot scaffold planks down from the cab. These planks had been used by the roofing team to stand on while assembling the roof. This proved an exciting challenge a) to negotiate down the narrow spiral staircase with these long boards and b) because they acted a lot like a sail in strong wind gusts. On more than one occasion Jack and I hung on for dear life to the planks(and the tower) as the wind buffeted us around. Fortunately at this point the wind came in fits and starts and we got short breaks to hustle down the steps when the wind stopped. As the day wore on the wind eased off and I was once again able to work on the upper levels. At this point we started to get some of our first "guests" of the day. I didn’t think a lot of people would bother to “ford” the Hudson now that the bridge was out but the water level is pretty low in midsummer so it didn’t stop some folks. Nice to chat with people about the tower while we worked. Most were tourists but one guy had lived in nearby Newcomb all his life and only now made the hike to see the tower. They were all enthusiastic about seeing it rehabilitated. One couple arrived with their Jack Russell terrier and tied him up to a tree while they went up high to see the view. He was not about to be left on the ground though and skillfully broke loose from his tether. As I worked on level 3, I had a small wet nose poke me in the thigh to get past as he wanted to climb the tower to be with his “pack”. Without safety fencing on the staircase (yet) I thought it best if he stay low so I grabbed him in his tracks and soon enough his “Dad” came scurrying down to babysit him on terra firma.
Day dreaming comes a little too easily from this jobsite
By the end of day I had finished replacement of all the stair treads but for a couple that were a little too long and needed to be trimmed to fit (next time perhaps). The existing windows were all painted, a few blown down trees were cleared off the tower and a few measurements were taken for some of the next projects on the list. A good day and the hike down was a cake walk (on dry rock) compared to the flowing stream that I had to deal with back in June. At the cars, Jack made the (excellent) suggestion we grab a burger in Newcomb. So after cleaning up a bit we made the short drive back to the (one and only) bar in town and had a decent burger to close out the day. Far better than the bowl of pasta I had planned for the evening. Got myself a campsite at the state campground at Lake Eton for the night. On signing in I was given a form with “Rules” to keep bears out of my campsite. Interestly the “rules” started at rule #6. What were rules 1 to 5?!? Surely rules 1 to 5 would be important and worth sharing. What if rule #1 was “DON'T CAMP HERE! You WILL be eaten by bears”! Bad for business I suppose and I could understand why they might not like to share that bit of advise. Went to sleep confident I would be eaten by bears… but survived the night. Close call…
Maybe bears don't like fires? Maybe they do(rule#3)! Who know's?!

The view across Raquette lake from West mountain
Sunday I decided to visit a fire tower peak where the tower had been removed some years ago. West Peak sits On Raquette lake on the…. (are you ready?) west shore. It has a 4 mile approach hike that is relatively flat and then 1000 foot climb in the last mile to get to the summit. The day was gorgeous with a warm sun shining. The deer flies were a little annoying but I chose to trail run the flat stretch so I covered the ground pretty quickly. Again, the climb was quick as the rocks were dry and the view from the top was pretty good. Interesting to visit the summit and see some of the remains of the tower still intact more than 30 years after the structure was removed. Nice meadow for the care takers cabin just below the summit and a good view even without a tower. A little hot and hazy but it's summertime so you can’t have everything. Stopped by the shores of Raquette lake on the way back. Looked quite inviting for a quick swim but with 2 more miles to go back to the car I opted against and made the short run before cooling off. Another nice couple of days in the peaks.
Raquette Lake on a warm day

New Hampshire sampler

2011-07-05T15:14:00.000-04:00

Sunlight beaming down the trail
Managed to get off to New Hampshire last week. I like to get down there at least once a year to do some hiking. Was meaning to try to get down during the winter and try out a few areas for some skiing but that trip never came together. At any rate it’s nice to get into a slightly different area to do some hiking in terrain that is new so I looked forward to it. The past couple of years the trips to NH have had little success. Low cloud decks and heavy rains greeted me in the granite state. I did climb a few trails (so there must be some mountains in there somewhere!) but it was mostly a wet, miserable affair with little or no views to enjoy at the summit. This time the weather looked promising. While it was going to rain heavily on the drive down it was supposed to clear out overnight and give blue skies the next day. Indeed as I negotiated my way through and around Montreal’s construction headaches I was indeed pelted with heavy rains but they mostly subsided by the time I got to the US border. Made camp at a little spot outside of Twin Mountain and – with long summer days - I had time to scurry up and down a nearby high peak before darkness fell. Only some slight vistas at the top but the clouds were starting to break up which was encouraging.

Summit views from Mount Tom
Sound sleep and the next morning I awoke to…. A very low cloud deck with limited views :( Maybe it would clear through the day so I headed out for a long hike over the Willey range in hopes that, up top at least, the clouds would break. They did not completely… but I did get some limited views so not a total loss. New Hampshire’s mountains are a little different than the Adirondacks I’m more used to. They don’t muck about with long, gradual approach hikes to the bottom of where you start to go up to the top. Rather they get down to the real work of gaining elevation almost right from the get go. There is also a lot better trail construction, as a result I suspect, to much higher volumes of hikers. As my first “big mountain” hikes of the season I was far from prepared for this and the steep climbs took their toll. Slow and steady progress though and once on the ridges the walking was quite pleasant. Sadly, summit time was somewhat limited as the black fly hatch had made its way up in elevation and the demons were waiting for me. Black flies have long since come and gone in the valleys but I guess the climate changes as you climb and they had found a happy existence above 3500ft. So summit visits consisted of a few pictures, a few mouthfuls of food and a swig or two of water before the clouds of black flies started to take their toll and it was time to pack up and get moving again. Still it didn’t rain until I got back to camp and then only sporadically so what was there to complain about.

The Tripyramids from Mt. Tecumseh
After the long hike – and a wet night – the next day was to be somewhat slack. Sadly it proved the nicest day of the my trip with clear sunny skies. After touring around through midday I found myself in Waterville valley and loaded up the pack for a short trip up Tecumseh peak to take advantage of the nice day. Not a favourite with peakbaggers I quite enjoyed it with a steady climb for a couple of miles to the summit ridge and an overlook to the nearby mountains. Again the black flies found me so a short stop but even still it was a nice hike.

Lots of cold mountain streams to soak away the lactic acid after a hard hike
Final day I got low clouds and some scattered showers again but picked a nice hike in Waumbeck mountain. Again, peakbaggers tend to bemoan this peak with limited views but after three days of hiking I enjoyed the steady grade, good trail. Add to that the nonexistent views proved to be somewhat misleading with a nice lookout over to the northern presidential range. The quality of the trail also made for easy/fast descending which was an enjoyable end to the day before the long drive home. So a good few days in the Whites with some limited views (but vastly improving over previous years visits). It proved good “training miles” for climbing high peaks and will stand me good stead as the hiking season marches on.

The cloudy Northern Presidentials from the lookout on Waumbeck

Back to the Tower

2011-06-15T13:32:00.002-04:00

Crossing the Lake Jimmy bridge in the morning
Last weekend I finally got a chance to get back to the woods. As it turns out Saturday was a work weekend for the Mt. Adams firetower project so I happily signed on for that with the thought it would springboard me to other destinations on Sunday and Monday. I had missed a couple of work trips earlier in May when the team put the new roof back on the cab of the tower so I was eager to see the progress. Drove down after work on Friday night and camped at my “secret spot” on the south side of the High Peaks. Got a decent night’s sleep but was awoken by rain fall. That didn’t bode well. Still, I was 10 minutes from the trail head so I sorted my gear and tools, loaded up my pack and drove over to see who would show up. One car in the lot was Jacks (the project coordinator) but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I strolled the 100m down to the river to see if he was checking out the Hudson river crossing which has become a ford since the bridge washed away in this springs runoff… but still no Jack. Back at the carpark a few other cars had arrived and I met up with some of the other crew for the day… but there was dissension in the ranks ;) Two of the guys had come to do some painting of the wooden window frames… which was clearly not going to happen in the rainy weather. The third was “going up” regardless of the weather but his buddies were trying to talk him out of it. I agreed to go with him and with that the two painters smiled (now off the hook) and headed for home. Turns out Jack and a friend had decided to scout a new trail to the summit and had started up a couple of hours earlier. I’m not much of a bushwhacking fan but in the pouring rain that plan seemed ludicrous. Suddenly my heading up the steep, wet, muddy trail looked only mildly twisted… so off Malcom and I went. Added to my load was a gallon of paint which would save the painters the trouble of hauling it on their next trip so at the very least my effort to climb the mountain would be a contribution to the project if only as a mule trip (me being the mule).

Lady slippers provides some distraction on the way up the steep trail
The ford of the Hudson proved pretty easy – shin deep – and the bridge across Lake Jimmy was in excellent shape so the first part of the trek was pretty easy. Once the climbing started we discovered some significant blowdown on the trail but we managed to skirt around it all. The steep slabs were in fact pretty slick but still manageable and the trailside flowers provided a welcome distraction. Arriving at the tower the rain was pelting down but the further surprise awaited us as we climbed the stairs. Above the trees (2 or 3 landings up) the wind was blowing a gale and it took firm determination to claw our way up to the cab. In the cab we huddled down – reasonably dry under the beautiful new roof but the rain was still coming in since the cab windows had been removed for painting. We snacked and hoped the wind would die down… but it was clear it wouldn’t happen. After about an hour in the cab we resigned ourselves to the inevitable. There could be no safe work done today in the gusty wind so it was time to get down. Dropped the supplies (paint and tools we could leave behind) in the job box at the drop zone and then started our way down. Once back in the trees the wind was a non issue and the walk out – while slippery – was pleasant. Parted company with Malcom (having never seen Jack – they had a tough day bushwhacking apparently) and drove to Lake Eton to camp for the night.

A momentary view at the helicopter drop zone before the clouds swallowed them up again

Some new treads mixed in with a few old ones - still some work to be done
Weather forecasts were bleak for the next couple of days but I hunkered down with hopes that Sunday I might get some clearer skies and go for a hike somewhere. It was not to be however as morning dawned as grey as before with a light rain falling. Over breakfast I weighed my options and decided – still wanting a hike, but with no views likely/possible – that perhaps the choice was to go back to Adams with my tools and get a work day in. Winds were negligible down low but there was always a chance they might pick up at the summit. In spite of that I loaded up the tools and made the trek back to Adams. Trip two up the mountain was different from the previous day. All the rain overnight meant the trail had become a flowing stream but it was no more slippery than the previous effort so I made my way up (lighter by a gallon of paint) in good time. At the top I was glad to find no wind and only occasional drizzly showers so I set about stair tread replacement. I had given it some serious thought about the safety of working on the tower alone but stair tread replacement – even at the upper levels being 40 or 50ft in the air – is a well grounded operation. On hands and knees I was well “connected” to the tower so felt there was little risk. The task itself is pretty straight forward. Take off 4 bolts (that have been in place for 80+ years), fit the new tread in place, mark the new holes for the bolts, drill the holes and then replace the bolts - easy! Alas that "80+ years" part means the bolts sometimes don't want to be removed so the process of persuading them off is sometimes slow. Got another 6 or 7 treads replaced before some significant rains started to fall and I called it a day. The walk down was a little more satisfying knowing at least something was done on a weekend the weatherman played against us. Back at the base I changed into dry clothes and decided – even if the weather were to be nice on Monday - everything I had (tent, clothes, packs, tools… ) was now soaked so it was time to go home. By the time I cleared Tupper Lake the sun was out and I had a beautiful drive home... so it goes I suppose.

Other "construction crews" are working on the tower as well
There's a few more pictures here but it wasn't a great weekend for picture taking.

Where did May go?

2011-06-02T13:19:00.000-04:00

Last post I wrote was back in April with the snow melting and the skis being packed away. Since then it’s been a pretty wet spring. April showers begat May showers and we’ve only now had a couple of hot sunny days to enjoy. For the most part I have been trying to squeeze a ride in here and there. Haven’t managed any significant trips to the woods although I did help my friend open up his cottage one weekend. For the most part time has been spent getting ready for Race Weekend. That consumed a lot of my waking hours… and quite a few of my sleeping hours too but so it goes. In the end all went off pretty smoothly. Four (of six) new courses wound through the city. For sure there was a bit of inconvenience to some people trying to get around town but I hope not too bad. Certainly the runners had fun and seemed to like the routes so perhaps that’s most of the battle. With luck we will only slightly tweak the routes next year so the work load won’t be as much… but time will tell once all the “reviews” come in.

Happy(?) runners heading down Preston street

As a simplified update I thought I would just add a few photo’s form the last few weeks. I have a few trip ideas coming up in the next couple of months so perhaps I’ll have some longer updates then.

A bit early for a swim in the lake when I went up to the Maniwaki cottage... but there were no bugs!

Evening rides before the parkway was opened to cars were pretty nice

The collapsed culvert along the "Doldrums" (and a section of closed road) will make the typical cycling loop around the Gatineau Parkway somewhat different... but there'll be rollerskiing available all summer - so, good and bad

Spectators came out on marathon Sunday despite the rainy weather - and cheered, high (low?) fived, and generally encouraged the runners

And of course all the rain means that - eventually - the flowers will bloom

Yeah, ummm... Pretty sure I'm out!

2011-04-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

Short strokes

2011-04-09T19:45:00.000-04:00

The end of the ski season is pretty much here. Last couple of weekends we have lucked out and had excellent weather - sunny and warm - with cold nights to keep the snowpack intact. The skiing was really nice and the "warm rock sitting" was first rate. Sadly, no matter how nice it may be, the end is almost nigh and time to think of summer activities.

The yellow line "bleeding" through is never a good sign
Skied today along Ridge road and the ribbon of snow was broken in a few places. In some spots it was only a few feet while in others the walk was a little longer. I only took my skis off once and trudged along the grassy banks in others. Tomorrow (at some point) the rains are going to start and a couple of days of warm rain should transform those small portages into large ones. Overall the season has been pretty good. I skied 72 times which is pretty much dead on average for me so I'll take it. With the tiny amount of snow we had back in January I didn't expect to get up that high. Luckily, the second half of the season caught up nicely and the spring skiing this year has been top notch. While I ski on the weekends now I'm also following the spring classics in Europe (Tour of Flanders, Paris Roubaix...) and my bike keeps looking hopefully up at me from the corner of the basement.

Time to tune up the bike?
I often say if I can ski into April it's been a good year. Well, that mission has been accomplished so, while I might get out tomorrow... and maybe once next week (just to see what's left when the rain stops) I guess it's time to put on the storage wax and pack the skis away.

Sun setting on the ski season

Gonna take a Pass from now on!

2011-03-29T16:42:00.003-04:00

After spending a most excellent weekend on the ski trails in Gatineau Park I was interested in doing something different on Monday. For most of this season I have been interested (but somewhat intimidated) to ski through the Avalanche pass in the Adirondacks. In fact I've wanted to ski this route for the last couple of years. One of the classic backcountry ski tours in the north east the trail skis up through a rugged pass to Avalanche and Colden Lakes. I’m well familiar with the terrain having hiked through the pass a number of times in the summer but the ski trail is cut differently from the hiking trail and I wanted to test my mettle. Monday looked like a good day to try it and – with the season dwindling – perhaps one of my last chances this season. Drove down to Lake Placid relatively early and got to the Adirondack Loj parking lot in good time. Sunny skies on the drive down but clouds were starting to fill in so it wouldn’t be a bluebird day but no matter. I wasn’t headed to the peaks but rather the valleys in between.

Looking up to Avalanche Pass from Marcy dam
From the Loj I skied the standard hiking trail up to Marcy dam. Stopped a couple of times to adjust the wax which I initially struggled to get right. Snow was hard packed and a little glazed with the air temperature sitting at -5C… blue wax didn’t work, carrot, gave me grip but was scrapped off too quickly so I finally settled on rugged Teho green – my usual base binder. Likely a blue klister would have been ideal but applying klister in the woods isn’t an easy task so the Teho was a good alternative. It worked well and lasted me almost the whole day so thumbs up. The ski up to Marcy dam and then to the base of the pass is in general a pretty easy ski of about 3 miles. Gentle grades through hardwood forests meant a pleasant ski. I took my full winter pack (~ 18lbs) with me even though this was to be a relatively short ski day. Better to test things out with full loads and get a full sense of the tour rather than do a fast ski today and then complicate things in the future should I opt for a full day tour. At Avalanche camp the trails split. The hiking (and snowshoeing) trail, more or less, goes straight up the fall line (about 500ft) through the trees to the top of the pass. The ski trail however is beautifully cut to make three long switchbacks gaining elevation more gradually. There are indeed a few steep drops but lots of flatter sections to catch your breath on the climb or regain your composure on the descent. The switch backs are pretty wide but the straighter bits are, at times, pretty tight through the trees so they require some confidence. Adding to that, I guess most people use AT ski gear with skins to climb. With skins you can go straight up pretty much anything. For me – on waxed skis – it was a little tough at times. Herringbone worked well where there was space, some cross cut, some scrambling when things got tight and little by little I made progress up the steeper pitches switching techniques as the track deemed. An exercise for the head as well as the body!

Options for the descent - go high? or swing low.
Now, what happens at the bend below? Can't remember...
Topping out in the pass you ski through the avalanche area (no yodeling please ;) and then there is a very tight, twisty series of drops through the rocks and trees before being flushed out on a rapid drop onto Avalanche lake itself. In the summer a rocky clamber along the edge of the lake is required to get around the water but in the winter a short ski and I was across the lake and into the woods again. Another short twisty tree lined trail takes you to Colden lake and the heart of the high peaks. Beautiful day but the clouds were continually rolling overhead. Today the open area on the lakes was pretty windy so I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on them but it’s hard to pull yourself away as the views are spectacular.

Skier crossing Avalanche Lake - yes, that dot out there is a skier
The return trip across the lakes went quickly and soon enough I was back to the pass and ready for the descent. For the most part it went pretty smoothly. As I mentioned the snow was hard packed and a bit glazed so perhaps things would be a little faster than I would have liked for my first descent. There was enough texture to the snow though so one could maintain control. Steel edges would have been nice but weren’t really needed. In softer snow it would be a real treat. In spots the trail is narrow so some comfort with skiing in the trees and confidence in your ability to point in the right direction on cue are required. In spots the sudden appearance of people climbing up might be a problem forcing one to ditch but I met no one on the descent today. The trail builders are – as always –wise though and there are lots of chances to collect oneself before pushing off onto the next pitch. Much like the ascent, changing techniques as the pitch and trail size dictated made for easy passage. Christies, snowplow, sideslips, tele’s… whatever gets you down the hill can surely be deemed “technique”, no? Even though I had just climbed it there was still a degree of uncertainty as to what was around the next bend. With a somewhat narrow trail one doesn’t want to get too “over the edge” only to find a tightly treed bend. I would expect another ski or two would make the turns more familiar and one could attack the descent with some more verve. Certainly the skiing Forest Rangers I met later in the day – who ski through the pass several times a week - had no concerns about the trail and enjoyed it each time down.

Skiing Rangers get to do this route several times a week!
Once safely down from the pass the trail back to Marcy dam and the car went pretty quickly. What is usually a long trudge at the end of a hiking day was pretty much effortless. Avalanche camp to Marcy dam was 5 minutes compared to a 30 or 40 minute walk and Marcy dam to the car – normally about an hour walk – was no more than a 10 minute glide (with a few short climbs). In the future all winter hiking trips into the high peaks from the Loj…they’ll be on skis as far as I can go to enjoy those return glides to the car. Really glad to get this ski in before the end of the season. I’ve procrastinated too long on this one and in the end it was well worth the effort to make the trip. A few more pics here.

Swirling clouds above Avalanche Lake

Farewell Old man winter '10-11

2011-03-20T15:20:00.002-04:00

You certainly had your moments... now what does spring have in store?

A spring ski

2011-03-19T17:38:00.000-04:00

Spring skiing is all about the right attitude...
Got out for s spring ski in the park today. Conditions were pretty nice with cold temperatures overnight and warm sunshine during the day. That weather recipe isn't only for maple syrup produces - it makes for some sweet skiing as well! Skied up to Lusk cabin which probably has the best deck for enjoying the sunshine. The climb itself was a little icy in spots but the warm sunshine was working hard to soften the tracks. Spent a long time on the deck enjoying the sunshine and feeding the local landlords before finally coaxing myself back onto the boards for a little more skiing.

The local landlords collecting the "rent". Birds don't like raisins!? Who knew!
The snow pack up at Lac Phillippe is a little lower than in other parts of the park and small patches of road are starting to show here and there but not so much as to spoil the skiing. I would wager another good weekend of skiing to be had and then perhaps a weekend of semi good skiing at least before its time to call it quits. And maybe we'll get another snowstorm! Guess we'll see what happens and keep a ski selection ready for whatever comes in the next little while.

Spring appears to be taking hold...

Another quick trip to the peaks

2011-03-16T18:26:00.001-04:00

After my last trip to Lake Placid I had wanted to head back once more for another bit of skiing and hiking and this past weekend seemed to fit the bill. Weather (and snowpack) at home in the Gatineau Hills looked less than ideal with warm weather and a fresh dump of soft snow that didn't look too appealing. Sure enough a short ski on Saturday left me unimpressed. That solidified my plan to make the quick drive south where winter has been hitting hard for the last three months. Sunday I awoke extra early though it took me couple of hours to realize I had got an hour’s less sleep than I had anticipated. As I drove down I tried to sort out where I might go to ski and as I was debating it, snow began to fall… quite heavily. Looking like a repeat of my last trip I headed back to the Garden parking lot and at 8am was lucky to get a parking spot. Lots of folks climbing, camping and skiing this weekend in relatively mild weather (at -2C). Strapped on the skis and headed up the trail along the Johns brook valley. While this trail is not exactly cross country friendly it is skiable and with fresh snow falling even the tricky bits were pretty easy to ski through.

Skiing a suspension bridge was a new treat

I had heard there was some nice natural glade skiing at the outlet of “Bennies Root Canal” slide. The slide itself is still a little beyond my skill level but the glades were supposed to be at a lower angle so I thought I’d check them out. After an interesting ski across the Johns Brook suspension bridge I skied down to the access point for the slide and sure enough the trees were remarkably well spaced. I’m not gonna suggest they aren’t “naturally” spaced… but I wouldn’t be shocked to hear that perhaps some “light” pruning goes on by the locals in the warmer seasons… just sayin’. I skied up to the entry of the slide but it was a grey overcast day with a bunch of snow falling so I didn’t really get a good look. The slide went UP… and that’s about all I could tell. Turning around I did a few drops down through the trees and really enjoyed my turns before heading further up the valley to check out some of the trail network I was familiar with from summer hiking. Met a few other groups of skiers heading in to get some turns on some of the more serious slides. They were well equipped with a lot of gear so I left them to it… but maybe someday. The ski out was actually pretty fun. Hiking this trail in the summer is a bit of an unpleasant trudge. Mostly downhill but 3 miles that never seems to end. Probably no shock that on skis, well…, it goes a little quicker. A few obstacles had to be overcome but for the most part it’s a nice slide out. Good day in the woods for sure and even though it started far earlier than it had to it was a worthwhile day exploring a new corner of the valley.

Skiers off to ski the steeps (keeping the lens clean in a snowstorm is another thing to work on...)

