New Years in Ottawa

Bridge "waterfall"
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Took in the New Years' Eve fireworks show tonight. There was an early show - (1857 hours) to celebrate Ottawa's selection as the capital. It was a decent show with all the explosions, cascades, precussion shots etc. that one hopes for in a fireworks display. I may run back for the midnight show... Just a quick post to wish all a Happy New Year.

Christmas ski

Kennedy Road
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I got an excellent ski in on Christmas morning. I went up to the Wakefield trailhead and looped around in the northern part of the park. The NCC has reopened the Kennedy road to skiers after closing it for snowmobiles for the last few years so I went to reacquaint myself with this trail. I looped around to the Lac Phillipe gate and then toured out to Taylor Lake and finally up to Herridge/Healey lodges before heading back to the car. Everything was freshly groomed so conditions were really good. In fact I perhaps lucked out a little bit as - once I got to Herridge lodge - the rest of Pine road connecting the southern part of the park had not been groomed as yet. I guess the Wakefield crews turned around there and went home at that point. There was one open "water hazard" right near the parking lot where the past weekends rain had ponded and not frozen over but it was easily avoided. For the most part I had the trails to myself seeing only 5 or 6 people all day. There were other cars in the lots tho’ and the lodges were pretty busy with skiers having a Christmas brunch. All in all a great ski out - and the sun shone the whole time I was out with clouds rolling in only as I got back to the car.

Almost Christmas

Christmas lights
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Been skiing a lot over the last week since the big storm. The conditions and tracks have been really good but for the most part the days have been dull grey and not particularly conducive(inspiring?) to picture taking. Sunday we got a lot of rain (a whole lot) so I stayed home. It looked a little too perfect for getting hypothermia with cold rain falling. In the evening we got a flash freeze so I ventured out in the afternoon today to see what the trails would be like. The sun was even out this morning but by the time I got out to the trails it had clouded over and started to snow again. The trails weren’t in bad shape (after the rain and freeze) but were nothing spectacular. I chose to skate as I expected the tracks to be hard and icy – and they were. The old grooming contractor often worked magic in prepping the trails after challenging weather to turn them into extraordinary tracks… the new contractor…ummm, not so much… but it was okay and they've improved a lot lately so I'm not complaining. I’m hopeful that tomorrow I’ll be able to get a good Christmas ski in the morning. With luck I can get up there before the crowds arrive with their new skis, new mitts, new toques etc. (not that I’m averse to new gear… hoping for a little of that myself) At any rate tomorrow should be good - the sun is even reported to make a brief appearance. Haven’t seen the sun in a while so it will be good to be confirm that it actually still exists.

When two weather systems fight...

stormy
Originally uploaded by kenmores

We got a little more snow on Sunday… then we got a little more, followed by some snowfall and then a bit of snow. Close to 40cm fell in all and it made for some challenging driving. Actually I drove up to the Park on Sunday morning and it wasn’t too bad at that time but coming home after my ski was a challenge. The storm really started to dump snow while I was out and the plows couldn’t keep up. In several places I faced white out conditions but luckily there wasn’t much traffic on the roads. I skied fpor a couple of hours in the storm making a loop in the lower half of the park. NO I wasn’t the only one out there. I actually met lots of people on the trail. If I could see under their masks, scarves and/or balaclavas I’m sure they were smiling also. It’s shaping up to be a great ski winter. I also met the grooming vehicle. This is the second time I’ve met them in the middle of the snowstorm. Seems strange to me that they wouldn’t wait (and save gas) until the storm stopped dumping snow before heading out to work the trails…. but I suppose they’re the experts (?).

The temperature was pretty cold (-13C and windy) but I stuck to the trees for the most part so it wasn’t too bad. These temperature changes are really putting a stress on my old waxing iron. I use a “Singer – no steam” iron to work my skis. It’s an old family iron that I “borrowed” many years ago. Yes I have been forced to apologise (many times) for what happened to Dad’s shirts after I borrowed it but I didn’t think wax would STAY on the iron…. And besides shiny (waxy?) shirts were briefly in style in the 90’s so maybe I did him a favour. At any rate the old iron is starting to show its age. Time to get a professional grade iron for the wax room.

A Friday ski

Making our way along
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I took Friday off and went for a ski with Mike and Bryan. It being Bryans birthday, his Dad came to town and joined us for the trip. We skied up to the Lusk Lake cabin, had a good birthday lunch and then headed around Taylor Lake. It made for a good ski and the conditions were really good with a few inches of fresh powder down on a solid base. This made for a good chance to spot (and guess at) lots of animal tracks in the fresh snow.