Monday dawned a little cooler and with a heavy grey overcast. It was supposed to clear out by noon but I had my doubts. Today I had Mike join me for a hike. He had just started his spring break and was looking for a couple of days in the ADK. Sunday was not too his liking (too snowy) but Monday/Tuesday were expected to be sunny so it worked out nicely that we could hook up for this hike. Mike suggested we hike to Colden which has stellar views. Hard to argue with such sound logic so we loaded up at the Loj and hit the trails. I was tempted to ski the first bit up to Marcy dam and perhaps beyond but – with Mike on snowshoes – decided it would be better to keep the group together. I wouldn’t have been much faster on the way in(up) but would have left him for dust on the way out. To be fair the cold overnight temperatures meant that the snowpack was pretty solid and snowshoes weren’t really needed for the first part of the hike. Its a well trodden path all winter but the rules (laws) are clear. We passed two ranger posts along the way so why risk a ticket. The snowshoes went on at the lot and stayed there till we got back even though the crampons were often skipping off the snowcrust causing us to stumble from time to time. Of course higher up we wouldn't have been too successful without snowshoes. Several spots had DEEEP postholes from people without them so the shoes were certainly needed at some point.

Nearing the North Summit

Up to Lake Arnold and for the most part right to the summit the track was well broken out. We met one group coming off the summit but no one else until we got mostly back down to the valley floor. At the North summit (just short of the actual summit) of Colden Mike opted to call it quits. The last push to the summit isn’t far but its steep and Mike is wise enough to know that pushing ones limits can turn a fun hike into a bit of a trial. Besides the views from the north summit are just as good and he had another day of hiking on tap for Tuesday so why push it. I still had some gas and so made the climb to the top while Mike snapped pics in all directions while waiting for my return. Colden’s summit can be quite a hostile environment in winter but today wasn’t too bad with a light breeze keeping things moderately chilly. Fortunately the snow pack was rock solid so I didn’t have to worry about spruce traps gobbling me up while I gawked at the views. Too soon I headed back down to the north summit and had a bite to eat before we packed up and headed for home. The sun had started to open up the views and while we would have liked to stay… winter cold limits summit lounging time somewhat.

One last trudge up Colden's barren summit

This sled just didn't cut it (No I didn't leave it there - brought it home to recycle!)
Deep in my pack I had brought my new “snow screamer” sled to improve some of the descents… but it proved a big bust. It cracked on my first descent and split in two by the third ride. BOOO-urns! Not ADK tough I guess. I’ll have to try something else until I get it right as sliding down mountains is definitely where it’s at. The long trails down are pretty smooth and develop a nice trench to keep you on track – perfect sliding. Back at Marcy dam the day had really warmed up and the clouds had pushed off. Was really wishing I had my skis at that point as the last couple of miles to the car were pretty slow going (aren’t they always?) but eventually we got out and parted company. Another beautiful day in the mountains on the books and glad to have Mike along for the ride. A little jealous that he would be back out there the next day but I had to get back to work.

A full set of pics can be had HERE.
Now, do I head back next weekend for one more winter hike? or stay home and get started on some local spring skiing? Decisions...

Peaks and Packs - looking over to the Mac's

A quick roadtrip

2011-03-06T19:55:00.000-05:00

With this past week off I had kinda wanted to get away for a few days and do some skiing in new places. Sadly the weather kept acting up on days I had picked to “travel” so a longer road trip wasn’t in the cards. Add to that the already stated “weather” dropped some of the best snow of the season here in town and I wanted to get in on some of that so I wasn’t too motivated to leave town. Still, seemed a shame not to get some time away so I loaded up the car and drove down to Lake Placid on Wednesday. The drive down was pretty nice when I started – sunny and clear roads but as I got to Saranac Lake the snow started to fall and by the time got to the South Meadow road (my ski destination) it was belting down with snow. Grabbed a pack and my wide boards and headed out for what I thought would be a little tour. Didn’t even grab a camera as I figured I’d be back in less than an hour and there wouldn’t be much to see. Four hours later I had toured through some great trails – most of which are “skiing only” (across bogs and up stream beds) so I haven’t been able to walk on them in the summer. The snow pounded down while I skied so the powder conditions were great. I would estimate 10-12 inches fell in the four hours I was out and about. The only drawback was that the plow had been by while I was out and I had to shovel my car out upon my return… not too big a deal and well worth the price of admission for a day in the fresh snow.

Snowy, windy Lake Placid
Thursday dawned clear and cooold! At -25F it seemed to be ridiculous to head outside but there was not a breath of wind so in fact it was quite nice. That said I drove around getting a few errands done (and letting it warm up) before heading up to the Garden trailhead to get a hike in. Chose to climb Big Slide mountain which has some stunning views of the Great Range. A couple of groups had signed in ahead of me so I didn’t even have to break trail. Breaking trail proved not to be much of a problem as it turns out Wednesdays storm was very localized. Here in the eastern high peaks there was only about 1 inch of fresh snow down so trail breaking wasn’t a big deal. The trail climbs steeply from the get go so in no time I was removing several layers even though it was about -12C at this point. Shortly after that I crested the first ridges and the views opened up. Brilliant blue skies and a warm sun greeted me and the next few tricky scrambles up the ridge line were easy enough in the softening snow. Even the final climb up to the summit – which is a doozy – wasn’t too bad and the snowshoes were more than up for the challenge. I had met both groups that had signed in ahead of me about halfway up the trail and on the summit met another guy who was camping in the valley. He had come up with his buddies but stayed on the summit alone for about 3 hours basking in the sun on this windless day. Can’t say I blame him and I too spent about 45 minutes which – for winter – is a long time.

The winding trail from one "Brother" to the next. "Giant" dominates the background
Finally time to head down, I learned the joys of the butt slide. The last 1/3 of a mile to the summit is pretty steep and a little sketchy (about 400 vertical feet). It took me – with a picture stop halfway – about 12 minutes to trudge up making sure to firmly plant the snowshoes lest I backslide down the trail. On my way up I noted some beautiful vistas off behind me and decided I should stop on the way down and take a few photos. That plan was dashed as the return trip down – 1/3 of a mile and all – took about 30s on a riotously fun luge ride (sans luge)down. Zoooooooom! Those pictures will have to wait for another day.

The classic "slide face" photo on Big Slide. Should have taken a few more shots on the way up
The walk out was pretty nice. For the first time on this peak (this being my third or fourth trip) I chose to walk back along the same ridgeline as I had come in on rather than make a loop and drop down into the valley. That proved to be a good choice. Lots of good views to be had on the return trip and better light in the fading afternoon sun. Another good hike in the books on what proved to be a perfect day in spite of its frigid start.

Last of the views on the way down

Probabilities

2011-03-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

The probability that every major snow storm would gently sidle past us this winter seemed unlikely. Yet, as we moved into March, it seemed like that would be the case this year as we’ve had only small dustings of snow. Quite a few small dustings leaving enough to ski mind you, but never big “whomping” gobs of snow. Sadly, Monday had an ugly forecast – to a skier – with a storm moving inexorably towards us with +13C and rain called for. I was seriously beginning to wonder if the season was coming to an early close, but as Monday drew nearer the forecast started to change. A little cooler, maybe some freezing rain instead of rain (not much better)… and then a little cooler still. Late Sunday night Bryan dropped me a text knowing I was off and suggested we do “something” on Monday. "What?" I asked. "Dunno, what’s the weather gonna be like". We held off till Monday morning and – with rain at his house in Barrhaven we weren’t sure what to make of it. Take a shot? Why not, the probability that it rains all day should be slim. His kids were off for a “snow day” – which seemed odd since it was raining - but he left them at home as we had no idea what we were up against. No point the whole family should “perish” in this outing ;) Skis? Bring ‘em. Snowshoes? Put ‘em in the car. Canoe… could be useful. Raingear…without a doubt!

Healey Hut before the storm

Healey Hut during the storm
But then the odds started to play into my favour. As I crossed the river in town the rain turned to snow…then a lot of snow… then whacks of snow. Series of texts with Bryan (how does he do that while driving? What’s that – he does it at the red lights? Hmmm…) and we met up at P15 to snowshoe up to Healey hut. I had skied by the hut the day before but the snowshoe trail is quite different so it should be good. Wedged the cars in a snowbank in the unplowed parking lot, strapped on the “shoes” and in a raging snowstorm pushed across the fields for the tree line. The hike up to Healey hut was slow going in deep unbroken snow but once inside the hut we got a good fire going. Relaxed over lunch, watched the snow pound down outside and counted dozens (and dozens) of Blue Jays at the feeder – a real fight for the food outside! - and then strolled back to the cars as the snow let up. Twenty cms of snow in all. A good storm. But then again, Bryan – a StatsCan employee (poster boy for the division if I believe the newspaper pictures ;) - should have been able to tell me the probability was good that a big storm would hit us before March arrived.

Bryan breaking out of the bush as the snowstorm rages
Tuesday I took the wide boards up to P7 and skied the backcountry trails in the fresh powder. Storm clouds had moved on leaving bluebird skies and a blanket of white behind. Didn’t get an early enough start and most of the trails had already been broken out but there was still some fresh snow to be had here and there… and even the “slightly used” snow was still a treat. Skied some of the classic trails and took a few of the big drops in very forgiving snow. The focus of the day was to return on the “Highland Fling” – a classic trail with a couple of monster drops. While it may not seem like a Ukrainian boy should know anything about the Highland Fling… after too many years to count…I’m finally getting the hang of it and no longer is it a desperate, “hang on for dear life”, blast down a sinewy chute. The trail builders of years past knew what they were doing and finally some of that is becoming apparent to me. Where was the “Yoda” of the wide boards when I needed him. Ah well, think I’ve got it figured now. It only took a few hundred tries. The probability was good I’d get it eventually.

Fresh snow in the quiet woods

Thermal roller coaster

2011-02-26T14:02:00.001-05:00

Clearly we are headed towards spring with a rollercoaster in the temperature department. Spring like days of +11C followed by cold blustery days at -15C. Fresh snow turned to rock hard ice… and then a little more fresh snow. Overnight the temperatures drop while during the day the sun is starting to show some strength.

Fresh snow and sunny skies
We had about a week of very nice weather early in February with a few nice (small) dumps of snow and that made the backcountry skiing a real treat. I did a mini-tour of Lac Meech on a particularly unusual day. At one moment it would be dark clouds and snowing only to change to blue skies 5 minutes later…. And then back again to snow 5 minutes after that. Made for some tricky wax selection for my skis but I managed okay and the fresh powder snow made for great skiing so I wasn’t too concerned about it.

Groomers being kept busy
This past weekend was Loppet time and once again they had tricky weather conditions to deal with. A couple of days of unseasonably warm weather just before race weekend meant the groomers would be hard at work to prepare race tracks. Of course by race day the thermometer had swung 20 degrees down the scale (coupled with some strong breezes) to provide for chilly racing. The courses this year had to be modified again but only a couple of the sections had to be abandoned due to loss of snow on the hills. Hard work on the grooming made for fast tracks and it wasn’t a parkway race which was nice to see. I headed out on Sunday morning to chase the skate race as has been my custom. Unfortunately I discovered (though I expected as much) my secret shortcut had not been groomed and was an icy mess. This meant my well planned route to jump ahead of the races was dashed and some fast thinking was required. Came up with a new plan pretty quickly though which – while it meant a little more standing around (and less skiing on my part) – seemed to work out well in the end. The skiing I did manage was on really nice tracks which the groomers had clearly worked hard to churn up from the flash frozen ice. Good job on their part. The hard packed surface meant a fast race as well with a pack of 5 storming the finish line in a little over 2 hours. I took a small collection of photos – HERE

Leaders cruising through 10k
A day after the races I took a student we have working with us out for a ski in the park. Conditions were again pretty cool (at -12C) but the main trails had been very well groomed so we had a good ski out to Western cabin and back. My student is from Lyon, France and he was quite pleased to announce that he had never done anything outside in such cold weather before - a real adventure for him. Didn’t have the heart to tell him that – at -12C – it wasn’t even really that cold for an Ottawa winter.

Armand meets the groomer
Conditions continue to warm up during the days but the skiing is still great. We had another big storm swing just south of us but the snow here is reasonable. Sadly, without a little more snow, I expect it will disappear fairly quickly as we move through March. Ah well, fingers crossed for a late season storm which is always potentially out there.

Falling Flakes

SNOW!

2011-02-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

Finally we got a good quantity of snow to fall. Helped to fix up the ski trails in the Gatineaus quite nicely. It wasn’t a massive amount of snow (5 or 6 inches) but enough to cover (most of) the rocks and roots and allow the big groomers to get out and work the snow. The season is truly slipping by quickly so it was about time we got a decent quantity of the white stuff.

Fresh Corduroy
With the snow falling last Wednesday into the evening I ditched work on Thursday morning and headed out to check out the fresh snow. Clearly wasn’t alone in cutting work as the parking lots were jammed with cars as I finished my ski at lunchtime. Fresh groomed trails greeted me at the parking lot and they were not surprisingly a little soft (tough to pack that much snow in one pass) but still wonderful to ski. Turned off onto a few backcountry trails and got the pleasure of breaking trail on a few of the gems. After skiing the powder to the Ramparts and touring Burma road I headed across the small pond on Pipe dream and got a little shock. As anyone well versed in ice mechanics should know, the fresh (heavy) snow on the pond loads/stresses the ice and effectively pumps water up through the cracks and seams onto the surface. Protected by the insulated snow, the water forms a nice slush layer lying between the ice below and the snow on top. It will freeze up in several days but in the short term it eagerly awaits skiers to venture past. I was the lucky "victim" and the slush latched onto my skis with vigor forcing me to stop and scrape the icy mess twice before successfully escaping the ponds surface and getting back into the woods. Such are the hazards of being “first” I suppose but well worth the trouble for the chance to ski the fresh snow.

Looks crisp and clean but there is a menace lurking beneath!

Frozen slush has encased my skis! The glide was somewhat reduced at this point.
Skied Saturday with Pete on a rare visit. He was so impressed with the storm he came up from his place in Alexandria to get some actual on snow skiing in the park. To his credit he gets out on the local ski trails (such as they are) at home but the big hills of the park are always a bit of a shock to the system. His technique was as always quite good but the cardio of a climb like Black Lake takes some getting used to. We skied up from Mackenzie King’s estate to the Huron lodge and then did a short detour down Ridge before skiing back to the lot. It was actually a beautiful day with sunny skies and warm temperatures when we started but the clouds rolled in about midway through our ski. As we stopped at Huron for a break a family of deer came by to get a snack at the bird feeder. Apparently they are regular visitors to the hut and have grown to accept (albeit tentatively) the presence of skiers who presumably gawk and stare as the deer wander in for some eats. On this day I had made the rookie mistake of bringing my camera without a memory card so I got no pictures from Saturdays ski. Instead my camera acted merely as ballast on this trip but lucky for me I met a fan of the blog as we all marveled at the deer and he forwarded me a couple of shots he took – Many thanks Don!

A deer "splitting the traffic" and making the short dash to the bird feeder
(photo courtesy D. Wiggans)

Finally Sunday I decided to head away from the crowds and drove up to the farthest reaches of the park along the Eardley Escarpment road. Skied the lonely trail past the Lac Richard yurt and then up to the Pontiac lookouts. No grooming out here other than the previous skiers efforts. They had all done a fine job though so the skiing was a treat. Also pleased to see that the local snowshoers had carefully walked beside the ski trail up here thus preserving the tracks. The snowshoers closer to town could learn much from these folks. Not a beautiful sunny day so I included a shot from a more sunny trip to the Pontiac lookouts . Even without the sun it was a beautiful ski and I only saw 5 other people all day. Took a slight detour off trail to a favourite spring time glade where some nice turns can be had in the warm March sunshine. As expected the snow level was a little low yet so I’ll have to hope for a few more storms before the warmer weather sets in and the “corn” starts to develop.

On a sunny day the last climb to the Pontiac lookout holds a lot of promise
More snow this week (snowing as we speak at "press time") so the skiing is finally looking good. Shame it took the first half of the season to get here but time to get some while the getting is good I suppose.

Taylor lake

The ski season so far… such as it is.

2011-01-29T19:34:00.000-05:00

Not too many blog posts of late. The ski season, such as it has been, continues to tick along. The amount of snow this year has been nothing to write home about but I’ve managed some good skiing from time to time. New Years Day’s big melt all but washed the snow away but little by little we’ve been regaining ground. For the most part there’s now pretty good coverage and I can ski in the evenings after work without fear of naturally stone grinding my skis. I have managed to ummm….“devalue” a couple pairs of skis this year though they were done during daylight hours so I guess that’s my own fault. Rocks don’t seem to have any conscience at all hacking away at my bases so I’ve no one else to point to when I inspect the chips and (brand new) extra grooves. I think I’ve managed to salvage one pair though with some careful work on the bench at home but I may be shopping for skis at the closeout sales this spring.

Warm atmosphere at Keogan lodge most nights
Evening skis have been pretty good of late. Except for a brief cold snap the weather has been pretty comfortable. Most nights I seem to get caught up in the evening “dinner crowd” traffic on the trails as people race into, and then later race out of, the parks huts with a full pack of dining goodies on their backs. Not a big problem really except most of these people tend to wear headlamps and I usually (barring a new moon) opt against. “Why’s that a problem Kenmore?” Well, as I ski past little platoons of diners they all tend to look directly into my face thus temporarily blinding me. The irises of my eyes are naturally wide, WIDE open to take in the low light (which I might add is plenty of light to ski by!) and then - BLAMMO! Someone hits me in the face with a million candle power headlamp and the world just… sorta… disappears into a wall of white. As yet I haven’t skied off a trail or into a tree…or another skier for that matter so I guess there are bigger problems to worry about. To be fair I’d rather see others enjoying an evening ski so I guess I’ll learn to live with it and practice skiing with my eyes shut so I can cope when the “night goes out” (so to speak).

Just don't point your light in my eyes!!
Went for a ski today (during the daylight hours – go figure) after a nice little snowfall last night. Picked the backcountry trails in Gatineau Park and was quite pleased with my choice. Managed to oversleep so I didn’t get first tracks on anything. Not a big deal as it was only 4 or 5cm of snow. I'll set extra alarms if we ever get a big dump of snow! Still it was nice to visit a few of the classic Gatineau trails. Still the odd rock here or there but the ski tracks give you some clues, as you approach obstacles. Previous skiers have veered to the right or left to dodge some impending block of base scouring granite so following suit is well advised. More snow would be appreciated but for now the skiing continues to be fine.

Fresh snow on "Alexanders Road"
Managed one short day trip up to Forest Lea near Pembroke. I’d stumbled on it a few summers ago and had always meant to go back during the winter. Nice little network of trails up there. Not huge by any stretch – just one 10km loop with several short cut trails to make for some smaller loops. Still the trails had a really nice feel with lots of rolling Canadian Shield terrain in and out of woodlots and cut blocks. Bit of a long drive to go regularly but worth the trip to visit once in a while. Planning to go visit a few other ski centers sometime soon so keep watching for upcoming posts on ski trips to come.... Oh, and send snow if you have any connections.

Forest Lea Ski area main lodge - worth a visit

In search of winter

2011-01-05T11:18:00.001-05:00

Winter left us on January 1st and my pleas for a big snowstorm have – as yet – gone unanswered. I think I’ve mentioned it more than once on this blog but – whenever you are looking for winter… there is always one place to go. Whiteface! I truly believe you could go in July and find some shred of winter on its icy slopes. This year’s annual rollerski race up the toll road in October missed - by one day - becoming a normal ski race to the sky with a foot of snow dropping overnight. And my past trip to Whiteface’s snowy summit was more akin to a trip to the pole.

Winter is just around the corner in the Wilmington Notch
With brown grass showing on the ground in town and parkways of glare icy in the park I packed up my gear and headed to Lake Placid on Monday. The drive down didn’t inspire much as I passed through Saranac Lake and Lake Placid which only showed a light dusting of snow in the woods. Heavy clouds engulfed Whiteface and the Wilmington notch but I popped back into snow free terrain as I drove into Wilmington itself. Up to the ARSC parking lot and still only a dusting of snow…. But still the black clouds loomed up on the mountain itself. Loaded up and started up the Marble mountain trail. The first mile is along an old rope tow treadway from the long abandoned “Paleface” ski area. Its grade is straight, consistent and contained only small patches of ice to slow my progress. As I got to the top the ice patches grew bigger but still had a few dry rocks to navigate over the ice. I passed a group from Montreal putting on “les pointes” just blow the summit but I was still making good progress with bare boots so opted to continue.

Winter on Table mountain - and the snow hides the glare ice
Above the Marble mt. summit I could see the dark clouds looming above and pressed on for the next climb up Table mountain. Again the climbing was pretty easy going but sections of ice were getting bigger and more difficult to negotiate. Still, for some reason unclear to me, I pressed on bare booting as I always seemed to be able to find a bare rock here or a branch there to navigate an icy slope. Finally, on the summit of Table mountain I was in the clouds and winter greeted me. Icy winds whipped the trees and a steady (albeit light) snow was falling. The snow served its purpose of hiding the icy spots so I finally stopped and put on the spikes. Don’t know why I had waited so long as – with the spikes in place the walking became more akin to a stroll along a summer side walk. Ice, hidden or otherwise, became a non-issue. Took the herdpath over to Esther (a sub summit of Whiteface) and made good progress although the temperature and windchill took a decidedly wintery turn. The herdpath is narrow and while there wasn’t much snow, each tree I pushed past left me coated in hoarfrost. Summited Esther in good form though and took some photos and had some eats. No views today but still a pleasant place to sit for a spell.

Wintery col on the way to Esther - no trouble crossing the bogs today
At this point I decided not to carry on to Whiteface. I had a dinner appointment back home and the winds were really whipping over the trees here so I knew that the exposed summit of Whiteface wouldn’t be too pleasant. Instead I turned back down the trail and greeted a good number of groups (all Quebecois) coming up behind me. Kept the spikes on until almost back down to the base of Marble mountain and the icy patches were trivial to navigate. Finally took them off when the trail was all but ice free and – with 100m or so to the car – found a good patch of ice to take my first and only grand “feet over head” wipe out of the day. Nothing damaged thankfully and, after carefully checking to see that nobody was around to see it (okay, dignity intact), made my way up to the car to end the day. A nice hike today and good to find winter is alive and well… somewhere.

Can you guess the prevailling wind direction through the trees?

Dear Weather

2011-01-01T01:25:00.000-05:00

Happy New Years from a soggy Capital
After our brief introduction a few posts ago I thought I would direct a note to you personally to wish you all the best for the upcoming year. I for one am a big fan and certainly looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us in your bag of tricks in the upcoming year. This time of year must be pretty busy for you what with trying to work out the whole “White Christmas” thing for those that have it coming. Looks, for the most part, like you got good coverage this year. You really nailed southern Ontario before Christmas and slopped a pile more snow on our east coast friends. I’m always impressed by a good Nor-easter! They’ll be shoveling for weeks!!

Round these parts we had a pretty good start to the winter. Nothing spectacular but good coverage and I’ve gotten out on the skis in Gatineau Park most days over the last couple of weeks. Certainly don’t want to complain but seems we were caught between some of your early season storms and amassed very little base. Now that we’ve got a little warmer weather what little snow we had is melting away. Don’t have to tell you of course that it’s too early for a spring thaw! At any rate if you have a little free time over the next few days could you possibly whip an “Alberta Clipper” at us… or maybe a “Colorado Low”. Doesn’t have to be a monster but just something to tide us over while you cook up something good for February. Well, I guess that’s all for now. Hope you and Mrs. Weather had a nice holiday season and managed to get a little time to relax before getting back to the grindstone. Thanks in advance.

Regards
Kenmore

P.S. A reminder of one of your masterpieces. Skiers still sing songs about this dump of snow!!

Christmas ski

2010-12-25T20:13:00.001-05:00

Enough coverage along the Pine road
Out once again for my annual Christmas ski. Didn't get the big dump of snow which I asked Santa for, but he's a busy man this time of year so I'll let this one slide. Skied out of P16 along the Pine road. Conditions were still pretty nice though - hard track and decent coverage. A few exposed rocks on some of the steep descents but that's predictable so easy to spot and slalom around. Chose to classic ski and the grooming for the first part was predictably poor with shallow and/or washed out tracks from all the traffic that part of the trail gets(need fresh snow!). Beyond the hut the grooming improved substantially and I was able to whiz along with little effort. Took some time to enjoy the view at Lac Phillippe before turning around for home. Saw a few other people out enjoying a Christmas ski as well but for the most part it was pretty quiet. Perhaps folks were lower down in the park getting a quick ski in while the bird gently roasted.

Ski patrols out on Christmas

Winter Solstice ski…almost

2010-12-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

For years now I’ve debated doing an overnight at one of the cabins in the Gatineau park. Seemed like a good idea and this year Bryan suggested the same so we picked a date, booked Lusk cabin (half price on weekdays!) and sent out a flurry of emails to entice a few more willing bodies – if only to help shoulder the load on the ski in. Most people had their share of excuses and to be fair – a week before Christmas – they were mostly pretty valid but Dave signed on so we had a trio to head in. Another flurry of emails got the logistics set up and on Sunday afternoon we met up for the trek in. Temperatures were most excellent at just a few degrees below zero. Snow level was a little low but enough that we wouldn’t be walking up a gravel track. Things were looking up.

Time for a pit stop at Renaud
Dave arrived with shiny new rental skis so I enquired – “you actually skied before?” With Clarksonesque aplomb he replied “No, but how hard could it be.” Perfect! Perhaps not the time to learn with a 30lb pack on your back. The spectacular wipeout he managed in the parking lot didn’t instill a lot of confidence. Actually, truth be told he managed really well. The ski in is mostly flat or uphill so there was minimal chance to strike high speed balletic poses while hurtling towards tree trunks. A few tips from the peanut gallery and his technique was more than sufficient to get him up the trail. A brief pit stop at Renaud shelter energized us for the long climb up to the cabin and the long climb…well even with the heavy packs it wasn’t as bad as I suspected. Cracked the door of the cabin around 4pm and had a few scant minutes of daylight before darkness enveloped our little shelter by the lake. Second longest night of the year (by a second or two) so we had plenty of darkness before the morning came.

Arriving at the hut

The cabin itself is pretty well set up. Half dozen bunks, a supply of kitchen gear, a couple of tables (with benches and chair) and a smokin’ hot woodstove. So hot in fact that we spent most of the evening with the windows of the cabin wide open. Took a little bit of back and forth to balance the heat from the stove and cool from the night air but eventually we got the cabin temperature somewhat less than tropical. A quality meal was put on with contributions from all and a relaxing evening listening to music, debating important issues and occasionally stepping outside to listen to the silence of our location. We were a night early for the full eclipse of the moon but it was pretty heavily clouded over anyway so it would have been a non-issue regardless.

Ensconced in the cabin - time to get some dinner cooking

Monday morning was (perhaps rudely) broken a few times by “work alarms” which of course we didn’t need to partake of. Breakfast and a few emails by some (no names) to confirm that indeed they were “too sick” to make it to their desk today… before the easy ski out. Well, easy for most. Took Dave a few goes to get the hang of sliding downhill but fortunately no damage was down on the early attempts so all went well. Another stop to Renaud found the woodstove dead cold so we spent half an hour getting it going. Just started to warm up when we decided it was time to head back to the car so to the next folks who arrived at Renaud to a toasty warm cabin.... your welcome! Trails were decidedly quiet on this Monday morning but we did meet a few people out and about.

Nice morning to chop a little wood

So a big success for our overnight trek into the wilds of the park. Dave might even come back so his lack of ski skill wasn’t a big deterrent. The packs weren’t nearly as heavy as I expected, the food was first rate, the sleep was most comfortable and stepping outside your door to clip into the skis is always a treat. Time to book another trip in soon.

Come back soon... and bring more cornbread!

Fresh snow

2010-12-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

Nice to finally get out on some real snow after the last couple of weeks of somewhat marginal ski conditions. Add to that that I can ski out of more than just P10 (probably skied more from P10 in the last 2 weeks than I will the rest of the winter)and the season is finally starting to ramp up. Last weekend’s rain/freezing rain event was not good to be sure but we’ve had a few decent snowfalls since and the base is now deep enough that good skiing can be had on the parkways and even the main arterial trails are reasonably covered. The snow is so good that I’ve finally put the rock skis away and brought out the good boards. Hopefully the rockers will remain in the basement until springtime.

Quiet summer entry gate at Lac Phillippe
Skied last night out of P19 on a rare evening ski up at Lac Phillippe. Man, it’s a whole lot darker at night up there than in the main part of the park. Of course it’s a whole lot further away from the city so there’s a lot less ambient light to be had. Still, with a headlamp the skiing was fine. Add a little moonlight and you’d have a recipe for a great night ski. Met quite a few more people on the trails than I expected. Several small groups still making their way into the huts for the night and a few folks like me out for an evening ski. I guess on weeknights people still work during the day and then head up to take advantage of the half price fees for a hut stay during the week. Snow conditions were really good. The main trails had all been groomed for classic and skate. The side trails had just had an initial rolling. Perhaps still a little too thin to be doing a full groom on them just yet but there’s more snow coming down tonight so the park should be in good shape by Christmas.

Snowy ski rack

Getting closer...

2010-12-05T22:08:00.001-05:00

Still waiting for a little more base to build up. Apparently the skiing has been reasonable on the Fortune Parkway (inspite of the torrential rains we got last Monday) but from the pictures I saw it looked a little thin. Maybe it was okay but I figured, fresh snow falling as we speak, that soon enough there would be some better skiing to be had.

Just a dusting here and a few "water hazards" along the way
Today I took off for Lac Phillippe (skiis in car just in case) but found very little skiable snow. Instead I went for a loop around snowshoe trail 74 (didn't need the "shoes" today either). Interesting to check out this trail – one that was new to me. It takes an unusal cut through the ridge between Lacs Renaud/Taylor and trail 55. I’ve looked up there countless times(from the surrounding trails) but never ventured over… gonna have to go back to check it out again and explore a little more in there at some point.

Tall signs... until a meter of snow hits the deck
Made a quick pit stop into Renaud cabin and found the fire blazing – sweet! Thought maybe it would be too early to luck into warm woodstoves but clearly other folks are out and about even without the snow down. From there it was a quick jaunt back to the car and every step the snowfall increased. Looked almost skiable when I got back so a few more cm’s and we’ll be in business.

Down and dusted but still a little thin

First tracks of the season

2010-11-29T00:25:00.000-05:00

Looks sketchy to ski....but it was a delight!
I hadn't really expected Fridays snowfall to account for much so Saturady morning I went up to the park to go for a run on Ridge road. There was indeed some snow down but not enough it seemed to matter when it came to skiing so I headed off towards Keogan without much thought. When I came out on the parkway I was surprised to see such a nice base down. Seems the blend of freezing rain along with a few cms of actual snow formed into a nice solid crust over the asphalt. Not enough to help with the gravelly trails of Ridge road but it looked to be quite good for skiing on the smoother roadways. With that in mind I turned tail and bolted back to the car, drove home, changed and grabbed a pair of skis before heading right back to the park for a ski. The conditions were surprisingly good. Just a cm or so of snow packed down by numerous skiers made for easy skating. Occasional grey patches of asphalt peeked through but they were covered in a layer of ice so the skis floated over most anything they saw. I skied up to the lookouts before the day started to close in on me but it was a nice treat.

Climbing Black Lake
Sunday I skied from MacKenzie King up to the lookouts and again the conditions were pretty good. A little sketchy beside Black lake but all in all another good ski. Tuesday the rains and warm temperatures are sure to wash away this tenuous snow but I think I'll head out tomorrow morning to get a few more kms in before it disappears. Long range is looking promising for some significant snowfall but who knows if/when that will actually pan out. In the mean time strike while the (wax)iron is hot...or rather while the snow is cold.

Nov 23 - 28th - What a difference a couple of days makes

Remembrance Hike

2010-11-15T19:05:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday was another beautiful Remembrance day and time for our annual “last of the good weather “ hike in the park. Bryan, Mike and I decided to head up to Lac Phillippe this year and maybe walk up to Lusk cabin. Add to that Bryan had a new camera and was itching to “break it in” (not literally of course) so we met up at the visitor center, dropped one car and then drove up to P19. Walked in along the closed campground road and dropped down to the beach for a little bit to take some shots of the birds and the sun shining on the lake. After a loop through the campground we walked up to “Phillipe” cabin to have a quick snack. Twas here that a crew of four CF 18’s circled low over us in an impressive display. I suppose they were killing time before their Remembrance day fly past of the cenotaph downtown. They actually made two passes before roaring off into the wild blue yonder all in tight formation.

Birds flaunting the rules
After a short break we opted to head towards Taylor lake rather than up to Lusk. Not sure why we chose that option but there you go. No fixed agenda so no harm wandering where we like. Interesting to see a lot of dump truck traffic on the road out to Taylor Lake. Seems they’re re-grading the road around the lake with some fresh gravel. I checked carefully for shards of glass mixed in the gravel as we walked in but didn't spot any. Then again, perhaps my qualifications as a construction materials engineer aren’t up to scratch here and we’ll have to wait and see the true experts pass judgment on the quality of the job ;-).

Fisheye mirror - presumably to watch for oncoming hikers

We stopped at the Taylor lake yurt to have a little lunch. My stove is in some need of a little service but I finally managed to get it fired up long enough to heat up some soup. The lunch spot seemed like a good idea at the time but halfway through our meal the construction crew finished their lunch and fired up the graders and vibratory compactors. Bit of a raucous din ensued which wasn’t really our game plan for a quiet lunch spot. Ah well. With the noisy machines on the roads we decided to loop back on trail 55 in the opposite valley to get some peace and quiet. Beautiful trail through there. Certainly a favourite ski loop but today the waxing was a little tricky. All in all a beautiful day and a good one to take some time in remembrance of those that sacrificed to let us enjoy the things we love.

Lunch shared with a vibratory compactor... nice :(
Today I took some time to roller ski up to the Champlain lookout. I’ve done a little roller skiing this fall on the D-loop and out at the Lac Phillipe campground but this was the first time this season up the big hills. Haven’t done much road biking up there this summer either. Is it me or did they make the climb up the Fortune parkway bigger over the summer? ... maybe just seems that way. Guess I’ll have to go up it a few more times before the snow flies to “recalibrate”.

Gasp, wheeze... perhaps I should have ridden my bike...

"Mother Nature is teasing us..."

2010-11-04T16:03:00.002-04:00

First tracks
Those were my buddy Pete's words a few weeks ago when "first snow" reports started trickling out of the West and even Lake Placid which got some early snow. "That may be true" I told him "but she doesn't tease us with snow in June (despite what the Northern Pikes might think)". She starts to work her magic in October and little by little we move inexorably towards the real stuff. Compactable stuff. Base building, powder covering, skiable snow. Last weekend we got another tease... but at least it was here as opposed to some far-flung ski locale. Another tease to be sure but at least - to a degree - it was skiable. I got a little skiing in on the waxless boards but skiing along the grassy shoulder of the parkway has never been my thing. I quickly turned back to the car and strapped the roller skis back on. The real stuff will fall soon enough and with it the season will begin in ernest.

Patience (and more rollerskiing) is a virtue.

Not quite ready for Penguins

Conservation weekend in the ADK

2010-09-30T10:41:00.002-04:00

Buffing up the firetower on a nice fall day
This past weekend I decided to head down to the Adirondacks. The High Peaks hiking forum that I often frequent has been trying to break out of the confines of the “interweb” and make some tangible contributions to the park that they (we?) love. Amongst other projects the group has funded they decided to get involved in a restoration effort of the Mount Adams firetower. This historic structure on the edge of the High Peaks has fallen into disrepair over the years and needs some repair work to make it safe and secure. The group had gotten DEC approvals to take on the task, raised funds to pay for materials and begun doing some of the basic repairs to restore the tower. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I have a bond to firetowers and appreciate them both for their connection to history and giving me a hiking destination/viewing platform in the woods. As it turned out the call had gone out this past weekend to do some basic stair tread replacement on the tower and I had some free time so decided to head down and pitch in. At the parking lot I met Jack the principle project manager (or at least the guy who writes the emails looking for free hands). More folks had given tentative responses to joining in so we left a note at the trail register saying we'd gone ahead, packed up our tools and headed up the mountain. It was a grey overcast day but there was no rain in the forecast so it looked like a good day to get some work done.

Putting in the new treads
The trail to Mount Adams is a pretty brutal one. While it’s only about 2.5 miles, it climbs more than 1700 feet. Add to that the first ¾ of a mile is basically flat and the end result is a steeeep final climb to the summit! I must admit that a handful of hand tools a drill and a couple of rechargeable batteries is not the usual gear in my hiking pack and it made the climb a tough one… but up top all the pains of the climb were forgotten as we relaxed for a bit and checked out the fall colours from the tower. After the break Jack showed me the stash of 42 brand new stair treads which an earlier party had loaded up on their backs! These pressure treated 2x10’s weighed 10lbs each and apparently everyone had loaded four each up the mountain. Clearly my pack with a few tools and couple of drill batteries was the gravy shift.

This view is worth the effort to preserve - there'd be no view at all without the tower
As it turned out no one else joined us for the work day and we only had a couple of visitors who chose to hike up there. No worries though as Jack and I worked our way through half the pile of stair treads – carefully unbolting the old planks and then measuring, drilling and bolting on the new treads. I must say I have had a chance to work in a few unusual and beautiful jobsites and this would rank right up there. Often hard to focus on the work at hand with such an impressive view just off to the right or left. I also got a full discussion of the remaining work ahead. A few pieces of structural steel will need to be replaced next year, a new roof for the cab is in the final stages of fabrication and will be airlifted up for installation in a month or so. At the same time a lot of the trash – including the old stair treads we removed - will be air lifted out to clean up the summit. Add to that the potential of a rerouting of the trail to the summit – to lose some of the murderously steep pitches- and this firetower which was heading for the scrap heap may once again be in good shape for a number of years to come. A rewarding project to be sure.

Lake Jimmy bridge - another project recently repaired by the DEC
After hiking down and bidding farewell to my partner for the day, I drove over to Lake Durant to set up camp and relax for the evening. On Monday I was thinking I would go up another firetower peak but unfortunately the day dawned with a very low cloud deck which dashed the plan for a mountain top visit. Instead I hiked into the Santanoni preserve to visit another conservation project. A 5 mile hike up the access road in a gentle drizzle got me to the Santanoni Great Camp – a 20,000 square foot “cabin” built in 1893 for the Pruyn family. Again conservation efforts are being undertaken to maintain this wilderness retreat which had fallen into considerable disrepair when the state first acquired it. It is indeed a treat to visit. After the long walk through the forest the classic Adirondack architecture is a gem to behold. The log frame construction, Great room (with birch bark wallpaper, cedar columns (bark intact) and a truly massive central stone fireplace), the giant kitchen/servants building (connected by a covered breezeway) and the massive porches that surround the whole camp make it hard to imagine it was home to just one family.

Santanoni Great Camp

Big fireplace for the Great Room
Again the conservation efforts likely cost a fortune and as a result it almost seems those efforts are just enough to keep the forest from the door (and reclaiming its own so to speak) of this massive structure. Little by little though some of the former beauty of the place is coming back. While I was there only one “handyman” was working on a variety of projects in the building. He told me most of the summer there was a full crew on site and weekends bring more workers in so it's not just one person chipping away at it. He was an interesting guy who was very eager to show off his work on the newly restored cedar lined walk in ice box. Very detailed work that most folks will likely never see but he was justifiably proud. The 4000 ft2 boathouse was another fine example with a brand new roof and beautiful sliding waterside doors.

Broad porches connected all of the structure
Unexpectedly I met further support for the maintenance of the property as I hiked out. About halfway between the mansion and the parking lot I came across a crew (12-14) filling potholes, shoveling debris out of the ditches and…umm, raking leaves off the road. The crew was graciously supplied by the New York State Department of Corrections. “Make a hole down the line boys” – “Makin’ a hole, boss” was called out as I walked by and I thanked them for their work. I guess they're looking for work projects to keep the lads busy. For me it was another fine couple of days in the Adirondacks visiting and participating in a little heritage conservation work.

The "tour bus" runs visitors out to the camp... I arrived too early so I just walked

Closing out summer at the races

2010-09-29T15:09:00.002-04:00

Been a little behind in my posts on trips to the woods so I’ll pump out a couple of quick ones to catch up. Closed out the summer attending a couple of races in Montreal. Not as a participant mind you but merely as a spectator. Both races were interesting in their diametric differences as well as their similarities. Both took place in Montreal which – as one of Canada’s largest cities at 1.6 million people – has some incredibly large green spaces for such a large city (thus qualifying these trips to be written about in this blog).

Checking out the cars in the paddocks
First off was the Nationwide Series races at Ille Notre Dame. I’ve been to the Cup races a number of times and hadn’t really put it on the agenda for a repeat visit this year. I had however been bugging Pete for a number of years to come check out a race and he finally decided that the “stars had aligned” and he was ready to take in the spectacle that is NASCAR. Fair enough, so off we headed to the island in the St Lawrence to see the show. As always the racing was first rate but Race weekend at a Cup race is more than just the racing. Taking some time to walk the paddocks and see the cars close up is a rare chance to see raw horsepower (or shattered sheet metal). Add to that the commercial onslaught from every angle and Cup racing is Americana to the extreme - truly a weekend of high visual and auditory stimulation. While we shared the island with some 70-80,000 fans it seldom felt overwhelming as he park setting offers enough chances to escape the frenetic pace and noise before re-emerging into the flow. Pete was certainly taken by the spectacle and I’ll probably get him to another race in the future with much less “convincing” next time.

Parked by the rowing basin on a hot summer day
A couple of weeks later I headed back to Montreal - this time to the mountain itself in the heart of the city – to check out a more Eurocentric form of racing. Back after almost 20 years the UCI pro cycling tour held two races in Quebec this year. The first was in Quebec City while the second was a couple of days later in Montreal. It was another impressive show bringing some of the best riders in the world to take on a grueling 12k circuit over the mountain - 15 laps in all! The course actually has some significant cycling history as it is in principle the course that Eddy Merckx won the World Championships in ’74 and also hosted the Olympics in ’76.

A frenetic pace as the riders climb the mountain
Again the location is amazing as for the most part the mountain, University of Montreal and Outremont neighbourhoods display few clues that a major urban population of 1.6 million people live around them. Instead the forests and parks (and a pretty big cemetery) surround the course. Watching a pro bike race is a little different than the Cup cars but the fan support was equally strong as thousands lined the streets to cheer on their favourites. Interesting to note that even the non-contenders who dropped away early got great support whether struggling to climb the hills and catch the pack or simply cruising back to the hotel for an early shower. Even the bike mounted Police officers got encouragement on the big climbs!

The "Big Wheels" launch up the climb one last time
The race played out with an early breakaway holding off the main field for 10 of the 15 laps before the racing got serious. Then the peleton absorbed the break, formed a new break, reabsorbed them and a solo flier took off for the big win. A very entertaining race to watch and unlike the cup races much more physical as I got to walk the whole circuit catching the riders as they passed me at different parts of the course. I took an inordinate number of pictures and a selection can be found here. So two weekends in Montreal, two different races and both qualified as a trip to the woods - in the heart of the city.

Montreal - two worthwhile trips to the island

A visit to the MacIntyres

2010-08-10T11:56:00.003-04:00

Finally a cool of couple of days this past weekend in this otherwise sultry summer. Mike and I had discussed a hike to get Allen off his list and Saturday looked like a prime day to make a go of it. Alas I got derailed with an unavoidable appointment and Mike went it alone with roaring success. At home on Saturday I was a little disappointed at missing a good day for a hike. Sunday didn’t look near as good with risks of thunder showers after lunch but I decided to go for it anyway. Besides, I had a new body I wanted to test out. Umm, rereading that last sentence perhaps I should clarify, I have a new camera body – my personal body is the same old slightly scruffy one I have had for a while now. Drove down to Lake Placid to camp at South Meadow Saturday night. Perhaps an early start would get me up and down before any lightening was spotted.

Early morning light is worth the effort
South meadow was jammed with a Saturday night crew but I found a few square inches to jam my tent and set the alarm for 3:30am… perhaps I would get up and make a sunrise summit the next day. Alas when the bell went I looked to the sky and could see not a single star  so I went back to bed for another hour. Didn’t sleep much and decided to get going early to stay ahead of the crowds that would surely be out on such a prime summer day. Made the short drive to the Loj and was the first to sign in on the day. Headed up the Algonquin trail with my headlamp burning bright. Sure enough, still hiking in the trees, the clouds parted and I would have got a sweet sunrise had I left at my original time. Ah well, next time for sure. At the junction for Wright I made the quick decision to pop up and see if I could find the plaque dedicated to the B47 bomber crash in 1962. Short hike up above the trees and now the warm humid air gave way to a cold, blasting wind. Donned a jacket and made my way out onto the summit to look for the memorial. Indeed after a short search I found the right boulder just to the north of the main summit with the plaque and the small collection of debris left behind. For those curious the trail comes around the south side of the summit and the plaque is over on the north side. A few small cairns show a path down to it.

Small memorial
Back on the Algonquin trail I headed up confident that I would have the rare treat of the summit of Algonquin to myself. The last few pitches of the trail are pretty steep but I kept looking back to see if anyone was chasing me up the trail. Plodded up the last pitch only to find two individuals packing up camp on the summit. They were spread out over a nice pitch of rare, arctic grasses and were tromping back and forth collecting their gear.

“Ummm, you fellas know it’s illegal to camp above 4000 feet in the summer?”
“Oh yeah, but it was an emergency we got up here late and it was too dark to go down either side.”
“Sounds a little like an emergency of your own making… couldn’t you have realized earlier on in your hike that you weren’t gonna get over the peak before night fall and turned back?” I said.
“Oh, well…, um…, we didn’t want to drive all the way down from Toronto (why did they have to be from Toronto!) and not make the summit – It was pretty tough out here last night so I think we did well to make it through the night!”
“NO, you did not do well. Friendly advice from me is to pack and get off the peak before the summit steward gets up here. She will take a less friendly approach and have a big, honking ticket for you!”
”But it was an emergency... ”
“Again, No, it was not an emergency….”
Headed off towards Iroquois with these two scooping up water for their water bottles from a small puddle. Sigh…

Clambering up Iroquois
The ridge walk to Iroquois is always fun open-rock walk and then a tight little trail through the krumholtz before another scramble up Boundary and then Iroquois. The traditional big mud holes were there but none too wet so I made good time. At Iroquois I sat and enjoyed some lunch and took a few shots before starting my trek back. Met my first hiker of the day (apart from my friends on the summit) on Boundary and then another group at the junction down to Lake Colden. Took this trail down and its reputation as a steep climb/descent is well earned. Some might even say it is “murderously steep” so I was in part grateful I was at least descending although that too can be pretty tough on the joints. The trail eventually dips into a brook and follows it down (and down and down). Earlier in the year this brook would have several stunning waterfalls but right now there is little more than a trickle of water spilling through the rocks. Still it made a nice spot for a second break.