It was an interesting day weather wise. Cold then warm then cold again, calm then windy, light snow then blizzardy then clear... we pretty much had a bit of everything. Never was the weather a real issue though and a good time was had by all.

There probably wasn't enough fresh snow to justify new grooming but it was interesting to see that the snowshoe trail had been freshly rolled while the ski trail was untouched. There were a few other strange grooming "issues" that I spotted under the fresh snow but I am firm in my resolve. Just like Bart Simpson at Camp Krusty - "Krusty will be here!!" - I'm convinced the issues will be corrected. One lady we met was clearly not of the same mindset (and not too timid to voice her opinion to complete strangers) - each to their own. In the meantime I'm really happy to be skiing on December 14th - good grooming or otherwise. Besides a quick pitstop for a poutine on the way home improves anyone's mood.

What a difference a day makes

freighter
Originally uploaded by kenmores

A good nights rest and lots of carbs and I was able to erase Saturdays miserable effort off the books. The skiing went from "wondering if it would ever end" (Sat.) to "wishing it would never end" (Sun.). The temperature had dropped overnight and the clouds rolled over so it wasn't as nice a day but I felt 100% better. Again there were lots of people on the trails today.

I skied up Fortune and out Burma before turning out towards the firetower. Finally I turned back and did an extra loop through the Fortune valley. The tracks everywhere were in great shape. This is probably the earliest I've skied on Burma... ever. Its often late into January before we get enough snowcover to ski it. There were a few thin spots here and there that the grooming machines likely churned up but nothing that couldn't easily be avoided. Ridge was nicely set and they've even taken a stab at rolling some of the black trails so things are looking up. Hopefully I can avoid the mistakes of Saturday (if I can figure out what they were) and keep rolling through the winter.

One of those days...

Wattsford Lookout
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I went out and did a long ski today. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the skis were fast, the snow was good.... and I felt like I was made of lead. None of my muscles showed the slightest interest in forward motion from the moment I clipped into my skis. No amount of coaxing could get them into action. I tried to do a bit of a warm up to see if I'd loosen up and feel better - no dice. In fact, by the time I realized it wasn't going to go well I was commited to a long loop. Shorter(almost) to go forward then back. So the slog was on. One of those days I suppose.

It was a truly beautiful day (this didn't cheer me up ;-) and there were lots of people out and about enjoying the fresh snow. The tracks were reasonably groomed with just a little fresh snow from last night on top of the groomed track. Speaking of(the track), I'm hearing grumblings from various sources that the new contractor isn't providing good grooming - either in a timely fashion or in terms of quality. I think folks were a little spoiled with the past years superlative grooming by Lafleur. I agree that things have been a little "off" but remain confident that the new contractor will pull things together. They got a lot of snow much earlier than expected and I'm sure they are working out some of the bugs in the system. I give them a solid "B" for the work they've done so far. Room to improve - which can also be said for my ski today. I'm sure a big bowl of pasta and a good nights rest will improve things on the trails tomorrow.

Snow Day

Feeder
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I can't remember such a big storm... and it coincided with my day off so I took full advantage. Around 40cm will have fallen over the last 24 hours. It was surprisingly cold for a snowstorm as well but this would not deter me. Took some wider skis up to the park and explored a variety of trails. Some had been rolled, some had been groomed and some hadn't seen action since last spring. I could hear the grooming tractors through the woods working the fresh snow but it must have been a frustrating job for them. At one point I skied on a beautifully groomed section of Parkway which was rapidly filling with snow - so I guess I got first - and only - tracks through there. In fact - while I did see a fair number of tracks in the fresh snow at various points in the day - I only saw 1 other actual skier. The parking lots were also pretty empty so I guess people were hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass before heading up to ski.... their loss.

Stopped into Keogan shelter for a little bit. Got a fire going and watched the birds at the feeder. It was pretty savage at the feeder as hordes of birds were scrambling for the last seeds as the snowstorm raged. Someone should put up a sign to let them know the feeder will be refilled so they don't have to get so aggressive as the seed supply drops. I suppose - with all the different kinds of birds (and squirrels) -it would be tough to pick the appropriate language to use on the sign to convey the message.

Renaud shelter

Renaud shelter
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I went skiing up at Lac Phillippe on Saturday. It was pretty cool (-15C). Worse when you got your nose into the wind but for the most part quite enjoyable. Much to my surprise there weren't too many others out and about - maybe 6 cars in the parking lot. I suppose all the early season skiers head to the more southern parking lots closer to the city. I stuck to the groomed trails which was pretty much the campground roads. Mostly good coverage although It was a little thin in a few spots but I still managed to get ~20k in. Also stopped in to the Renaud shelter at one point. The sight of smoke coming from the chimney is always welcome on a frosty day... too tempting to ski past.