A bit grey in the pass by midday
Rejoining the main trail through Avalanche pass the clouds had moved over and the views were not ideal. Add to that it was now mid day so the crowds were charging through the jungle gym of a trail along the lake. Lots of folks headed up Trap dike on probably a good (and dry) day for this route to Colden. From the pass it was a quick tramp back to the Loj where I cleaned up and hit the road. Picked up a sandwich at Saranac Lake and the rain started to fall just as I pointed the truck for home. Good timing all in all and another good hike in the park. The new camera performed admirably well but I must say it is pretty heavy. Not sure it will make it on too many epic hikes as I’d rather carry something lighter… but I’ll find a lot of good uses for it I’m sure. Straight back in to the heat and humidity at home… Will September never come?

Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-04T11:31:00.002-04:00

Not much to report in the last few weeks so all has been quiet on the blog. July has been hot…. Really hot and I just don’t respond well to that kind of weather. Energy levels and motivation become low and all I can think about is the snows of winter… and how far off they seem…. sigh! Life without July seems like a pretty sweet plan but alas I think it’s hard to put into practice. Perhaps I should join the Canadian Cross Country Ski team and spend July’s in New Zealand for some sweet skiing before returning to fall “already in progress”. Still I have been getting out a bit. Evening rides in the park (when the days start to cool down) are the extent of my activities at home. I did sneak away for a quick hike in the Adirondacks back on Canada Day. The day in fact was the last cool one we’ve had in a while - starting at a frosty 5C in the morning!! I took the nice ridge hike up Giant and Rocky Peak and – much to my surprise on a long weekend - had it mostly to myself until I was almost down again. Since then the heat has made me less than eager to expend energy climbing up mountains and I’ve kept to the bike and found interesting rides to go on.

Taking in the view
This past weekend was another long one and I did want to try to get away for a little bit. The weather was slightly cooler than the past few weeks so it seemed like a reasonable chance to slip in some hiking. Last minute Pete called and had some free time. He was interested in getting in a little hiking/ camping trip and had his mind set on Vermont so I loaded up the car and we set off on Saturday. On the drive down we stopped at the trailhead for Burnt Rock Mountain. This was a spot I had discovered while I was hiking the Long trail. It doesn’t get a lot of attention (or so I thought) compared to the big peaks but it was a beautiful little summit with some fun scrambling so I thought it would make a good destination. My “secret little spot” however proved to be popular on a summer day as we were just able to squeeze the car into the last spot in the carpark and greeted many hikers coming down the mountain. That said the summit has lots of nice little outcrops so even on a busy day there is lots of room to sit back, relax and enjoy the view. After the hike we supplied up and headed to the campsite where a good evening was had burning a little firewood, drinking a few beverages and solving most of the world’s problems…. Just can’t think who took the minutes of the meeting tho’ so some of those problems will have to stay unsolved for a while yet.

Topping out on Burnt Rock Mountain

On Sunday we opted for a nice loop hike up and around Pico peak. With a relatively recent piece of newly aligned Long Trail now skirting the peak one could hike up and over Pico on the old version of the LT and then link up with the new trail and loop back to a main road. A short road walk would put us back at the car. Seemed like a perfect plan. Sadly our thinking hats must have been left at home. Part way up the trail we came to a little lookout on the side of the ski trail. Why not hike up the ski trail and enjoy the view – looks straight forward so off we went. Sadly looking at a ski hill in summer from a distance, the slopes look covered in nice short grass. From my new experience this is not the case! The grass is very deep – shoulder to head high in places. This makes for energy intensive wading through the tall grass. And when the trail isn’t brutally steep up… it’s a bog! Even the slightly cool August weather can be hot when you are slaving up a mountain. From now on I think I’ll stick to shady trails in the heat of the summer and pop out onto the summits to enjoy the views. Summit reached we claimed a spot on the deck of a ski hut that had a nice overhanging roof and took a well earned rest. The rest of the hike – back on trail was a breeze in spite of having to do a little road walk at the end.

Lunch break on the summit of Pico - a little more civilized than I anticipated but the porch gave a welcome break from the heat
Monday the heat and humidity returned so we opted to do a couple of short hikes at lower elevation and by the end of the day, as we drove home, the inevitable thunder storms hit us hard. Good weekend away though. Interesting to see a few rogue trees are starting to change colours which suggests – in spite of another hot week here at home - that cooler weather can’t be far off. Perhaps it’s time to start working on my ski fleet in anticipation of the coming snows…

Moss Glen Falls

Spending some time in the Skylight

2010-06-21T15:45:00.003-04:00

Got a call from Mike last week saying that he and Mark were heading up to the Adirondacks to climb Skylight and Gray on Saturday. Sounded like a good plan to me so I signed on for the trip. They had planned to start pretty early and go up via Lake Arnold(and back). Not one of my favourite routes so I told them I would start about the same time and go over Marcy to meet up with them at Skylight. After enjoying the summit I would then hike down with them on the return trip. Hiking over Marcy – while a little longer and a bunch of extra elevation is – to me – worth the extra effort as the summit cone of Marcy is all above treeline and the views are superb. I opted to start at the South Meadow trailhead while Mike and Mark would start from the Adirondack Loj. We traded a few emails and agreed – first one to Marcy dam would sign in at the trail register with a time of arrival so the other group would get a sense of where the first was and if all things were going to plan for our meetup on Skylight.

Marcy's southern Flank
Friday night I drove down to South Meadow to camp out and prep for the hike. Got there about 10pm and it was quite busy. As it turns out lots of people were prepping for a “solstice hike” the next day. Around the longest day of the year some folks plan a long (really long) hike covering the entire Great Range in one day. A tough hike to be sure at ~ 30miles and close to 10000ft of elevation gain. They spot a car down in the Keene Valley and then drive to South Meadow to start hiking the next morning. Those folks would be setting off early (~3am) to cover all that ground whereas I got up at a leisurely 4:30 to gear up and head out. Mike had shrewdly planned to start hiking at 5am to get the most of the cool morning air but as I headed out (at 5) it was already 18C and pretty humid. Perhaps there wouldn’t be much cool air to be had after all! All quiet at Marcy dam as I went through. Heading up to Indian Falls the humid air was making things a little damp for me (maybe the uphill travel added to that ;-). Finally arriving at Indian Falls I came across my first hikers of the day. Jack (the dog) and his owner were backpacking over Marcy and down to Lake Colden. Never got the owners name but as I gained on them on the trail I could hear for some distance “Here Jack, Steady, Heel Jack, No Jack, Come back Jack, Stay Jack, Left Jack…. “. Jack was clearly excited to be hiking his first high peak, whereas his owner – with a heavy backpack – was just slowing things down. That said, Jack and his owner summited Marcy in fine style and we chatted for a while (the owner and I) before they carried on with their day.

Jack and owner summit Marcy
Arriving at the summit I found a large group of 10 huddled behind the summit rocks. While the forest was hot and humid, up here on high a cold (yes cold!) dry wind was blowing hard. I put on a jacket as the large group left and found a good spot in the shelter of the rocks to enjoy a snack with Jack (and his owner). Before long they headed off and I had the summit to myself which is a rare treat. I wandered over to look at Haystack Mountain across the Panther gorge and was treated to a rare sight. Haystack seemed to be at just the right angle to the cold wind to be generating clouds! With the strong breeze cutting across its ridge line the resultant low pressure would suck the warm moist air up from the valley below. When it hit the cool air flow – Paff! - clouds would form and drift rapidly down the Great Range. At one point the entire range – and only the range – was covered in a heavy cloudlayer as if a giant smoke machine had been set in action. I guess while Marcy is known as the “Cloudsplitter”… perhaps Haystack is the “Cloud maker”! Sadly it only lasted for a short while and soon enough the cloud free but hazy skies returned.

After a good break on the summit I knew I was still likely a good distance ahead of Mark and Mike as they had to summit Gray first before heading over to Skylight. I took a leisurely stroll down towards Skylight all the while looking towards Gray to see if I could see any signs of people on that summit but no such luck. Arriving at “Four corners”, in the col between Marcy and Skylight, I met a couple of hikers who called me by name and told me my friend had just gone ahead up Skylight!?! One person? That seemed wrong. Beetled up the trail and found Mike just summiting Skylight when I broke out of the trees onto the summit garden. Turns out Mark had started the hike but had started to feel unwell somewhere near Lake Arnold and opted to turn back. Bad luck for him but that kind of thing can and does happen to us all from time to time and better to retreat then push on and get further into the wild only to feel worse. After Mark had turned back Mike had opted to bypass Gray so my calculated times for their arrival had been thrown off a bit but we managed to cross paths in the end. Mike and I deposited our rocks on the summit cairn and enjoyed the summit of Skylight for a while. The longer we stayed the less Mike sounded sure he wanted to go up Gray. It was already a long way back to the car and adding another hour to climb Gray… well, that sounded like more of a chore than an enjoyable hike in the hills. So Mike will have to return one day to add Gray to his 46'r list… which isn’t as bad a prospect as it may at first seem.

Skylights summit and rock cairn
Heading down we now had the long hike back out. As it turns out for the first half of the hike out the hot sun was starting to get to full power and it sapped my energy pretty effectively. Distances seemed to drag and the body started to ache but slowly we inched our way down to Marcy dam. At this point Mike and I split company as we headed to our cars. Mike found Mark back at the Loj snoozing in the shade and feeling a bit better. I had the walk down the truck trail to South Meadow which always seems longer at the end of the day then it did in the morning. Is the carpark round this bend?… No, but perhaps it’s around that next bend? Nope… repeat, repeat, repeat until eventually it IS the right bend and there was the car! Long day this one was (close to 12 hours since I got up) but lots of summit time was enjoyed on two great peaks. Perhaps I underestimated how long it truly was before heading out. At about 17 miles it was quite a few more miles than my previous warm up hikes (closer to 10 miles).Sitting here now I can certainly feel every mile although the heat and humidity added to the toll. Still it was certainly good to get above the treeline on such a nice day and I added a couple of peaks to my “spring round” A few more pics here… now, On to summer!

Decompression

2010-06-10T12:44:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, one week after Race Weekend, it was time for some decompression time. As I’ve done the last couple of years, I wanted to head off and do a little quiet camping in the woods. Sadly the weatherman was working against me with some strong rain showers forecast everywhere I wanted to go. Saturday morning – after visiting a couple of “Doors Open” sites in town - I headed off towards Montreal still trying to decide where to go. The Adirondacks weren’t looking too promising and neither was Vermont but New Hampshire suggested it might be nice on Sunday… so I was off to the Whites. Drive down was through heavy downpours but I got to a campsite near Twin Mountain just as the rain stopped and enjoyed a quiet evening by the fire with stars over my head.

Rainy White mountains
Sadly, Sunday morning dawned with rain drops on my tent… lots of them. Radio forecasts claimed showers all day and they weren’t far off the mark. I drove around to some likely hiking spots but as I arrived at each trailhead the heavens opened up in a heavy downpour. I’m not opposed to getting caught in the rain on a hike…but starting a hike and being soaked to the skin before I even get to the trail register doesn’t thrill me. Instead I would venture on in the car checking out the local scenery, such as it was beneath a heavy cloud cover. Finally around 2 pm I got to a trailhead without pelting rain and went for a lowland hike. Sure enough, a couple hours from the car, the rains started to bucket down and I turned tail and headed back. Cold and damp at camp I layered up, got a hot meal in me and got a big fire roaring as the rain continued to fall.

The clearer skies of Maine
Monday dawned with a low cloud deck – but it wasn’t raining! Packing up the tent I discovered after two days of heavy rain the underside of my tent fly had become a Hilton hotel for big, yellow slugs. Had to be careful to remove the many potential hitchhikers before packing the wet tent into the car. As I drove out of camp it was clear the high peaks were still ensconced in low clouds and, even with a promising forecast it was unclear if the peaks would clear today. I opted to head further north and east to see if I could outwit the clouds. Sure enough as I got into Maine the clouds cleared and the sun shone so all was looking up.

An ugly summit area frames the vistas off towards northern Maine
Decided to head for Old Speck – one of Maine’s high peaks. Old Speck is my first Maine mountain and if this is representative of the other peaks in Maine I am looking forward to returning to them. Much like Giant in the Adirondacks the trail up Old Speck goes steeply uphill from the carpark and seldom lets up. Unlike the Adirondacks the level of trailwork is surprisingly good with lots of nice rockwork staircases and even some small stemples and cabling to aid in steep/wet pitches. Climbing the trail offered a number of great views across the valley to the nearby peaks and once reaching the summit there were 360 views from a small observation platform. That said the summit had been clearcut at one point to offer views (perhaps prior to the tower being built) and now was an ugly open scar that was slowly eroding down to bare rock. From the tower I could see north to the other high peaks of Maine and back into New Hampshire where the Whites had now been cleared of their pesky cloud cover :( . Also on display nearby was the impressive Mahoosuc notch which sits just to the west of Old Speck. The notch is renowned to Appalachian trail hikers as the “hardest mile” on the trail. It's filled with enormous rocks and boulders that the hikers have to clamber over, under, around. Certainly looked impressive from my perch on high but I’ll have to go back one day for a closer inspection of that part of the AT. The descent was mostly painless although being so steep meant slow, careful progress had to be employed as a trip and fall would be pretty nasty. Closer to the base the trail passes many waterfalls which - after a few days of rain were flowing nicely. In spite of the rainy weather this trip worked out pretty well. Some nice quiet time by the fireside, perhaps a beverage or two consumed and I got a couple of hikes in to boot.

Rainfall from yesterday working its way downhill

Race Weekend Wrap Up

2010-06-03T16:36:00.003-04:00

Well, another Race Weekend is in the bag and from all reports things went off smoothly. This year certainly had its challenges. More so than the past number of years it seems but all in all we managed. Certainly Glendon and I parked on the MacDonald Cartier bridge at 4am fastening carpet over the expansion joints will rank right up there as one of the more surreal “what exactly am I doing here” moments in my life… but I suppose those moments are part of the entertainment that brings me back year after year. As usual there was just too much going on all weekend for me to pull out my camera much. This year I managed exactly two photos in brief lulls in my agenda but so it goes. Now - with my head freed of the 12,000 details I need to keep track of and all 40,000 of my closest friends safely home - I can start to think about heading off to the woods for some peace and quiet.

Planning for next year doesn’t start until at least next week ;-)

Last Minute "Starter" Hike

2010-05-18T12:31:00.004-04:00

Got up early Saturday morning to watch qualifying for the F1 in Monaco. As I enjoyed the racing I realized I didn’t really have a plan for the rest of the day – a rare treat! It was shaping up to be a nice one so I didn’t want to spend it at loose ends. Mike and I had been discussing the hiking season a bit on Friday and both felt it was probably too early for some of the big 4000 footers which would only just have relinquished their grip on winter. Perhaps a smaller peak might suit the bill. So, with qualifying over (and at Monaco, qualifying IS the race) I packed a bag and set off for the Adirondacks with a nice early “alpine” start of 11 in the morning. As I drove down I debated a few smaller peaks to hike. Pitchoff or perhaps a revisit of Catamount or Jay would be good but a new one stuck out in my head. I had wanted to do the Nun-Da-Ga-o range for some time. Not a long hike and mostly below 3000ft but it’s a loop hike and has reportedly good views along the way so it seemed like a good destination. When I arrived at the parking lot it was quite full but I didn’t actually see anyone on the trail all afternoon so I must have been “behind” them on the loop. I did have the rare honour of signing in after local Adirondack legend Pete Fish – a retired high peaks forest ranger with over 800 ascents of Marcy to his credit. He still maintains some of the local trails in the Keene valley including this one. Alas I didn’t meet him on the trail as he had headed up to Hurricane instead.

Calm waters on Lost Pond
The Nun-Da-Ga-o trail is a nice loop of about 8 miles. Except for the first part – which is a state trail to a couple of leantos, it is “unmaintained” but that seems to mean little. Locals (like Pete) clear the trail of blow down each spring and build cairns along the way so no threat of losing your way. The first (or last part) is an old woods road leading up to the leantos near Lost Pond. From there a short steep climb up to Weston mountain and then an up and down ridge walk along the range. There are a number of open ridge sections with excellent views to the south and west looking down the Keene valley and into the high peaks. Eventually you come around the loop to Big Crow mountain and then back down to the car. While it was beautifully sunny when I left Ottawa, it was overcast and looked like it might rain at any minute (but it never did) in the peaks. A broad band of sun did keep the Keene valley bathed in sunshine but it never got to me nor did it highlight the nearby high peaks. Instead a cool breeze forced me to take short breaks and keep moving to stay warm.

Moments of sunshine that wouldn't last
I always find it interesting that going up mountains is a little like walking backwards in time. At home in the Gatineau Park summer conditions are prevalent. Blackflies are out, and the leaves in the trees are fully deployed. As I worked my way up the mountain I was walking backwards into spring. No bugs per se, and the leaves were just starting to bud. Trilliums and other early spring flowers – mostly done at home – were just starting to push up as I got above 2500ft. No snow and ice was found but the flat parts of the trail were pretty muddy suggesting the winter frost was just starting to leave the ground. All in all a beautiful hike. Got out of the woods around 6 which meant it was a good time for a quick pint and a 'burg in L.P. before making the drive home. Nice to find that, despite coming to the Adirondacks quite a bit in the last few years, there are still some gems to be found.

Time to head down

A quick "work" trip to Maniwaki

2010-05-04T15:13:00.004-04:00

Headed up to Dave's cottage near Maniwaki on the weekend to help him get things set up for the season. Always lots to do when you own a cottage and while it’s not my cottage I’m happy to give him a hand and lighten the load a little. Besides I’m well “paid” with beverages and there's usually (always!) a good meal on the table in the evening so I’m not complaining. Water pumps primed, docks shoved in the lake, a few odd mending jobs and then a wander up and down the shore to help out other neighbours struggling with the same tasks (and a few more beverages offered) made for a full agenda. The weather wasn’t scheduled to be too good but the heavy rains forecast seemed to hold off for the most part. When it did shower it provided some welcome relief from the blackflies who’ve made an early appearance. Perhaps no surprise that they’ve arrived early as everything else seems ahead of schedule this year so why wouldn’t the “hatch” be early as well. In truth the blackflies weren’t at full force. They clouded up around your face (which was annoying) but they didn’t seem to fully understand the biting and bloodsucking part of their life cycle. My guess is a few more days and they’ll have the procedure down and be quite the horror show.

A little drizzle made for comfortable working conditions
After dinner we took the quads out to tour around the backcountry a bit (blackflies had gone to bed) and stopped by a local bog to enjoy the frogs chorus. It was nice but absolutely deafening so we didn’t stay long. If the blackflies are active I suppose the frogs will have a good season as well. Was certainly nice to get up here and relax (albeit being put to “work”) for a bit. April has been particularly busy getting ready for Race Weekend with the modified courses. Lots of meetings, measuring and changes of plan all of which seemed to fall at pretty much the last minute has made things somewhat chaotic. At least the course is now set and we can focus on the regular chaos in the next few weeks. Some one posted on Trirudy that the maps for the courses haven’t been posted on the Run Ottawa website. Not sure why that hasn’t happened yet (they should be up soon) but – for my tens of readers – here is an exclusive look at the courses. Marathon - half marathon. A bit of a change from previous editions which was primarily a result of the Alexandra bridge being closed for repairs. This year’s marathon course even runs through a small (hill free) piece of Gatineau Park. If you’re running, these will be interesting. If you’re not you might want to know where to go to see the spectacle. If you’re really uninterested you might want to know where to avoid! All I can say is trying to cross the Ottawa River on the morning of the 30th may be a challenge.

Natural flower beds
On Monday, after a few errands on a rainy morning the sun cleared up so I headed up to the park for a little walk. Toured around the MacKenzie King estate checking out the flower beds. Tulips were nice but looking to be on about their last legs. Might not be too many tulips for the Tulip fest. Again the blackflies were out but nowhere near the strength I had encountered an hour north of town. Not much biting either but like their northern brethren I expect they will organize and gain strength over the next few days. Hopefully an early spring doesn’t mean an extended blackfly season… of course the mosquitoes and deerflies won’t be far behind so accepting/coping with the bugs is all part of the summer round these parts.

Even with all the rain the birdbath was dry... but this bird seemed to be enjoying the flowers none the less.

Firetower Trek

2010-04-21T16:15:00.003-04:00

Spring time brings Bryan's (now) annual hike to the firetower. Typically on a fine - and preferably a work – day we head up the line to Luskville and make the trek up to the tower to enjoy the first look at spring and hike without the bugs. Usual suspects joined in on the hike with one new participant. This year we started our day with breakfast at Moe’s (no the new participant on the hike wasn't Elvis)which was a new but welcome twist. This put us in prime position to head across the Champlain Bridge after the morning rush saving some aggravation as we drove up the line.

Heading up the trail
Volume on the trails on Monday was surprisingly low with just a few small groups of hikers. We did come across one school group which had a wise teacher who understood that there was lots to learn in the woods on a fine spring day. Warm sunshine greeted us as we made the climb. I’ve certainly been pretty relaxed these past few weeks since the snow melted so the climb took its toll. “Measurement rides” just aren’t at a very fast cardio pace so I guess I’ve got to start ramping up the rides if I want to climb the hills this summer.

Rest stop to check out the falls
Once on top there was a welcome break for lunch beside the old tower and perhaps a beverage or two. In past years we’ve been able to find some snow to cool down the drinks but there was no snow left to be seen on this day. Seems like winter ended months ago yet it’s probably only been a few weeks since I put the skis away. However long its been the waterfalls were flowing but surely not rushing down the mountain as we’ve seen in past years. A few early weeks of spring and a pretty small amount of snow over the past winter meant the water levels in the falls weren’t gonna set any records. Didn’t see much in the way of wild life on this hike either. A few hawks circled above the escarpment and Dave nabbed a (somewhat) rare green snake but that was about it. Perhaps the bears were all down by the parkway looking to harass cyclists.

Flume
All in all a good day out. Is this our last hike out here if the new “NCC Conservation Plan” goes into effect? I don’t think so. The Luskville trail (and Ridge road for that matter) appear to be maintained as a recreational corridor through the protected “conservation lands” so we should be able to hike and ski for some time to come… but you never truly know with the NCC. I expect the less official “yellow box” trails that skirt along the escarpment and perhaps old trail "10" will more likely be in danger of closing which is a shame. Perhaps the main trails (Ridge and Lusk) will be fine but venture off the beaten path too far and you’ll find chainlink fences and guard towers protecting the flora and fauna.

Last chance to see? Probably not quite yet...

First rides of the season

2010-04-05T14:27:00.003-04:00

Certainly was more summer than spring out there this weekend. I got the bike out a few times stretching the legs and getting the bike tuned up for the season ahead. First ride of the season is becoming a bit of a rite of spring… and we usually don’t have such warm weather to enjoy it on! Usual suspects showed up very early on Friday morning for a 42.192 km ride around the city. Police escorts (so we can flaunt the rules of the road), cans of spray paint at the ready and a Googled plan and we headed off for the first of probably several of these rides. In truth it did seem a little shorter than in past years (about 3m short in fact) but I’m sure we’ll get that corrected before it becomes a critical issue. You want to get it right before 40,000 friends come to visit at the end of May.

Setting a control point

P.S. NO, I can't get you an entry into the Half!!!

The geese were trying out the bench but decided to return to the lake as I arrived

Saturday I went up to Lac Phillippe to ride in a slightly more tranquil environment. Of course the mountainbike trails don’t open for a few more weeks (May 5th I’ve heard) but I figured the campground roads around Lac Phillippe would be reasonably dry and make for some nice riding. Quite a number of walkers out and about heading in to the beach to get an early start on the tan. It was 28C on Saturday but there was still ice in the lake so I don’t imagine there was a lot of swimming going on. Enjoyed a pretty casual ride – testing the bike out and making some adjustments as I went. In fact the gravel campground roads still had a little snow on them in spots and were a bit soft in others so I ended up returning out to Ste. Cecile to do a little longer road ride. Things should dry up pretty quickly if it stays this hot.

I think that's it...

2010-03-29T11:24:00.002-04:00

Clash of seasons - These guys rode the full lap of the parkway
Went for likely my last ski of the season on Sunday. Just a little tour up the parkway from P10 and out towards Black lake. Except for walking ~100m up the hill from the car to find the first snow I was surprised to see I didn’t have to take my skis off at all. A few spots had a narrow ribbon of snow along the edge but all were connected so the skiing was good. I took my waxless skis and was also nicely surprised to find the classic track was in pretty good shape – solid tracks with a slightly slushy base for good grip. Even with a good ski though I think that will be it for me. As I skied yesterday I met more walkers than skiers and even the pair of cyclists shown above. Perhaps that should be the sign of the end of the season more than anything. Today it is raining and by the coming weekend temperatures will be in the 20’s. That doesn’t bode well for the remaining snowpack so it’s time to clean up the skis and think of summer pursuits. I always say if you can ski into April then it’s been a pretty good year. Well I can almost see April and yet I don’t think I’m gonna make it. This has probably been one of the shorter ski season I can recall. A late arrival of snow and now an early departure (and not a lot to rave about in between). With luck that will mean next year will be A++ with snow falling early and often!

Headed for home

What a difference a couple of days makes

2010-03-21T20:56:00.002-04:00

Friday the snow was pretty good – nice even consistency and good coverage pretty much everywhere I skied - with just a few little openings in the snowpack here and there. Saturday and Sunday those little openings started to grow and while I still managed to ski most everywhere without taking my skis off, it won’t be long before portaging from one block of snow to another becomes necessary (like as soon as tomorrow?). Saturday I skied up Burma which was still pretty nice. Made a detour up to the Ramparts which was a bit of an exercise. The backcountry trail doesn’t get the same compaction from the groomers that the main trails get so the snow was soft… or gone all together. A few spots had snow coverage but deep water (okay only a few inches deep) lurking underneath so extra care was needed. Managed to escape getting soaked but had to make the last little climb up to the lookout sans skis as the snow had melted through. Still, it was worth the effort to check out the view for the first time this year (how did I not get up here sooner?).

A nice view but it was slow progress to get up here
Sunday I stuck to the parkway and had a pretty good ski. Interesting that the trail up from P10 (last of the daily groomed trails) was well churned and soft with the masses of skiers trying to get in one last ski before the season ends. Closer to my starting point at MacKenzie King (where there’s been no grooming for a while) the snow was smooth and fast. As an added bonus there were small clouds of bugs floating over the trail at various points on my ski. That must surely be a sign of spring! Not sure what they were on about but I did swallow a few inadvertently as I skied along (extra protein?) and they didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of my way.

Patches of asphalt opening up
The groomers are now done for the season – barring a late season snowstorm - and I for one want to thank them for their hard work on what has probably been one of the tougher years in my memory. First the big ice storm at Christmas time and then not much snow to work with… and yet the trails were still in pretty good shape throughout the year - or what there was of it. Many thanks indeed.

Sunset on the ski season?
Still a few more days to ski but I fear those days are dwindling. As the portages open up each skier must make the call as to what ratio of walking to skiing is still worthwhile to them. Time to start cleaning up the ski fleet and packing a few pairs away… but I’ll keep a couple of pairs handy for a few more days yet.

A sunny, lethargic ski...

2010-03-19T18:56:00.004-04:00

Out for an easy ski today. Getting to be full on spring skiing season even if the calendar still says "winter" for a few more days. I opted to ski out of P7 and for the first few hundred meters thought I had perhaps made a mistake as I had to walk a bit. There were a number of open muddy stretches along the trail and where there was some snow it was covered in thick pine needles so skiing wasn't an option. Fortunately, as I got a little higher up, the snow returned and I was able to ski up the rest of the hill. A few little open patches here and there but a ribbon of snow on one side or the other made it passable.

Wattsford Lookout hill was still skiable
Once up top it was a whole different story with a good base and excellent skiing. Don't think there has been any grooming on Ridge for a while but the base is a pretty solid frozen mass so it doesn't matter. The heat of the sun only serves to make the top layer (maybe an inch or so) soft which makes for good edging. Even the classic track looked good in most places. Skied up to the Brule lookout and then spent a 1/2 hour or so enjoying the sun and chatting with skiers as they went by on the parkway below.

Almost time for the short walk along the lookout
From there it was down Burma which was also in excellent shape. One short rocky "portage" and another spot with a downed tree but the snow was in excellent condition. Even the steep final descent to the parkway was pretty good although a few thin spots have started to open up. As I skied up the parkway on my way home I noticed that the "yellow line" is starting to appear through the snowpack. Not a good sign but it should be a few days before it melts into the open air. All in all a great day to be out on the trails. No real rush today just a chance to enjoy the sun and ski easy.

Tough waxing along here... do you wax for the right ski or the left ski...
Some colder weather coming (well, single digits anyway but below zero at night) and maybe even some more snow(?). Don't think it will be enough to "save" the spots that have melted through but a little bit of fresh snow could make for some nice skiing and maybe milk the end of the season a little longer. I guess we'll see.

Easy skiing along Ridge road

A Ski up "Windyface"

2010-03-16T15:12:00.006-04:00

One of the objectives I had at the beginning of the ski season was to get out on my shiny new BC skis that I had picked up last year at an end of year sale. For the most part I had been hoping for a big dump of snow to take them out on their maiden voyage but they had sadly sat mocking me in the front hall for most of the season. As I stared out the window on Sunday into the driving rain I realized I was rapidly running out of time and these untested beauties would remain…well, untested. Without much forethought I decided on Monday to load up the car and head down to the Adirondacks to get them skiing… but was still working out where to go as I drove down. Most of the classic BC routes that I’m eager to ski go across large bodies of water which I’m thinking would probably be a little questionable in terms of ice thickness. They’d probably be okay but with 2m sticks tied to my feet I swim like a stone so who’d want to take that chance. Debated the Sewards but with the summer road recently closed and a lot of rain fallen in the last couple of days there might be a long walk up a slushy/muddy road to get to the skiing. But when you’re looking for snow, when all else fails and you don’t know where to turn - there is always Whiteface. Sure enough as I passed “Norman’s” in Bloomingdale it started to snow and it only got deeper as I drove up to the Toll House.

On the long march up to the clouds
The snow that fell was pretty wet (and probably 8-10”+ deep) but I knew it would get colder and drier as I gained elevation. I opted for klister on the skis to give me grip and stuck a colder wax in my pocket to improve things as the conditions changed. As it worked out I had good grip/glide for the first mile or so and then things started to ice and clump on the bases. The colder wax didn’t improve things and I was stuck at times hauling the snowpack up the mountain on the bottom of my skis. Made for slow going but things weren't too bad as 2 people had already snowshoed up the road and the resulting broken trail made life a little easier. Besides… when you’re going up the Toll road it’s not your typical rolling ski trail. It’s aaaalllll up hill until it’s time to turn around so too much grip on the way up isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Figured I could scrape off the klister at the top before making my way down.

Still winter up there
Finally caught sight of my trailbreaking crew as I approached the “Lake Placid” hairpin and I caught up to them at the “Wilmington” hairpin. Ironically it turns out they too were from Ottawa! Thanked them profusely for their hard labours and offered to do a little trail breaking for them from the Wilmington turn to the Castle… but as we rounded the bend the winds caught grip of us and the snowpack was a pretty solid, icy boilerplate so my turn at trailbreaking was pretty easy graft in comparison to their yeoman efforts in the soft, wet snow below. With the strong wind the temperature dropped significantly. What was maybe +5 C at the bottom of the road dropped well below zero (-10? plus windchill) so things were back to winter conditions. Fingers quickly froze as I took them out of the gloves to adjust straps on my pack or fiddle with the camera. Tucked out of the wind behind the castle (the end of the toll road) I dropped the skis and donned my snowshoes to try the short but extremely steep trail for the summit. Jeff and Lynda (the trailbreaking tandem) arrived shortly behind me and we discussed teaming up for a summit push. Lynda (probably quite wisely) had had enough fun climbing for the day and opted against a summit push as the gale force winds were pretty intimidating. Jeff and I tho’, well..., we both have a ‘Y’ chromosome which contains the genetic material that allows us to say (beyond all rational reason) “How bad could it be?” With two of us the climb seemed somehow safer. I am quite confident that neither of us would have tried for the summit had we been alone. In hindsight, if one of us had been blown off the mountain as we pushed to the top there would have been little the other could do except point the authorities to the most likely spot to find the frozen carcass but as I said… it seemed safer. Anyway, we we're just going to have a look and, if it looked bad, turn back.

Tunnel under the Whiteface Castle
[Mom? You reading this? Might be a good idea to skip ahead to the next paragraph] The trail from the castle to the summit isn’t actually too long – maybe 400m and climbs ~350 vertical feet. In summer it has a staircase cut out of the rock with 2 guard/handrails and takes maybe 5 - 10 minutes to walk up. It does however go across a steep, exposed ridgeline (called an arete) with a particularly dramatic drop off on the west side. In winter we found deep snow, cornices and spindrift greeting us. Heavy winds periodically buffeted us and progress was slow. The handrails in spots were completely buried and in other locations stuck out 4 to 6 inches… more of tripping hazard really. We took turns leading, making slow, methodical progress until we got to the crux of the climb. A steep, side-sloped snow drift, maybe 20-30m long, handrails buried and a gapping avalanche slope dropping away to our right. I wasn’t too concerned with triggering an avalanche as the snow wasn’t the right stuff to be conducive to slide (I think - no obvious slip planes anyway as I stomped deep into the snowpack) but progress across the slope was slow as the winds buffeted us around. Downhill leg was stomping a ledge to balance on while uphill leg was propped tight in the snow on my knee and my “high“ hand futilely clutched at the snow above…. “How ya doing back there Jeff”, “Ummm, Okay….” Shuffle kick, shuffle kick. Quick look down to my right… yep, thousand foot slide still there. “Still good? not far now.” To myself - "How you doin' Kenmore...hmmmm..." Shuffle kick, kick, shuffle. Finally crawled up to a more stable platform with some handrail showing and caught my breath. Final few drifts to clamber up and we tucked in behind the Observatory at the summit and out of the winds. Number 37 for Jeff - Woot!… but I reminded him we still had to get back down for it to actually count. A few photos and then the descent which actually proved pretty reasonable thanks to our already fading but still solid tracks. Interestingly Jeff and I both mentioned, once back down, that, had the other said “This looks a little sketchy, maybe we should turn around” – the other would have quickly agreed. Stupid ‘Y’ chromosome…

Safely back down to the castle I chose to walk the first section of the road to the Wilmington turn with Lynda and Jeff. It's hard, icy finish and a lack of steel edges on my skis would have made me more closely resemble Bambi on Ice so I stuck with the snowshoe crampons. At the Wilmington turn I donned the skis and bid adieu to Jeff and Lynda(many thanks!). As I descended the snowpack changed a lot. From the Wilmington turn to the LP turn I was met with mostly hardpack, windblown crud. Below the LP turn(which was windswept down to asphalt) the snow went from delightful soft powder to a heavier and heavier base finally ending at the Toll house in a mashed potatoes consistency. While initially I was a little unhappy (would have preferred champagne powder all the way!) I realized that in a span of ½ an hour I got to try out the skis in a wide variety of conditions so indeed it proved a fortuitous testing ground. They handled most of it well but are perhaps better conditioned to softer material. They’re a bit Kovalev-like in that they like to float! Perhaps I can find something with some edges to better carve through the heavier (or icier) stuff. Too late to hit the end of year sales at the local ski shops? (and therefore set another ski objective for myself next year). More pictures here

Descending to the Lake Placid Turn
Error on this trip – apart from the questionable sanity described in the summit bid -I forgot my thermos of hot soup in the car. It was tasty (and still hot) as I packed up the car to head home… but would have been amazing at the summit tucked in behind the castle with the frosty winds whipping around. So it goes.

Spring skiing is all about timing

2010-03-11T11:51:00.003-05:00

Out for a ski this morning. Found the groomers had been out covering all the primary trails but I was still a little early for optimal conditions. While the grooming had chewed up a little of the surface making for nice skating I did find a number of (mostly shady) locations where the heavy rig had somehow floated over the bulletproof snowpack leaving almost no mark in the surface. The result was some very hard, icy sections that were difficult to get an edge in (See Jo-Ann – even I find it too icy sometimes ;-). Fortunately these were only in isolated spots so I pushed on looking for the next granulated surface to ski on. To be fair, the snow would likely have softened a little later in the morning once the sun got a little more power making for a beautiful surface. Spring skiing is all about timing!

Traffic jam at Gossip corner
Rain clouds are supposed to be coming in for the next few days. While there is still plenty of snow for skiing in the park, a few days of rain could put a bit of a dent in it. Rain will also most likely change the consistency of the snowpack and perhaps open up a few bare patches. Can’t see not skiing next week though – still too much base. Seems far too early to be thinking about wrapping up the ski season but there may only be a week or two left unless we get a snowstorm in the near future. Wouldn’t take the ski gear out of the car just yet tho’ (Tripper, I’m looking at you!).

Fresh tracks on the Burma road

Would that every day were as nice...

2010-03-06T18:48:00.002-05:00

Hard to imagine a better day to be out skiing. In spite of the “Bad conditions” sign at the parking lot I got out at just about the right time of day choosing to head out to P16 and ski the Pine road. The groomed trail was just a little icy as I started and then just starting to get slushy in the direct sunlight as I finished so my timing was good. The temperature rose from maybe a couple of degrees below zero to a couple of degrees above before shooting up in the afternoon (after I was home) to +8C and there was nary a cloud in the sky. The so called “bad conditions” were actually pretty good. The skating lane did have a few ruts and ridges in it… but nothing overwhelming or difficult to ski over. To be fair the classic track was a little shallow but I found it quite serviceable as I jumped in to coast on a few down hills. I skied out to the Lac Phillipe campground along the road before returning from whence I came. Quite a few people out along the trail enjoying the weather as well. Might have been a bit of a chore to get grip wax dialed in but the skating was fast and easy. Upon returning towards my car I made a quick detour over to Meech Lake to take a little time on “the bench” and soak in the sun.

Why sit inside on such a nice day?

Days like these are hard to beat but of course this indicates that the end of ski season is drawing ever closer… which just seems too early. The weatherman is predicting these warm days to continue but at least it’s getting pretty cold at night. That will be good for the snow pack as it melts down during the day before re-freezing overnight. I can certainly see another couple of weeks of skiing but will it make it to April? Time will tell I suppose. Maybe we’ll get a big dump of snow to freshen things up.

Enjoy it while it lasts

A Night at the Races

2010-03-05T11:29:00.002-05:00

Time for the XCOttawa Pursuit race. New date, new Race Director, same good time. This time it was a night race under the lights at Nakkertok which surely added some new challenges for the racers. I headed out once more to help out with setting up the course and marshalling the route. Setting the course for a pursuit race requires a two loop course - one for classic and one for skating – and a great big pit area so the racers can swing in, swap skis from one technique to the next and tear off on to the skate leg. Takes a little while to get it all set and (hopefully) make it self evident for the racers. While looping the course to set up v-boards at various intersections – thus keeping the racers on course - I was also careful to look for any 3m deep pot holes along the edge of the course. I figured I would flag those hazards, you know, for safety. Wouldn’t want to have to call for Dr. Hakenbush (blog title? Anyone? okay that was "A Day at the Races" ;-) As it turns out we’ve had closer to 3 inches of snow rather than 3m so there were no big hazards to flag.

The main pack climbing the first hill
Course set I headed off to marshal a corner. Want to make sure people ski the right way and don’t head off into the gloom of the night down the wrong trail. For the most part however people had previewed the course during warm up so my marshalling duties were pretty light. Gave me an opportunity to take a few photos which was interesting. While I’m quite happy to take long exposure night shots of static things AND I enjoy shooting fast paced sporting events… fast paced sporting events at night is a new challenge. Probably one I need some work at but still got some interesting... ummm, artistic? shots. All in all another good event. Skiing the loops after the race to pick up the v-boards and clean up the course I discovered the real workout for the racers was probably on their optic nerves. We’d set the course with a little bit of daylight left but picking up the course it was full on night. From one light standard to the next (spaced at 200m or so) – at speed – light to dark to light to dark must have made for some interesting challenges. Sounds like a good time was had by all though so well worth the effort.

Olympic snow

2010-02-27T22:49:00.003-05:00

A warm but drizzly day.. seems too early for spring
Got out for a few skis over the last couple of days. Been nice to get on the boards after shaking the cold I had. Sadly I haven’t managed to get my free time for skiing to coincide with sunny weather and skied for a couple of hours today in a gentle drizzle (with occasional flakes of snow falling) but so it goes sometimes. The last week has brought us about a foot of fresh snow on the ground. Warm temps however have had it falling like snain () rather than the fresh dry powder I would prefer…. But I’ll take it! The groomers have been hard at work packing the wet snow so it should lay up nicely for a strong base once cooler temperatures come back. And of course with the cooler temps will be another foot of dry powder snow (wishful thinking?)! Of interest, the current weather is almost exactly like the conditions out in the Callaghan valley right now. For those watching the Olympics on the TV we can sample the cross country snow conditions right outside our back door –wet, heavy, soft and a lot of work to ski! Pick your favourite klister or maybe some no-wax or rub skis would be the best choice for classic while the glide wax is another trick. Of course we don’t have to push as hard as the racers… but for those interested I recommend heading out tomorrow morning for 50k of classic just to take in the full Olympic effect.

Loppet time again

2010-02-21T21:49:00.003-05:00

A beautiful warm, snowy day to go check out the racing action. Once again the course was changed up – this year justifiably owing to the small amount of snow we’ve had this season. Fortunately this year’s edition included some trail skiing on Ridge road, trail 24 and 1B as well as the parkways. Unfortunately the new route was laid out such that I couldn’t watch the start annnd drive/ski up into the park to catch some of the racing action on the trails. To be fair I’ve been sick all week coughing and hacking away so I don’t have much of a skiing sprint in me these days and the timings were just too short for me to work it. I was feeling a bit better than I have the last few days though so I decided to make the early drive straight up to P10 (forgoing the start line) and then ski in to catch the race at a few spots along the course. First saw the leaders pass by me at the top of the hill before Keogan and the race was already mostly decided at that point. Three skiers were completely off the front and working well together. Interesting (surprising?) to see Robin McKeever in this lead pack. To the best of my knowledge he has another big 50k race next Sunday which is… ummm, kind of a big deal. I would have thought he would be… you know prepping /resting up for that one. I’m sure the Monday paper will have an explanation as to why he chose this to be his “taper - training race” but still a lot of flying the week before his key race of the season. {edit}Scratch that! As Craig wisely pointed out I mistook Robin for his brother Brian... and Brian is safely in the final stages of race prep in BC before next Sunday's race... my mistake...

Karl Saidla leading Robin McKeever with Chris Butler tucked in third
From there I gamely thought I could sprint up the parkway to Huron cabin while the leaders did a longer route out and back on the Fortune parkway…but my lungs told me otherwise. I only had 2 or 3 km to ski to their 6 but as I climbed the parkway to Huron my throat and lungs – beat up from coughing for a week – told me I wasn’t gonna be speedy today. By no means was it “Petra Majdic painful” but no one was offering me a bronze medal for my trouble so I slowed the pace and rolled into Huron with the second pack of skiers arriving. Got a few shots of skiers tearing through the water station (no time for toasted sandwiches for these guys).

A quick drink at Huron
Finally I made the short hop over to the Brule lookout. From the lookout I hoped to use the Ottawa Valley as a backdrop for some nice race photos but the grey skies and – who woulda thunk it – snowfall (yeahhh!) precluded the magic shot. Still I grabbed a few pics as the trains rolled past me before finally heading off on my own for a (slow) ski. Rolled down Burma and Western on my way back to the car. Both were in decent shape although I think I spotted a couple of rocks hiding under a light cover of fresh snow. A whole lot more snow is in the forecast for this week (fingers crossed). My wide boards have been mocking me in the front hall for most of the season… maybe their turn is finally about to present itself.

The trains keep rolling

Canadian Ski Marathon - 2010

2010-02-16T22:26:00.002-05:00

Another beautiful weekend on the CSM trails. Things didn’t go exactly as planned but then I hadn’t really planned to ski in the event this year anyway so it was all good. This past fall a buddy of mine proclaimed that this was the year he would partake in the CSM… so I signed up too. Only later did he come up with a host of “valid” excuses and bailed out (Boooooo!). Never mind it’s always a good ski so I stayed the course. As I mentioned in my previous post, the trails had to be changed this year as once again we had limited snowfall over the last couple of months. The first couple of sections looked to be really thin so I expected it to be a bit of a mess to ski but I concocted a plan for Saturday. I would arrive late of the official start time (maybe 15 or 20 minutes) and let the big mass of skiers work their way up the trail. This would mean they would spread out a bit and make it easier for me to ski “through” the field all the while dodging the tricky snow-free bits. Sounded like a good idea but alas the new highway extension through Buckingham got me to Montebello much faster than I anticipated and I arrived just as the pack departed. Rather than sit in my car and wait I decided to bite the bullet and head off from the back of the pack. Proved to be not too bad in terms of crowds but the first two (short) sections were pretty light in the snow department and – with a 1000+ skiers in front of me - meant the downhills were pretty much scraped down to ice (and rocks, and roots and logs!). Made for tough waxing as the icy chutes ripped the wax off my skis faster than a bully steals a little kid’s lunch money.

Thin snow as we head out of Montebello
Once into the Kenauk preserve, north of Montebello, the snow was good, the grooming excellent and the wax stayed in place a little better. The trails opened up (in terms of crowds) as well and I was able to ski my own pace and enjoy the day. Weather was a mixed bag with some light snow falling, then some sunny skies and then more grey skies… all while the temperature rose to -5C. At the north end of the circular route things again got a little rough but the trail crew wisely deviated us for a few km across Lac a la Croix which had some nice snow coverage and even had a groomed skating lane to mix things up. Despite the good conditions by the time I got to the 4th section I decided to pull the plug. To my surprise I had arrived almost an hour before the cutoff time to start the last leg of the day (another 20k section) but instead I opted to climb on the bus to save the legs for tomorrow.

Skiing amongst tall pines

Heading across Lac a la Croix
Sunday I woke up feeling a little off (more so than just tired from the ~60k ski day before). Couldn’t put my finger on it but decided to opt for cherry picking a couple of good snow sections rather than go for big miles. As it turns out the skiing was again beautiful with fresh grooming. The weather was a carbon copy of the previous day with the temperatures rising to -5C, some light snow early and then a beautiful sunny day. One stretch of lovely grooming however had been well trodden on by a pair of moose (a mother and child?) whom I suspect hadn’t paid an entry fee! An indication as to how solid the snowpack was was made evident by the moose tracks only sinking an inch or two into the groomed trail. To their credit, they had only messed up one of the sets tracks so I think I’ll let it slide. Besides, there was no sign of the moose anyway so I couldn’t give them a piece of my mind… ;-)

Moose tracks - Mother and Child?
As I rolled across the finish line the first Gold Coureur du Bois arrived. I had given them almost a three hour head start but they did ski 80k (with full packs) to my 30k so quite an impressive ski. Felt a little odd to be done so early but it quickly became clear that the real “odd” feeling I had was a cold settling into my lungs. As a result it was perhaps a shrewd move to ski a shorter distance on Sunday. All in all a nice weekend. Well salvaged by the organizing crew to find and groom up some fresh trails when it became clear we would have little snow on the regular route. A few more pictures can be found here.

Lots of rewaxing along the trail this year... but lots of smiles too.
Next up is the Gloppet this weekend though it hardly seems like that can be right. I keep looking at the weather forecast and expecting a massive (downward) spike in the temperature plot for Sunday… but it looks like it will be almost pleasant. I’ll have to work hard to shed this cold so I can get out on the trails and follow the race this year.

Scratch that...

2010-02-09T15:46:00.002-05:00

I guess things were tougher in the woods than I could see from the road crossings. The trails for the upcoming Canadian Ski Marathon have been changed due to poor snow conditions. Once again the route goes through the Kenauk reserve where presumably more reliable snow is available. This is the same area that was used in 2007. My recollection was this was a nice area to ski - very similar to Gatineau park. My pictures still hold true as part of the course but the second one is an uphill section only so should be a little easier to manage. New trail map and guide are available.

Canadian Ski Marathon snow conditions

2010-02-07T23:09:00.002-05:00

With no update on the CSM website regarding snow conditions I decided to make the short drive down to Montebello on Saturday morning to check out the snow for next weekend’s ski marathon. Of course I couldn’t actually ski the course as none of it would be track set at this point. Anyway, for the most part it crosses private property which is only available to skiers on game day. I could however drive to a number of locations where the trail crosses roads to see what the snow conditions looked like. In all I looked at maybe a dozen different locations along the course. For the most part there looks to be enough snow to ski on up high in the hills. In most places an initial pass has been done to consolidate the base a little (but not everywhere).

Things are looking quite good here

A little tough through this section
Somewhat troubling were the sections of the trail that ski down out of the hills towards the river and into Montebello itself (and then climb out of Montebello on day 2). There the snow depth looked pretty thin with lots of dirt and debris appearing. It did look marginally skiable but none too enticing. Might not want to bring your best race skis with the new (expensive) stone grind and lots of (expensive) wax if you’re planning to ski these sections… cause you might get a new type of (economical) stone grinding for the bases. Still that only encompasses one section per day with marginal conditions and much of the rest should be good to go. That said I did only see a small fraction of the course and conditions in the woods could be quite variable (better maybe?) so I guess we'll have to wait and see what the snow is like next weekend.

Only a slim possibility for some more snow between now and next weekend. Hats off to the grooming crews who will likely be hard at work this week getting things in shape. I’m looking forward to a good weekend regardless as next weekend’s weather is looking outstanding.

A short trip to the Adirondacks

2010-02-02T17:35:00.004-05:00

Whiteface looming on a cool, crisp day
Headed down to Lake Placid to do a bit of skiing. I usually wait until closer to the end of the season to make the trek down but the last few years I waited too long and the snow melted before I could skii. This year I resolved to go in January to be sure of good conditions. While I wouldn’t exactly call the snow “mid winter” it was still very good. Even with last week’s rain Van Hovenburg had gotten a little fresh snow on top of a hard icy base. I drove down Sunday morning and found the trails in good shape. They clearly suffered similar damage as Gatineau Park after December’s ice storm. Lots of signs of freshly cut brush dumped along the sides of the tracks. The fresh snow on a hard icy base made for some excellent skiing though and – in spite of a lot of twigs on the tracks brought down from strong winds – the skiing was great. The trails – like most Olympic sites – have a lot of transitional skiing. Steep ups straight into steep downs with not a lot of flats in between. Still they have a nice rhythm to them so it makes for fun skiing. I spent a good part of the day on site and covered most everything they had to offer. Lots of people on a Sunday afternoon in spite of cool temperatures (~12F).

Time to climb the Russian Hill

After spending the night in town I awoke to much colder weather on Monday. A strong wind was blowing and the thermometer now read 2F. I hadn’t brought any skis waxed with a cold weather wax and the idea of climbing the hills on skis that glided like sandpaper didn’t appeal too much. Instead I looked to the snowshoes I had in the car. I also had a bit of new winter hiking gear that I wanted to test out so I opted for a hike up Cascade and Porter. It’s a good trail that’s not too long and was guaranteed to be well broken out so I could test my gear with confidence that if things went wrong I could “escape” back to the car without problem. A few meters up the trail it became clear that crampons and not snowshoes would have been the right choice for the day as the well packed trail had only a couple of inches of fresh snow on it. Still my snowshoes worked like a charm biting into the hard pack surface and giving me perfect traction all day. I tried to limit my effort so as not to get too sweaty but climbing takes effort so the layers started to get damp. Kept plenty warm though as long as I kept a reasonable pace. Once up to the junction to Porter I opted to hike over there first and made the short walk with the sounds of strong winds in the treetops above me. My thought was to make the hike to Porter and back before stripping off my wet layers and putting on some dry ones. For the most part it worked well but I lingered at Porters summit taking pictures and my outer layer started to ice up pretty quickly. It became obvious it was time to go as my shirt flexed with ice but a fast hike back to Cascade and I was soon warm again. The weather was also showing signs of changing as well with beautiful bluebird skies being replaced with dark stormy clouds as I made the short trek along the ridgeline.

It was a beautiful, sunny day up until this point

Before climbing the exposed summit block of Cascade I peeled off the wet layers and put on some dry ones including my new down vest and lots of face protection. Several other groups arrived, looked at the windswept rocks above and opted to turn back as I suited up. “Not for us today” they said. Left my pack and snowshoes at the base and scrambled up the rocks to the summit. The wind was pretty violent (dropping the temperature well below 0F) but not quite “blow you off the mountain” strong so I reached the summit unscathed and grabbed a few pics. Major props to my new vest which kept me toasty warm the whole time I was up there. Back at my pack I layered down and had a bite to eat before trotting down the hill to the car. In the trees the day was quite pleasant (maybe 15F?) so I was glad I had headed out when I did. As an added bonus I was met at the trailhead by a girl from S.U.N.Y. who was conducting a park user survey. For a few minutes of my time answering questions (where did I come from?, how often did I visit the park?, etc.) I was rewarded with a steaming cup of hot chocolate! Sweet!! Would that I could find her after all my hikes in the peaks. So a good couple of days in spite of not skiing both of them. I got one good skiing day in and then tested out my winter hiking gear in some pretty arctic conditions. A few more pictures can be found here

One last view before it was time to head down

Chilly yes but we still need some snow...

2010-01-30T20:40:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning with intentions to head up to Nakkertok to watch some of the Eastern National races but the man on the radio said it was -23C (windchill -31C). As I thought about it - under my covers - that temperature sounded too low for race officials to start a race. It was going to warm up through the day into "legal" racing territory but when exactly that would happen I wasn't sure. Even if it was "legally" warm enough to start a race, I didn't think it would ever get warm enough to stand around and spectate... so I opted to go skiing myself instead.

A little fresh snow on a chilly day

Headed up to P19 where I found the wind had died down and it was actually quite comfortable. Skied the Taylor Lake loop and then headed down trail 50 before getting into the backcountry and climbing trail 54 black. There was 4 inches of fresh snow on top of a hard, frozen base and things started out well. As I got higher up the trail however it became clear we don't really have enough base for this trail as of yet. Small creeks to be crossed had a thin layer of ice (someone had taken a brief dip). Roots and rocks were exposed in spots making things tricky. The final climb up to Lusk lake - which more or less follows a creek bed was just that... a rocky creek bed. It was easy enough for me to skirt from side to side and pick my way uphill but I wouldn't want to descend through it. Still, upon reaching the top of the pass and skiing along Lusk Lake the conditions improved and before long I was back to the groomed trail 54 blue. Made a quick stop in Renaud hut to warm up a bit and have a bite to eat before skiing back to P19. Not too many folks out braving the cold but I suppose that would be expected. Those I did see seemed to be enjoying another sunny, bluebird sky day. A little dump of snow would really help conditions on the whole but - with the season now probably half over - I guess we have to take what we can get.

Lusk Lake cabin is always a happy sight

Ski while the skiing is good

2010-01-24T21:01:00.003-05:00

A beautiful weekend to ski to be sure. The sun shone, the skiers skied and the tracks were beautiful. I opted to ski out of P7 on Saturday under a brilliant sunshine. Haven’t had too much of that in the last month or so. Normally I wouldn’t go near P7 on a sunny Saturday (and fight for a parking spot) but with a weekend of races down low in the park I took a chance that some of the crowds would be down there. Proved a successful gamble as the lot was pretty quiet considering the beautiful day. I even managed to find some quiet tracks as I headed in to the practice loop at Camp Fortune. Everywhere else I skied there were mobs of people enjoying the day but on the practice loop – I counted 3 sets of tracks before me on the fresh corduroy. It’s certainly a fun loop with lots of fast transitions from steep up to steep down. Strangely the last km of the loop hadn’t been groomed recently but no bother, I skied it anyway and enjoyed it almost as much. Still a little ice in the trees that was falling here and there. I guess that won’t last much longer with Monday’s predicted rains.

Bit of an obstacle on trail 36... Maybe too thin for the groomers?
Sunday I opted for a “Petit loop du Meech” and skied out of P11. As I drove past P8 and P9 cars were overflowing out onto the road but P11 had only dozen or so cars parked there – sweet! Trail 36 hasn’t been groomed recently so perhaps that kept people away. That said I found it in reasonable shape. The descents were a bit of an icy torment but not unmanageable and the classic tracks on more gentle terrain were holding strong. Once I reached Meech Lake I chose to ski across it for P12. Bit of a cool breeze coming down the lake but the skiing was good. Decided to rewax before climbing McCloskey as the icy descents on 36 had stripped most of the wax clean off my skis. Fresh wax meant a short climb up to Ridge and then off down towards Fortune. Decided on one last exploratory run onto Fortune Lake where I rediscovered lucky trail 13. It hasn’t been an official trail in about a dozen years or so and there was nothing lucky about it for me today. It had lots of branch debris to push through and “leg hold traps” (snow covered branches) lying in wait to slow me down but it was still nice to ski on an old trail like that. The sun even managed to hang on for me to finish my ski before the storm clouds started to take root overhead. Tough weather for the next day or so. With luck it won’t be as much of an impact on the snow as the weather men are predicting. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed for some cold winds to whip the rain clouds into a snow bowl. Certainly don't want to see more freezing rain...

Tough conditions a month ago at the Biathalon range

All fixed up now so the "Biathalon Bears" can practice their craft

Grey day to celebrate MLK

2010-01-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was pretty grey and dreary but there was some lovely skiing to be had. Most everywhere I went there were freshly groomed tracks and fast conditions. Add to that most of the ice up in the trees came down on Friday so we're mostly past the bombardment from above phase. Monday I skied to the Tower and then poked around some of the BC trails like Western, 22 and 18. The snow was pretty coarse and my wax only lasted about halfway on my loop before I had to resort to skating the climbs and double poling the flats. Still nice to be out though. Conditions off the groomers were a little tougher (icy and choppy) so I think I'll wait until we get some fresh snow before heading back in there. There was evidence of the trail clearing crews hard at work. These folks sure must be tough. They're working the trails on foot - no snowshoes, no skidoos, no skis... just postholing down the sides of the trails all day clearing and cutting bush (and leaving the ski track in good shape down the center). I took a few more pictures on Monday but clearly I wasn't alone out there as there are some very (very) similar shots to mine here. Similar (photographic) eye I suppose ;-).

January Thaw

2010-01-15T10:31:00.002-05:00

Early morning commuter heading in to check on the huts
Headed up to the park early this morning to get in a ski. Don’t usually go for the early morning skis until later in the season but I’d missed my chance to ski Thursday night so decided to make the early trip up. Grey, drizzly skies greeted me as I pulled into P10 at quarter to 7. Grim weather but I had seen the groomers rolling along the Doldrums so I knew I would have fresh tracks. Indeed all the primary trails seemed to be freshly groomed so the skiing was quite nice. In spite of the +2C weather (and rain falling) the tracks were actually firming up nicly with the cold supplied by the snowpack beneath them. This made the skating fast but the classic tracks looked to be glazing over and might prove to be icy. I skied up along the Parkway to the lookouts but had to use my imagination as thick fog blocked any view. No stunning sunrise either as the dark, gloomy grey brightened only slightly to light, gloomy grey as the sun came up. A quick loop around 1A and B before heading down Burma for the trip home. In the woods the conditions were a little bit tougher than the parkways. The warm temperatures were bringing the last of the ice on the branches down and the delicate sound of breaking "glass" filled the air as the ice dropped from above. I probably was less than an hour behind the groomer riding the fresh corduroy but the trails had already built up a good layer of icy chunks and bits of branches making the skiing a little more like riding ball bearings. It was manageable on skate skis but I would think the classic tracks would fill up fast and be a bit of a pain. Once I shot out onto the parkway it was apparent that the wider open parkway skiing might be the ticket for today. Far less debris and nice new tracks Could be the answer for the weekend which shows more of the same weather ahead. Maybe we can get rid of the last of the ice covered branch debris with this warm weather and get back to some more wintry weather in the days to come.

Tough to make out the ice chunks but lots of little twigs on the foggy Burma road (and the ice chunks are there!)

Beautiful weekend for some skiing

2010-01-10T23:21:00.003-05:00

Even the bright shiny orb called the sun was out on Saturday which has been a rare sighting in the last couple of weeks. With sunny skies I headed up to P19. I figured the upper part of the park would be comparatively quiet and I wouldn’t have to fight for a parking spot with the hordes of skiers clambering for P10 and P7. Sure enough I was rewarded with easy access and relatively quiet trails. After skiing the lower valley and up 55 to Taylor Lake I took a tour up to the Pontiac lookout on trail 56. I thought this was a “backcountry” trail and would receive no grooming this year but looks like a skidoo ran up to the lookout at some point recently. Perhaps it was the maintenance crews trimming and cutting fallen branches. Unfortunately they hadn’t pulled a grooming sled behind them so I was left with a somewhat flat track to ski up which slowed things up a bit but no matter. The warm sunshine and shiny ice on the trees made up for the slower skiing. Love this trail punching through the tall pines. Reminiscent of the skiing at Vernon although the pines are 2 or 3 times as tall out there. Also did a quick ski around the Ste Cecile loop and it too was in pretty good shape – free from branches and logs and reasonably well groomed. As it was somewhat cold out I wore my wonderful new fleece layer (just purchased). Unfortunately it proved too effective and I over heated 10 minutes into my ski… gonna have to assign that fleece to -20C (and colder) skis and work on a layer that works for… ummm, “slightly cold” conditions.

Mind your head under the arch
Sunday I got one of the last places to park at P7 and checked out the backountry trails skiing 6, 22, 17, a bit of 11 and 8 along with sundry other groomed trails. To be honest I prefer the backcountry trails with some fresh snow as today the tracks were somewhat hard packed and “skied out”. Still they proved a sometimes interesting challenge to negotiate so a good afternoon was had. Still a few branches here and there to dodge but – unlike my last post – there have been enough skiers smashing through them that the blocks of ice are mostly gone. Not quite so painful if you fail to duck at an inopportune moment. I could have used a few layers (inches?) of binder wax on the skis today though. Icy trails and blocks of ice left in the track as they fall from the tree branches above did short work on my wax. I was forced to stop a few times to reapply some fresh wax or flounder helplessly up the climbs.

I must say I am impressed with how quickly the crews have worked to clear the trails from fallen debris after the ice storm. Having done a little “post ice storm” clearing myself in the past I know it to be long, labourious work. Skiing the trails over the Christmas break and seeing trails choked with bent over trees and down fall it’s hard to believe most of that has been refreshed. The NCC website suggests 80% of the network is now free and clear. That's 160km of trails cleared so good on them to work through this. The only big ticket omissions at this point are Ridge to the Fire tower and trail 36 but hopefully those are on the work sheet for this week.

Can I have a do-over on Christmas vacation?

New Year, new snow!

2010-01-01T20:23:00.003-05:00

Snow!
A beautiful layer of snow fell overnight! By no means is it enough to cover all the damage from last weeks freezing rain but its certainly a good start. Pete and I went for a New Year's Eve (well, afternoon really) ski along the Pine road as the fresh snow started to fall. This ski has become a bit of a tradition as Pete typically works a half day on New Year's Eve and then schedules in a ski before making the drive for home. I on the other hand am not working at all this week so I traditionally sleep in, prepare the pack with some celebratory liquids, wax up some skis and wait for him to book off work. It's a tough job but I always feel up to the challenge. Conditions were quite good although there were still a lot of sticks and twigs exposed at that time but it was certainly encouraging to see the snow falling hard.

Icy trees
Today - New Year's day - I felt a little optimistic as snow had been falling all night so I threw the wider skis in the truck with the hope of skiing some of the backcountry trails. Things were pretty nice although there certainly has been a lot of damage from last weeks freezing rain. Quite a lot of downed branches and even a few trees along with iced up trees bent over double on the trails. I pulled a few medium sized logs off the tracks but there are still a few much bigger ones here and there that will need to be cut. If the NCC isn't going to groom the backcountry trails this year I wonder who will? For that matter does grooming include cutting deadfall and brushing back the trails? If it does how will they get there if not with a skidoo (and will that ruin the track?)? Perhaps if I think about it for a bit longer more snow will bury all the hazards and I won't have to worry about it.

Took a little work to pull this broken branch off the track
While the logs might be one issue there is also a lot of branches doubled over with the prodigious weight of ice coated to their branches. This makes for some awkward skiing in the woods. Forces you to mosey left and right to avoid them. That isn't too bad when the trail is flat. Bigger problem is screaming down a steep incline to be faced with a load of ice covered branches in your way. Bit like going through those beaded curtains... at speed... and the beads are blocks of ice... and they're quite heavy... and there are often rather a lot of them (from the voice of experience;-). If we can get a few (more) skiers to go crashing through the branch traps, the ice (or maybe the branches) should break off forming some nice tunnels. Could make for some interesting trails. Either way it sure is beautiful skiing in the park right now. More snow over the next couple of days should make for a happy start to the year.

Beautiful skiing

2009-12-27T18:55:00.001-05:00

crystal tunnels
Originally uploaded by kenmores

After yesterday's storms I wasn't expecting much but skiing today was actually quite nice. Along with the freezing rain (and actual rain) that fell yesterday a little snow also fell. Not much but enough to make the skating track nice with a firm base underneath. The classic tracks also looked skiable as people "broke them out". For the most part, I stuck to the parkways as the tinkling glass coming from the forests sounded ominous. The sounds were of course the ice covered branches dropping little bombs of ice (and occasional branches) as the sun warmed them up. No grooming on the trails but perhaps the crews were also waiting for the falling debris to subside before heading in to work. There'll be a little work to clear the fallen branches and trees that came down as a result of the freezing rain. Sking along the parkways required a little creativity to duck and dodge around some fallen limbs but I saw nothing that couldn't be skied around. With such nice warm temperatures the skiing was actually quite pleasant. Another cold snap is coming so it was good to take advantage of the nice day while we had the chance.

Christmas coal...

2009-12-26T15:05:00.002-05:00

Expectations were high for a dump of snow to finally bury the rocks and get the ski season headed in the right direction... but alas it was not to be. Christmas morning dawned grey and warm so I loaded up the skis and headed to P17 to try a loop of the Wakefield triangle. The trails were pretty used up but still skiable. With no fresh snow there really isn't much for the groomers to work with so no complaints here. I opted out of the trail past Ste Cecile as it had only been compacted but not trackset for classic.

On a positive note the "ditch" I mentioned in my last post on the main skating trails through the Lac Phillipe area were renovated and are now nice and smooth. Perhaps the crews up here can till 12" deep in 7" of snow! I also got a look at the newest yurt in the park. Wanakiniwa(sp?) is set in the main Lac Phillipe campground high on a hill looking over the lake. Looks like a nice spot to spend the night. Based on the few notes in the logbook its a little hard to find the yurt in the dark as its set off the main trail in a little maze of skidoo trails. Apparently one group had to call the NCC emergency linefor directions when they couldn't find their rented hut in the dark. Not like Taylor lake yurt which is set right on the main trail... but maybe this one is quieter as a result of being a little deeper in the woods.

Completed the loop down trail 52 which is still a little thin on snow but skiable none the less. Sadly that was the good news as any threat of fresh snow quickly perished as freezing rain started to fall overnight and bouts of actual rain (and some freezing stuff) fell throughout the day. I spent most of the day looking out the window in hopes of seeing a flake or two of snow falling... but no luck yet. This could set things back on the trails but hopefully a little snow will fall this week.

Bit of a chill in the air

2009-12-20T20:49:00.005-05:00

Bit of cold weather has set in over the last few days. Good for the snow to help firm up the tracks but sometimes a shock to the system when you actually get out into it. I guess the first cold snap is time to toughen up and get ready for the much colder days ahead in January. Always seems like my mid-weight fleece layers have gotten a little thinner though and aren’t providing the same insulative properties they did last year. The lint trap in my dryer might corroborate that evidence (all that fluff has to come from somewhere) but perhaps I just have to suck it up and get out there. Once I actually get going it’s never too bad.

The ever present Lusk Lake residents come to collect the "rent"

Saturday I made the long drive up to Lac Phillipe to check out the conditions high in the park. The drive is now 30 seconds faster thanks to the new highway extension which I got to enjoy (with promises of another 30s shaved off my drive time by 2012!). The grooming on the whole was pretty good but I wonder if the guys doing the grooming actually know what skate skiing is. I seem to recall a similar “ditch” being a constant problem last year… but too soon to start complaining. As Johnny Klister suggests (#6) no point developing the rare grooming technique of tilling 12” deep in 7” of snow so perhaps we’ll have to wait for a bit more snow before assessing the grooming quality. The classic tracks looked great by the way and the ditch only forced me over to one side a little bit so it wasn't the end of the world. To be honest I was the only person I saw all day that was skating so if its just for me... I was fine with it! I skated up to Lusk Lake first where there was still a little warm sunshine to be had. Beautiful spot to sit on the deck even if the Hut marauders set upon you with blinding efficiency. Surprised to have the trail and hut to myself but I stoked the fire as I left and met the overnight guests at the bottom of the hill as I skied out (Good advice Mike - stoking the fire – thanks). Another quick trip out to Taylor lake and I see they’ve moved the hut out there again. No longer out on the point it is instead set back in the trees. Nice new deck here as well so I’ll have to test that out on a sunny day. Finally a trip along the Pine road towards Herridge. For the most part – while it was pretty cold there wasn’t much wind to speak of so all in all a beautiful day on the trails.

Sunday the wind picked up so it was both cold and a bit raw. I tried to stick to the trails in the trees skiing out of MacKenzie King and down to the CEGEPs. The Parkways were beautifully tracked and (as long as the wind was at your back) a great ski. Unfortunately the trails in the trees still are a bit thin with occasional rocks poking through and even a couple of small water hazards spotted on trail 15. Makes it a bit of a game of "spot the obstacle" (rock, dip, divot or creek) and then dodge around it. More snow for Christmas is on the agenda so hopefully that will fill things in nicely... and maybe I’ll check out some post-Christmas sales to get some new fleece – just in case it happens to be cold in January.

Bryan's birthday ski - take 3

2009-12-15T11:56:00.003-05:00

What's become an annual event went off again on Monday. Sadly it had been planned for Sunday when a larger contingent would likely have participated but Bryan got marooned with car woes and spent much of the day arguing with mechanics on the correct balance of his tires... Delayed until Monday most folks were occupied with other distractrions and only Bryan and myself made it for the ski. Not sure if that even constitutes a quorum but I suppose it still counts. Fresh grooming on the parkway and Ridge road made for some nice skiing. We made a Tour du Hut visiting 4 of the Gatineau Trail huts with some form of pit stop at each. At Western a gentleman had the fire well stoked and the hut was downright toasty. Great spot for some lunch and a beverage but it made it a challenge to get back out on the skis and continue along the trail... Had I brought a sleeping bag I might have gone for a long afternoon nap. At Shilly Shally we met the self proclaimed "Chalet Beautification squad" who spent a 1/2 hour preparing some adornments for the hut. Mostly made from local materials there were a few odds and ends packed in to complete the project. They said something about "having a contract" with the NCC but I probably misheard and in fact it was that they "wanted a contract" with the NCC. Either way it was a nice addition to the hut... and as it decays and becomes unsightly it will also make an excellent firestarter for the woodstove.

Excellent job ladies, only 8 more chalets (and maybe a few yurts?) to go :-)

Mistakes picking sticks - but what odds...

2009-12-13T21:29:00.004-05:00

Beautiful weekend to get out and ski. Lots of fresh snow out there to be had. Unfortunately in my haste I probably made a rookie mistake and picked the wrong techniques on each of the days. Saturday was cold and sunny and the tracks seemed to have firmed up nicely from the first grooming. Perfect day for a skate ski... but I picked the classic boards. Not a big loss though as the classic tracks were equally good and I did a nice long loop to check out much of the parkway and Ridge road. All of which are in good shape with just a few thin spots here and there. For the most part its easy enough to step around the trouble spots so clean sailing all day.

Rare sunshine and snowflakes... where were these things coming from?
On Sunday it was much warmer and not snowing (at my house) so I decided to load the skate skis into the truck. Of course as I drove up to the park it began to snow (hard) and soon enough there was lots and lots of soft wet snow. Perfect day for a classic ski... but I was commited to skating at that point. Ah well, off I went down the Pine road past Herridge and almost out to Lac Phillippe. Skating in the soft snow was hard work but I wasn't in a rush and I'll take the extra snow without complaints. The weatherman had called for rain on Tueday which likely would have thinned out the skiing almost completely. Thankfully he's revised his forecast and it looks like more snow is on the way. Soon the thin spots will be a thing of the past.
no more trucks...
On a positive note I did get out Sunday morning to catch my cousin Bob carry the Olympic Torch. Knowing only the "road" he would be running on (and it was a long road with several runners) I managed to luck out and catch him at the end of his run passing off to the next runner. Good job Bob! You didn't stumble and drop the torch in the snowbank or anything ;-)

That's better...

2009-12-10T09:31:00.002-05:00

"David" promised those magical words that all skiers love to hear - a "Colorado Low" and now the park is blanketed with snow. Last night I went for a short ski (trudge?) though things were pretty soft but it was still nice to be back on skis (after a 5-day lay off). This morning I went back for another ski and the parkways were nicely groomed. The tracks were still pretty soft when I started at 7 and my skis would sink 3/4" every time I weighted them. Made for slow progress but I guess someone has to be the "compactor" when we get a dump of soft, wet snow. After a few dozen more skiers take to the trails things should firm up nicely. Add to that colder temperatures on the way and the track should be really nice by the weekend. Only the parkway was groomed this morning (at least where I skied). Perhaps more will get tracked today but to be fair we only really got 8" of snow so working the side trails might be a little premature exposing rocks here and there. There was a little asphalt exposed on a windy corner and I did tap through the snow in a few spots with my poles so - while we might hope for "mid winter" to arrive overnight... it has not. But it's still really nice to be out there and getting this ski season underway on home turf! Quite a number of skiers heading up as I was coming down and all of them had a pretty good smile on.

What the heck is going on here!!!

2009-12-06T15:52:00.004-05:00

I go away for 1 week, leaving you people with a simple task - get snow! - and this is what I come back to?! Okay, I thought the emails asking me to bring snow back in my carry-on luggage were funny but I had no idea you weren't joking. I guess if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Time to make some calls...

Heading home

2009-12-05T00:32:00.001-05:00

Sweet tracks
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Well that's it. After a week of skiing its time to pack up and head home. The snow here has been superb (and things are looking grim back home) so it proved a fortuitous trip indeed. When I think back just a few months ago - when I broke my foot - I didn't think I would be skiing so soon or to such an extent. After 6 days and close to 25 hours on the boards I'm quietly pleased with the progress. Oh, a little vitamin I was consumed to be sure but on the whole the foot performed well. This ski camp was a bit of a departure for me. Not sure I would do it again. It was a lot of fun but I found it to be a little too much of the same thing day in and day out. My usual M.O. would be to ski a few different places in the same period of time. Still the price was right so it was hard to refuse. That said, the skis are coated in travel wax, bags are packed.... so tomorrow I head for home.

Moonrise on Paradise

2009-12-01T23:43:00.001-05:00

Moonrise on Paradise
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Snow here continues to be sensational. Can't believe how few people are out here (though the weekend was pretty busy) and often find myself on my own on the trails.... such a shame but I continue to tough it out. Monday we got another big dump of snow (4 inches) and it fell spectacularly fast. Made the skate ski I was on a somewhat tough slog but I didn't hear anyone around here complaining. Today it was blue skies and perfect grooming. A morning ski followeed by an early afternoon nap and then out again for an evening (which falls pretty early these days) ski... life is tough. I am following the pictures of "snow" back home but to be honest... don't feel too bad that I missed some of the "first skis" on the parkway verges. Here's hoping some more snow falls before I come home.

No snow at home?

2009-11-29T21:20:00.001-05:00

home for a few days
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Somebody's been hogging it all. Their not even sharing with the local valley.... but I found it. There's lots to ski on(over a meter of base) and everyones welcome.

Waiting for snow

2009-11-20T14:54:00.003-05:00

This weekend is supposed to be quite pleasant and sunny - definitlely not November weather. Had a look at the blog posts from the last couple of years at this time (who knew they'd be useful for something). Seems I hadn't skied much by this point in the last two years either. They turned out to be great ski years... so I remain optimistic that snow will indeed fall this winter. It will be cold. The skiing will be great. All will be as it should. In the meantime I continue to rollerski... and hike... and wait...

Should be a snowcat... soon, very soon

Remembrance Day hike

2009-11-13T10:57:00.002-05:00

Well I missed it… The snow fell last week(just 36 hours off my predicted time) and then disappeared almost as quickly! Sadly I must have overslept because I didn’t think to go ski on it… and now it looks like it could be a few weeks before we see any more snow . Back to roller skiing and hiking for me… Wednesday was Remembrance day and - with the day off work - an opportunity to take a hike . Bryan, Mike and I have gone hiking the last couple of years on Remembrance Day and the weather was looking like this year would be another fine one. At the last minute I spotted a new geocache planted deep in the northern end of the park so we headed off to check it out. Met a few other cars full of hikers as we hit the Eardley escarpment road but no one was at our trail head so we had the back woods to ourselves. The route principally followed a high tension hydro easement through the woods. I thought it would be a pretty dull hike but it turned out to be quite nice. The trail dipped and rolled, in and out of the woods and provided scenic and varied views the whole length. The Gatineaus obviously aren’t high enough to have much “above treeline” hiking but in the hydro easement we had all kinds of views so this worked out as a nice alternative. At the end of the trail a sizeable summit presented itself – I dubbed Mount Hydro Pylon – and after a tough scramble up we topped out to great views of the northern end of the park. I had brought the stove so we heated up some soup and had a little lunch in the warm fall sunshine. Took a few moments to remember why we had the day off and relaxed a while before making the call to head back down for the car. All in all another great day out on the trails. I’d rather be skiing but I guess patience will be the word this year.

One more trek in the High Peaks...

2009-11-03T16:00:00.003-05:00

I took a quick trip down on Sunday to the Adirondacks to get one last hike in the big mountains before the snow starts to fall. Actually the high peaks have already seen their share of early snow but it has all melted now and for the most part the leaves are all gone. The forecast however was slated to be beautiful so this looked like as good a time as any. Sunday I took a leisurely start taking care of a few errands in town before packing up and making the drive down. Sadly that was bad judgment on my part as – with the switch to daylight savings time – it gets dark incredibly early. Arriving in Lake Placid a little after 3pm it was clear I had less than an hour before the woods would start to get dim and only a couple of hours at most before I’d be in full headlamp mode. With nothing incredibly short in mind to hike I took my time got some gear items and headed off to my favourite secret camp spot near Newcomb. Sadly my secret camp spot is no secret to the local hunters who have erected mini, mobile condos on all the best sites and were busy inside playing cards and (presumably) prepping their ammo. This left me with some slightly less ideal options but still acceptable for my needs. By 6:30 I was tucked in my sleeping bag with this month’s edition of Powder magazine (I read it for the pictures) and a long night ahead of me.

In the morning I woke to cooler temperatures (just slightly below zero) and quickly packed up and headed to the trail head. It was looking like a sterling morning and I was bound for Mt. Adams a firetower peak I’ve had my eye on for a long time. One car was at the trail head but they were bound for Allen so I would have Adams to myself. Much has been written about the disrepair of the Lake Jimmy bridge(crossed early in the hike) and I can report that it is in excellent shape with only minor issues… still totally serviceable. The climb up Mount Adams starts shortly after the fire observers cabin – about a mile from the trail head - and points pretty steeply upwards. Some might call it murderously steep but I was alone on the hike so this wasn’t an issue for this day. After a tough scramble up the trail I got to the treed-in summit and quickly climbed the tower. The view from the tower is probably one of the better ones I’ve had as Adams is tucked into a massive cirque of high peaks. The MacIntyres, Santanonis, Colden, Marcy, Skylight and Allen to name a few all play out around you. The tower itself is a little beat up – the roof having blown off the cab – but it’s still structurally sound. Could have spent hours there but after all too short a while I started to get cold – the temperature just above freezing at that point with a stiff breeze. Descending was no less a challenge as there are some pretty sketchy chutes to negotiate. Soon enough though I was back in the valley floor – round trip including an hour or so at the top was less than 4 hours. After the short walk back to the car I relocated to a sunny spot on the banks of the Hudson River to make some lunch and enjoy the early afternoon.

Mt Adams firetower observer's office

Lunch done I drove over to the entry to the Santanoni preserve and wandered partway up the trail to the “farm”. I had hoped to take the time to go all the way out to the great camp itself but with an incredibly short amount of daylight I opted to turn around after the farm house (about halfway to the great camp). Equally the trail register showed several groups ahead of me all of whom signed in as “hunting” which sealed the deal at a shorter walk in the woods. Fortunately I had left my antler hat at home but nevertheless the woods (particularly in flatter terrain) belong to other users at this time of year. This is truly a beautiful place and I hope to make the full walk out to the great camp next year. With that, another high peak hiking season draws to a close. Snow is forecast any day (most likely on Nov 4th) and soon the skis will be out. With luck I’ll get another hike in the high peaks this winter but we’ll see how that pans out.

Good News

2009-10-24T20:32:00.005-04:00

The rain, fog and impending darkness could not discourage me from a quick trip to the park to roller ski. Of course I may need some help from Hans and Franz as my arms seem to be a little ummm, soft. Nothing a few nights climbing some big hills won't cure. Watch out for wet leaves tho'!! Not sure why they closed the parkways so soon - the first snow is still eleven days away.... just sayin'.

Fall slipping away?

2009-10-20T17:12:00.002-04:00

This weekend was an epic fall weather weekend. The first few cool nights with a layer of frost on the ground in the morning but lots of sunshine to warm the day. It was Jim Howe cross country races weekend so there was lots to do to get ready. Fortunately most of it involves being outdoors and taking advantage of the sunny weather. Race director Pye and his son were out Saturday afternoon planting course marker flags as we wanted to get them in the ground Saturday afternoon before the ground froze over night. That meant that early Sunday morning there was just the task of putting up some trail blocking "caution" tape and a few trail signs to point runners in the right direction. Thankfully that meant an easy start to the day and then there was nothing for it but to wait for the runners to arrive. Unfortunately it was a busy Sunday with 2 other cross country races as well as a road race so the local running community was spread a little thin. Perhaps next year the race organizers will communicate a little better and spread their races around so runners can come to all the races rather than having to choose just one. That said we still got over 100 runners come out to take part so a good crowd enjoyed the race.

Monday dawned another beautiful day. I had the day off and Bryan decided he was much too “sick” to go to work. Dave and Mike were apparently too “well” to miss work so it was just the two of us who headed up the line to the Eardley escarpment road to check out the last of the fall colours. The brilliant reds are now mostly faded to rusts and the forest floor is a carpet of leaves but it’ll remain pretty colourful out there for a while longer yet. Hiking up to the escarpment we found a good promontory to relax on, take in the sun and perhaps have a cool beverage. Just a hint of a breeze so it was a pretty pleasant spot to enjoy the day. Bryan immediately sent off blackberry pictures to all those that refused to escape their cubicle – a move that I’m sure was appreciated. Some discussion was had that we had chosen too short a trail and perhaps we should head over to another spot to get a longer hike in…. but it proved to be just talk and in the end that was just fine. Just a casual walk in the woods as the leaves drifted lethargically to the ground. Bring on the snow I say…. but not before Nov 4th… Just sayin’.

Catskill Sampler

2009-10-13T15:55:00.002-04:00

It’s been a tough leaf peeping season. Lots of rain made optimal mountain hiking difficult and picking a sunny day when the views are "the thing" wasn’t easy. I had a trip to cover last week anyway and I thought maybe I could squeeze in a day or two of hiking during prime fall foliage if the stars aligned correctly. At first I aimed for a day or two in Maine but that became a no go with the dark clouds locked over the northern mountains. In fact Vermont, New Hampshire and the Adirondacks were all looking sketchy. There was a window farther to the south in the Catskills where I could maybe luck out with some sunny days. I have a few “list” peaks in the Cats that I have wanted to hike and had been wondering when I would ever get there. The drive is long and it bypasses a lot of other attractive hiking peaks but with all of them currently masked by rain clouds I figured now was the time to venture onward and see what the Cats had to offer. Indeed the Catskills is a little bit of a different world in many ways. It’s quite a bit different from the wilds of the Adirondacks. Being located 1 ½ hours from one of the largest cities in the world (with a population of almost 2/3 that of Canada’s alone!), a lot of people have been coming to the Catskills for a long time to recreate. Clearly the forever wild policy hasn’t been adopted whole heartedly here. While the park was formed in the 1800’s there was only a first attempt at a master plan in the 1970’s. A lot of development has gone on in that time frame and a lot has changed since people first started coming north to “take the air”. The mountains have a wilderness feel but the valleys are choked with resorts and cabins some from another era and many left abandoned and deteriorating. The driving is never dull though as I went from trailhead to trailhead. Never quite got the swing of it as towns might be labeled on the map but the villages seem to bleed from one to the next making it tough to know when you’ve arrived and when you’ve left. Add to that the narrow winding valleys and it makes for fun navigating.There is still a lot of beauty in the hills t so it was well worth the trip.

After my long drive down on Monday I had just enough time to make a quick climb before dark. I chose Hunter mountain, picking it because, well… it was the one I could find relatively quickly and with a setting sun time was the most important thing. I took the Becker Hollow trail up to the summit. Perhaps not the most scenic way up but it was the shortest. Climbing 2000ft in less than 2 miles soon enough I was up high looking over the valleys. With a fire tower on the summit I got a good look at the surroundings. Looking across the summit to the Spruceton valley and further south to Slide mountain I saw rain coming in but the sunlight seemed to hold around me with golden light on Black Dome to the north. A short visit and a fast descent meant I was back at the base just as nightfall was closing in.

I camped a couple of nights at a cheery place called the Devil’s Tombstone. I figure if it’s his tombstone… he’s surely not gonna be coming for another visit so it should be quiet. Right I was as only two other groups camped there that night. Morning dawned clear and it was off early for a full agenda with my one full day of climbing. Started the morning going up a short trail to Red Hill in the southern part of the park. This was a nice little summit with a firetower which gave me a good view of the Hudson valley and Connecticut to the east. From there it was a short drive up to Slide mountain (made famous by John Burroughs). The summit was beautiful with views to the north and east but I can’t say the trail up it inspired me. Not overly hard it was primarily an old Jeep road filled with loose, rounded, rubble sized rocks. Made for tough going as each step (on the way up and back down) was a potential ankle roller. The true summit is treed but there were two outstanding ledges on either side of the peak that gave great views into the heart of the Catskills. Mr. Burroughs is immortalized at the summit with a plaque quoting some of his work - certainly a nice touch. Surprisingly I only met one small group of hikers as I was coming down which I thought was strange as the sun was shining and the leaves were nearing peak colour. After a quick lunch break it was off to Balsam Lake mountain for one last tower climb. The hike again was on an old Jeep road but this one was in better condition and the summit was soon reached in a fragrant Balsam forest. On this trail I finally met a few other hikers but they were mostly off on the herdpath to nearby Graham mountain so I had Balsam Lake mountain all to myself. Overall a full day with three hikes totaling 15 miles and roughly 4000ft of elevation gain. Certainly happy to get back to camp, cook up some food and relax by the fire with a cold beverage.

After a very rainy night in camp I figured I would get up early and race off to my appointment elsewhere but I found the eastern edge of the park still bathed in sunshine so I decided to squeeze out another hike. This time I climbed Overlook mountain just north of Woodstock. The trailhead was conveniently next to a Monastery, handy for a quick prayer before climbing – it is Woodstock afterall and some folks apparently never actually left. In fact I had my choice of monasteries within a short easy drive. As it turns out the prayer wasn’t needed as the “trail” was a reasonably well manicured gravel road that led all the way to the summit. Just shy of the summit is the now abandoned (and deeply eerie) Overlook hotel. I’ve seen the Shining (which of course took place out west... or not at all if you believe it to be fictional) so I had my concerns as I walked up the front steps. Fortunately this place has been abandoned since the 30’s. It was never actually completed running into financial difficulties during construction. Still I was glad to see there was no hedge maze to be found and the trees in the front lobby looked inviting right next to the fireplace. Sadly at the summit I could see my window of sunshine was ticking to a close with dark rainclouds marching over the hills to greet me. Time to head off.

Overall I certainly lucked out in dodging the northern rainshowers and the Catskills proved an interesting place. Much more civilized than the more northern mountains (for better or for worse). Most of the hikes were relatively short day hikes. They still had some significant elevation gain to cover but most could easily be done in a half day. The “list” peaks I was chasing may not have shown the best the park has to offer but it certainly gave a range of what is available. I’ll most likely come back one day now that I have a bit of a feeling for what it holds and where some of the highlights are hidden.

Kicking off Fall on "McKnz Mtn"

2009-09-28T15:51:00.004-04:00

Finally it was time to take the bad foot back to the Adirondacks and see how it fared. I had hoped to go down sooner but preparations for last weeks Army Run had some last minute adjustments and we had to take some time to fix them up which ate into my free time. Finally though I was free and none too soon either as the cool bug-free weather has arrived and the colours are starting to bloom. Mike and I had debated a weekend trip to hike Snowy and Blue but Sunday was looking like a big storm was going to roll in so we opted for the one day trip on Saturday instead hiking under blue skies. Somewhere along the lines Bryan got the green light to come along so we had a trio for this hike. Snowy and Blue are a bit of a long drive for a day trip so we tossed around thoughts of Whiteface from the south side or possibly Moose and McKenzie. As we drove down the Moose/McKenzie option seemed to have more going for it. First it was a slightly shorter hike (which I liked as my first hiking trip since early July) and add to that it had options. After the hike up McKenzie we could turn around and come back, or we could head over the top and down the other side. Another thought would be to continue along the ridgeline to Moose for a bigger loop. Add to that it was likely to be less popular with the crowds so we wouldn’t be fighting the leaf peeping mobs on this trail. Sounded like a perfect plan so we opted for that.

It took us a few minutes to find the pullout for the trailhead on the Whiteface Inn property. This trailhead isn’t a heavily advertised parking spot on otherwise private property and the non-descript pullout has room for only a couple of cars. Luckily we were the first to arrive on this morning! The register box a few feet up the trail confirmed we were in the right place so off we went. The grade was pretty easy to start. It follows the Jackrabbit XC ski trail before passing a leanto and then junctioning with the trail up McKenzie. From there things got decidedly steeper and we all fell into our own rhythm – the casual banter on the easier trail now a memory. Fortunately the steep trail had its payoff as we arrived at a good lookout on the first of several sub summits. Fall colours may not be at their peak but they are certainly on their way. For the next little while we strolled from one viewing point to the next across the ridgeline finally reaching the true summit which had a nice opening on each side giving views of Saranac Lake to the west and Lake Placid to the east. Good spot for a lunch break and maybe time to shoot a few pictures. After lunch we headed down the other side in hopes of great view of Whiteface which was just "around the corner" from our lunch spot… but the 4 star Whiteface view never materialized.

Just below the summit of McKenzie we were forced into a decision point. Do we head on to Moose or do we head down to the shores of Lake Placid. There was much debate and in the end we decided to head down making it a lighter hike and leaving more time to grab a bite on the way home. On the descent of the mountain we were using the “Shore Owners Association” trails. Presumably maintained by… you guessed it – the Shore owners. These trails were excellent. Perhaps they get a lot less foot traffic but for the most part they were soft and uneroded and strolled down along a stream to the lake shore. Once we reached the Lake things got a little more complex. The Shore Owners trail seemed to weave in and around the houses on the shore. Somewhere along the line we got off track and stumbled out onto the Shore Owners access road. Lots of "No Trespassing" signs on the entry ways to the individual properties we walked past but the trail we were on is open to the public and I don’t think walking on the road would cause anyone distress (I hope). At any rate we didn’t see anyone along here at all and in fact we didn’t see anyone hiking all day.

Rest stop at Bartlett pond on the descent

Post hike we detoured down to the public access of Lake Placid (looking for a Whiteface view which still didn’t materialize) and then headed off to the Deli in Saranac Lake for a bite of dinner before the drive home. All in all a great hike and my foot performed well. Occasional tweaks to remind me that the tendon is still a little sore but nothing too overwhelming. Now it’s time to plan some more hikes as the fall colours will be well in bloom in the next few weeks. Add to that I’m well behind in preparations for ski season so it’s time to get to work.

Progressing into Fall

2009-09-01T16:36:00.003-04:00

Haven’t made an update in a while as my outdoors activities were somewhat setback in August. Tried writing an update a few times but they all came out pretty negative so I chucked them. In truth, my foot has been progressing nicely and I’m now mostly mobile once again and can comfortably walk on nice flat, even surfaces so staying home from work is out of the question (in truth I only missed a day and a half of work so it wasn’t really a big winner in that regard  ) While I was laid up summer came and went. It was really only 7 days long this year so I didn’t miss much in the big picture. In the last 2 weeks I’ve been able to start riding the bike again which has allowed me to stretch the atrophied muscles. It’s surprising how a couple of weeks of absolutely minimal physical activity have destroyed my riding strength. I’m pedaling complete squares these days but am slowly getting some riding shape back under me. Riding up steep rocky trails is still a little much stress for my foot but I’ve taken to riding the Prescott-Russell rail trail where I’m able to manage riding the steep, arduous hills (1% grade over 5 km) without too much pain.

Riding through the archway...

This past weekend was pretty wet but I went out riding regardless. Managed to dodge some of the bigger storms but still got wet. Smells like fall is just around the corner. Surprising how cool the evenings have gotten in the last week or two and its cut the bug population down to size nicely. Certainly the trees are starting to show some colour (colours other than green). With luck I’ll be able to get back to some hiking soon. Don’t want to miss out on the fall season. Went for a short walk off trail near my house on the weekend but my foot expressed its displeasure with that idea so I guess there is still a little recovery time yet. It’s gone all September on me though and thoughts of the coming ski season are starting to fill my head. Don’t want to jeopardize that by reinjuring the foot and going back to square one. At the same time I’ve got to get the fitness level up… so it’ll have to be on the bike for now.

Civic Long Weekend

2009-08-08T20:07:00.004-04:00

The name certainly doesn’t inspire much but I guess a long weekend is a long weekend. Still, on a foggy morning bike ride I stopped to give it some thought. All the other holiday weekends in the year have something significant attached to them. Victoria day (to the Queen!), Canada Day (to the Realm!) Thanksgiving (to the harvest!) and so on. Even Remembrance day is taking a bigger role in this day and age (as it should)…. But Civic long weekend? Quebecers (perhaps rightly so) thought this was pretty lame and abandoned this long weekend in favour of St. Jean Baptiste day in June. Solid thinking. Surely there is some honorary citizen(living or dead) or patron saint that is currently under appreciated. What about David Thompson who explored and mapped most of North America before they had personal GPS units. Or perhaps an actor like Lorne Greene (in Ottawa we are aware that Shannon Tweed is not up for discussion). Maybe a politician like Sir John A. or a military hero like Billy Bishop or Laura Secord (heroism and choclate... good combination). Maybe Norman Bethune or Tommy Douglas… What about the Group of Seven (might need a whole week off for them)… And maybe that’s the problem right there. Too many good options and not enough resolve to celebrate one and leave the others out. In Ottawa (the nation’s capital) on the “Main street” we have plinths (tall stone platforms) prepared for statues to stand on celebrating great Canadians. Since I was a kid they have remained empty. The bridge has been renovated twice in my life and the plinths refreshed… but no statues have been positioned. Very Canadian I suppose - better not offend anyone by selecting one over the other. I guess Civic long weekend will remain. Perhaps a little unmotivational but a long weekend none the less.

I took the opportunity to visit some friends at their cottage near Maniwaki (where it wasn’t a long weekend). The weather this summer has been pretty bleak with record breaking rains and this weekend was right on course. Moments of sun were spent on (or in) the lake before the next round of rainfall came crashing down. I took a sunny morning to ride another section of the Petit Train du Nord trail near Mont Laurier. It was just a short hop from the cottage so I slipped out early one morning for a nice ride. Saw a lot of people out riding the full trail – utilizing the shuttle to ferry them and their bikes north only to ride back to their car parked in the south, staying at local auberge’s and enjoying the local cuisine along the route. Certainly looks like a pleasant way to spend the weekend.

Returning home to Ottawa my summer took another unexpected turn. On a random stroll through the woods – during a brief sunny period – I stepped on a log. It promptly broke under my foot wrenching it in all directions. The next thing to break was a bone and I was left hobbling out of the forest to seek medical attention. An x-ray the next morning confirmed that I won’t be climbing any high peaks for a little while to come (not that I've logged any this summer :( ). Tried to come up with a more exotic tale to relate on the blog. One that involves heroism of the highest order on my part (and a broken bone for my effort) but couldn’t come up with anything decent. Perhaps the non-descript nature of the injury is fitting of the non-descript long weekend. Certainly I don’t expect anyone will be naming the August long weekend after me.

Searching for Sunny Skies

2009-07-15T11:52:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was shaping up with a good plan. Saturday evening I was scheduled to be at my uncle’s cottage in the eastern townships for his 70th birthday celebration. Saturday morning dawned gray and rainy so I casually watched the Tour de France on TV before heading off to the townships in heavy downpours. Good visit to the country as most of the family had managed to make the trip out and we don’t get many opportunities to get everyone together in the same place. Haven’t been down in a while and was eager to see the new addition to the cottage which turned out beautifully.

I had hoped from there I could jump out on Sunday to do some hiking – maybe in Maine or New Hampshire which are both just a couple of hours drive from the lake. But Sunday dawned gray as well. Instead I relaxed and watched the Tour de France with the family and then had a casual lunch on the deck as the day finally started to brighten. The rain clouds looked to have passed but they were drifting lazily east and it was perhaps too late now to justify a trip east to hike the mountains which I would likely find still under heavy rain clouds. Not to be undone I decided to head just a few minutes south to an old favourite - Jay peak - in Vermont. This is a nice hike to an exposed summit which – while sullied with ski trails and summit tramway stations - provides excellent vistas of the northeast kingdom…. You just gotta keep your back to the manmade structures on the summit to keep the wilderness feel  It has been a few years since I laced up the boots on the Long Trail in Vermont so it was nice to be back on familiar terrain. On the summit I spied Big Jay (a sub summit of Jay peak) nearby and decided to hike over there as well on a much less travelled herd path. Big Jay had suffered a great injustice a couple of years back when two individuals illegally cut thousands of trees to create a backcountry ski chute down the side of the peak. Fortunately the perpetrators were caught and great efforts have been made to repair the damage done and stabilize the slope. From what I saw of it things are looking good and in a few more years there may be no sign at all of the slash down the mountain. My run of weather luck however (with regard to sunny outdoor activities) drew to a close as I summited Big Jay and the rain started to fall. In a moment both summits were encased in clouds and the skies opened up. Made for a pretty soggy descent down the mountain but fortunately I survived and got back to the car and dry clothes in short order.

Monday – a day off for me – was forecast to be more of the same in the Northeast – clouds and threats of rain. I decided to head south through Vermont in hopes of finding some better weather. Camping at an old favourite spot I awoke to sunny skies. I debated a few options for hiking and finally decided on some southern ADK fire tower peaks. When I had packed up on Saturday I had thrown in my New Hampshire maps, the Maine mountain guide and even my Long Trail guide… but I had left my Firetower guide book at home. No matter… with my trusty GPS and some recollection of peak names I was able to navigate myself to the Black Mountain Firetower trailhead where I loaded up and headed up the trail. With all the rain we’ve had it was pretty soggy climbing. Where the trail was flat it was water logged and where it was steep it became a running stream. Forward progress was slow rock hopping most of the way but on top the payoff was worth it with beautiful views of Lake George and the southeastern Adirondacks. The fire tower on the other hand had been cannibalized (Frankensteinized?) into a communication tower with sturdy fencing and a large noisy windmill to generate power – bit of a letdown (but the view made up for it).

Black mountain was a relatively short hike so after a lunch stop and a little more driving chaos sorting my way through Glens Falls I found myself in the parking lot for Hadley mountain. This ended up being a beautiful choice (and the only other southern firetower name I could remember so that was fortuitous). The trail was not overly long but it started steadily uphill from the first step out of the parking lot. Unlike my hike in the morning this trail was pretty dry and had nice long open slabs making climbing easy. Lots of people out today on this trail including many small climbers likely on their first big mountain. Only a few tears echoing through the woods from these young hikers, for the most part everyone I met had a big smile on their face. And why not as the summit opened up to wonderful views of the southern ADK peaks. I was actually able to spot a few peaks I now know which was fun. Strong (cold) winds on the summit made for a short stay but I found the summit steward in the old fire wardens cabin catching up on his reading and we chatted for a bit He’s up till September (with a few days off here and there) as an interpreter for visitors and showed me around his digs. Pretty cozy spot and he proudly told me in the quiet of the evenings he’s getting a lot of reading done. He’d finished his second book in his first two weeks! That might not impress my sister-in-law though who is often finished her second book by lunchtime… Ah well, I can think of a lot of worse summer jobs to have. With a long drive home ahead of me I didn’t spend as long as I would have liked on this beautiful summit. As it turns out I was able to make short work of the descent. Smooth trail – in particular the rock slabs – made for a speedy walk and after a quick change to dry clothes it was off to the Northway and the drive home. Rainy clouds opened up again as I hit Lake Placid so I guess I made the right choice to look for some hikes in the south and avoid the sketchy weather closer to home.

At least the flowers are enjoying the wet summer

Canada Day - long weekend?

2009-07-02T10:59:00.004-04:00

Summer has truly arrived. Almost to the day (June 21st ) things got hot and humid (and a little bit buggy) so it finally feels like summer. In fact, the days are getting shorter now so we are on the downslope. Not quite time to get the skis out and prepped but…. Well maybe even too soon for thoughts of skiing. Yesterday was a day off for Canada Day and with the judicious placement of 1 extra day off work I was able to put together a 5 day weekend – sweet! Sadly the weatherman worked against me with promises of heavy rain most days. That coupled with a concert ticket on Sunday night – mid long weekend – and I decided not to make any trips away but rather stay close to home. Kicked it off with a great show at the Black Sheep with Bryan. From there, in spite of the weathermans dire predictions (“Have Ark ready at hand!”), it didn’t actually rain that much. Oh it was certainly gray and menacingly cloudy at a few points but it only actually opened up a couple of times and even then only for a ½ hour or so. No big lose though as there was a lot to do around town and I got a lot of good riding in.

Tuesday I rode out and around Lac Phillippe on some of the great trails in the northern end of the park. Had my first run in of the season with a bear up there which seems kind of late this year. I've usually crossed paths with a few bears by this point in the season. It was a strange run in too as I usually meet bears as I come roaring downhill and they are suddenly scrambling to avoid me. In this case coming to a bend in the trail I was faced with a short steep climb… and quite a big bear walking at the top of it. My first thought was to pull my camera out of the bag as it would have made a great shot just a 100 meters or so in front of me. Alas, as I pulled my brakes to stop they made a short squeak which alerted her to my presence. A moment later – ursine synapses crackling - she bolted into the woods. I gave her a few seconds to escape deeper into the trees and then stepped on my pedals to continue on my way… only to have her re-cross my path running the other direction – What the?! Okay, I’ll give her a few more seconds to get into the trees on the other side before riding up the short hill. At the top of the hill I could see her deep in the trees and it was then that I heard the skittering of claws as her two cubs dropped out of a nearby tree and scampered after her. Seems in her haste to evade me she had forgotten her cubs… so she came roaring back to collect them. Glad I had given her some space – because after all I have slightly above-average ursine intelligence. Ah well, now that I know this spot – and can bet the family will be back – I may try (at a safe distance) to come back for some photo ops.

I also stopped in on my neighbours at the RCMP stables. They had been putting on their annual sunset ceremony this week as a dress rehearsal for their summer tour. Living so close to the stables I’ve seen the show dozens of times and typically don’t bother but coming home from my ride I spotted the horsemen in the back pasture warming up and decided to head over and check it out. No glorious setting sun at the show tonight but no rain either so the weatherman was wrong again. The show of course never changes but the riders and horses do. I looked for a few of the “old guard” of horses I remember from a few years back in the stable but I couldn’t find any. I guess they’ve moved on to a well earned retirement with green pastures and healthy stud fees.

Wednesday was Canada Day. After helping out with the Canada Day road races in the morning (Run Ottawa's first event under the new structure) I went for another long ride in the park. No bears and no rain either (despite 80% chance of showers) so another good day. Tried a new spot to watch the fireworks in the evening. It was certainly an easy spot to get to - no traffic, easy parking, minimal overall effort. The angle was a little off but there’s always next year to keep looking for the optimum vantage point. Maybe next year the weatherman will have a more encouraging (or at least accurate)forecast.

Another tour along the Petit Train du Nord

2009-06-16T12:57:00.002-04:00

Bit of a mixed bag weatherwise this past weekend. Made for difficult plan making but I chose to do a bit of riding in town and in the park to dodge any serious weather. With Monday off I opted to head north to Mount Laurier, Qc to ride a little bit more of the Petit Train du Nord rail trail. This is a bit of a new area for me so even the drive up was interesting (made doubly interesting thanks to an MTQ detour partway along that went nowhere and apparently served no purpose).

Arriving in Mount Laurier the main street was busy with traffic but I found the “station” and headed out along the trail which was pretty peaceful. Nicely paved it made for smooth riding. Inside of a few minutes the town was behind me and the trail continued into the Laurentide forests passing some big lakes and bogs. The trail itself was originally graded for trains so it’s never steep. In fact climbs are almost imperceptible. I had my GPS on so I could spot that – for roughly the same effort - my speed would drop slightly thus knowing I must be going uphill. Other than that it was pretty smooth sailing. I was surprised how little civilization there was along this part of the trail. For the most part it cuts through the bush from little village to little village. This is quite unlike parts of the trail further south with continuous strings of golf courses and cottage properties. I had also expected the trail to parallel roads but – if they were there- you couldn’t see or hear any traffic at all.

For a Monday the trails had a few other riders/skaters out but all in all pretty light. It was only as I returned to Mount Laurier in the evening that locals appeared for their evenings excercise. Spotted an interesting sign that suggests roller skiing is only allowed (on a trial basis) on a section of trail (24km) from Val Barrette to Lac Saguay and then only between 6 and 10am on weekdays. I guess there must be a lot of traffic on the weekends and they want to minimize the potential injuries that flailing poles might cause. Still if this Monday was any indication the odd person every 20 – 30minutes that I met could be easily passed by a roller skier with no ill effect. Too bad as 100km of paved trail from Mount Laurier to Labelle would make for some nice roller skiing.

Stopped for a coke at a trail side depaneur in Val Barrette before the last ride home. The extra sugar was welcome as I approached Mount Laurier. I could see approaching thunder heads but a last hard push got me to the car and safely packed up before the rain started to fall. Grey clouds had seemed to be everywhere all day threatening rain but I managed to dodge them all(or perhaps the trail I was on managed to dodge them…). A nice day out for sure.

Central ADK Firetower weekend

2009-06-01T21:11:00.003-04:00

After last weekend’s chaos of showing 37,000 of my closest friends around town I decided that this weekend I would spend some slightly more quiet time in the woods. I did get a few requests for photos of Race Weekend events but alas, while I do carry my camera in the truck, I rarely have time or even think to pull it out and actually take any pictures – too many other things on my plate. That said there are some really nice pictures from Race Weekend here and here and here.

While this past weekend was not slated to be the best weather wise I still loaded up the car and headed south on Saturday morning. I think in the end I cashed in a lot of karmic chips as I scored some pretty great weather for hiking. As I pulled out of Ottawa it was raining but the clouds started to part as I hit Tupper Lake. I was headed a little further south this weekend with hopes to climb a few firetower peaks. With that in mind I headed towards Indian Lake and then over to the Cedar River dam to hike up Wakely Mountain. Wakely has been one of the firetowers I’ve wanted to hike to for a while. It’s remote location and commanding view of the “little great range” were attractive but it is also the highest firetower remaining in New York which sounded cool. The hike itself was a good one. First a 1 ½ miles through relatively level hardwood forests and then another mile or so straight up the peak. Clearly this trail was cut before anyone thought of switchbacks as the trail climbed right up the fall line with little or no respite from the steep climb. Getting to the summit I was greeted with the 70 foot tower – the only one I’ve come across with guy wires to provide additional stability. Once I climbed it I realized they were certainly needed on this day as a heavy wind was blowing. In the cab of the tower I discovered it rocking and swaying back and forth – very much “Mister Fire Wardens wild ride”. The views were stunning with light clouds floating by so – while my stomach stayed with me - I grabbed some photos of Snowy and the other mountains to the east. Bit of a newbie down in this part of the park so I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking at … but it all looked nice. Back on the ground I checkout out the firewardens cabin(creepy) before heading back down. Bugs were mostly a non-issue as the strong breeze kept them at bay.

From there I decided to check in to Lake Durant to set up a base camp. At this point I discovered I was out of cash so I drove (quite a distance) to Old Forge for the nearest ATM and then – as luck would have it – I was near Rondaxe peak for another firetower hike. This was a much shorter hike of only a mile and very limited elevation gain. Getting there around 6 in the evening I discovered a dozen cars in the lot and many hikers met me coming down the trail…. But I ended up on the summit by myself. I guess the hiking community all had dinner engagements to get to. Took my time and enjoyed the summit before heading back down as the sun started to dip. Back at camp I made dinner and got a fire going. Been a while since I sat in front of the campfire and it was a very peaceful way to spend the evening. It was quite cold however with a temperature of +2C as I went to bed. The cooler weather was doubly appreciated though as it meant the bugs were non-exsistant (frozen in their homes?) and it certainly meant for a great nights sleep tucked in my tent.

Around 5 am I was awoken by rain on the tent… okay, no early hike. When I did get up the rain had mostly stopped but nearby Blue mountain was encased in low cloud. The weather lady on NPR kept assuring me that more clouds and heavy storms were coming so I decided to skip climbing Blue in the morning and instead headed north to Long Lake. Once there I found Owl’s Head summit free of clouds so I pulled into the trail head, loaded up the pack and headed into the woods. Again this hike started out quite peacefully with a mostly flat woodland trail before making a right angle turn straight up the fall line. What’s with these fire rangers anyway? When I reached the summit I was quite stunned to find brilliant blue skies. To the east the morning clouds were headed out to sea and there was nothing but blue skies to the west. Blue mountain was completely clear. Drat(quietly cursed the NPR weather lady )!! Enjoyed the summit – again strong winds were blowing but the Owl’s head tower is considerably shorter than Wakely so no swaying in the breeze. After enjoying the summit for an hour I headed back down to the car, got cleaned up and drove in to Long Lake to grab a bite to eat. To my surprise, as came out of the shop with a sandwich in my hand, I could see dark clouds cresting Owl’s Head summit. Where had they come from? Sure enough, not 5 minutes after driving out of town the rains started to sheet down(quietly recanted my curses of the NPR weatherlady). When I drove through Tupper Lake the whitecaps were huge and the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. As I passed through Tupper Lake the rain turned to snow! It didn’t stay on the ground though so I was wise not to pack my skis. I guess that’s the closest I’ll get to snow in June (missed it by a day) which I’m told happens all the time. All in all a great weekend of hiking and I managed to luck out with beautiful weather while I was hiking and crappy weather while I was in the car. Somehow I know I’m gonna pay for that down the road…

2009-05-20T13:42:00.002-04:00

Monday’s weather was looking good. Clear skies and cool but warming temperatures. In fact the overnight low in Lake Placid was supposed to be -4C so Mike and I figured that would do a number on the blackflies… perfect! Plenty of sunshine as we drove down from Ottawa but the high peaks were still overcast. No worries as we were sure the clouds would blow through as we climbed giving us warm sunny skies when we reached the summit. Decided to do a shorter hike as one more tune up for the full on big peak hiking season and Mike had one on his list… but damned if I can remember the name. Sadly it appears on my map right on the fold so the name is a bit obscured… can’t quite recall what the trail head sign said… ah well.

For the most part the climbing was good. Nice soft trail. There was a beautiful waterfall just off the trail as we got up higher. Bit of a narrow gully to scramble in to the falls made worse by spring times higher than normal water level but it was well worth it. Equally big scramble out of the gully but soon enough we were on our way again on the main trail. The trail had many switchbacks making the ascent more gentle than the terrain implied. Also made it tricky to spot all the twists and turns as clearly many folks missed the back and forth turns making little extensions of the trail at each bend before retracing their steps to the trail proper.

The climbing never really got terribly steep as we went along. Just prior to the summit the mountain tried to impress us with some rocky rooty trail but it was over before it got too tough so all in all a pretty easy hike. Tremendous view as we came out on the open ridge. High peaks galore spread out before us and all were resplendent in their spring time shades of green. No sun though as the clouds remained locked over the high peaks. Not much wind either so while hardly warm it wasn’t too cold to sit and enjoy the view. We found a spot on the rocks to have a bite to eat while sharing the summit with a couple of ladies from Quebec (not a holiday in Quebec was it?). Apart from them we didn’t really see anyone else all day – work day for the Americans I suppose. I’m sure they’ll all be out next Monday.

After lunch and plenty of photos we headed down again, pretty smooth sailing as the trail was smooth and soft. Back to the car in plenty of time to make the drive home and watch Sid take down the Canes. Wish I could remember the peak name as I would definitely hike it again – pound for pound it’s probably one of the better hikes I’ve done in the high peaks. Oh and on the drive home we got brilliant blue skies as we drove into Saranac Lake. Just where we'd left the blue skies when we drove down in the morning, sigh...

2009-05-19T11:51:00.002-04:00

Sun setting on Meech lake
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Pretty weak long weekend considering it is proclaimed the unofficial start to summer. Saturday it rained most of the day - sometimes a bunch. I still managed to go for a (wet) ride in the park as the mountainbike trails officially opened on Friday. This after a month to let the snows melt and the tracks dry out a little. On the plus side, the showers kept the ever increasing population of blackflies at bay. I hadn't been up to the park since Easter weekend so it was nice to get back in the local woods for a - somewhat soggy - ride. In the evening I had hopped to find some fireworks to photograph but was clearly unprepared, looking in the wrong spots and found nothing more than a few neighbourhood local roman candle fests. Some hope (weatherwise) did appear at the end of the day as the clouds started to push out but Saturday night was pretty frosty with the mercury dipping below zero. Another ride on Sunday felt more like November but so it goes. Lots of people taking in the sunny weather to get in a hike or a ride in the park.

Mike and I had debated heading down to the Adirondacks on Monday to get in another early season hike. With cold overnight temperatures forecast this bode well for killing off the black flies and providing cool weather to climb in. Things were finally looking up...