I did run across two guys who were walking in to winter camp. They appeared to have enough gear to hunker down for the rest of the winter in the snow and were struggling to get their heavy sleds up the hills. As I doubled back past the campsite later I could hear their happy voices through the trees so I assume they made it in without incident.

Sunday I skied closer to town - and found more skiers out and about. Still great conditions but it was a bit of a gray day and still quite cold. Lots of snow predicted for tonight so tomorrow could be a big powder day.....

New season(almost), new skis, new snow

fresh powder
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

All seems to be right with the world right now. The threats of warmer weather and rain to wash away the snow have for the most part not come to pass. In fact a lot of the forecasted rain has turned into snow. Today it rained for a little bit at lunch time but by the time I headed up to the hills there was a nice soft dry layer of powder snow on the ground..... who woulda guessed?!

I've been skiing as much as I can over the last week. Last night I took the new pair of skis out for a test run along with the camera. They worked pretty well in spite (or perhaps because?) of the fresh snow. I'll have to try them in a few other conditions to see where they shine the best but for the most part I'm happy with the purchase right out of the box. December starts tomorrow.... its shaping up to be a great ski year.

The season begins

Local park residents
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

To be honest I kinda expected to have bragging rights over having "already skied" after last weekends ski trip to Placid for a little while longer. It was not to be (and I'm not too disappointed about it). Wednesday a good old-fashioned snowstorm dropped 8 to 10 inches of snow over the park. We haven't had too many of these kind of storms over the last few years. It was nice to see. Add to that the new grooming contractor was right on the ball and had the parkways in good shape by Friday (probably would have been sooner but it kept snowing on them).

The Parkways are now in pretty good shape for both classic and skating. Good coverage with only a few thin spots in the classic tracks. I'm cautiously optimistic that the snow will last, but there are a few warm, rainy days in the short term forecast. It wouldn't take much to wash things back to an unskiable surface but with luck things will hang on.... more snow coming the following week to help build the base.

I've been out skiing every day with nice easy outings. Trying to get the form back and gently work some of the muscle groups that haven't seen any serious action since last April. There's usually only a couple of small control group muscles that go into conniptions after the first few skis.... they should be fine in a few days. The endurance feels good after a summer of climbing peaks. Certainly after last weeks climb of the Whitface toll road I will never complain about the length of Black Lake hill again. Unfortunately my left ankle is feeling a little stiff and sore when I classic ski. I think this is a remnant of this summers sprain. With luck I'll work it back soon enough.

The two girls pictured were out on the trails to greet me today. They seemed to like the compacted snow of the parkways and were a little unwilling to bolt into the deeper snow of the woods. They sized me up carefully to assess the threat. Apparently I passed muster as a non-threat and they went back to snacking on the nearby bushes.

Saying goodbye for this year

Saying goodbye for this year
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

On Sunday I met up with Bryan and Mike for a hike up the Eardley escarpment. It was a nice chance to go for a local hike after Saturdays epic ski/hiking day. Still no snow in Ottawa but we had a gorgeous sunny day (-5C in the am warming up to 2 or 3C) so it was nice to get out. We went up the "Yellow Box" trail and had the backcountry trails to ourselves. The sun never really gets very high at this time of year so it makes for somewhat surreal lighting conditions - rich blue sky and no hint of haze! This makes a great opportunity to get a few nice photos.

We explored along the ridgeline for a bit. There was a little ice on the trails but never too bad that you couldn’t step around it. Managed to find a few choice lookouts to grab a seat and have a bite of lunch and perhaps an ale while soaking in the view. Soon enough it was time to head down – lest the sun actually set on us. On the way home the guys introduced me to “Le Stop” where we indulged in a poutine to celebrate the end of the hiking season. Snow has fallen in Ottawa as I write this so I’m just wrapping this up before I head off to ski! Cheers to another hiking season… but bring on the snow!

A last hike for the season

Looking up from the observers cabin
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After I finished skiing at Whiteface on Saturday morning I had a quick bite of lunch in the village of Wilmington down below. I still had half a day and didn’t want to drive home right away. I thought maybe it would be best not to overdo the skiing by going back up Whiteface – even though the cloud cover had now lifted. Instead I headed to nearby Poke-o-Moonshine peak for a climb to visit another firetower. This peak is considerably lower than Whiteface and somewhat in its shadow (weather-wise) so there was only a small amount of snow on the trail – back to fall after a short ½ hour drive!

The climb is pretty steep (1200ft in a mile) though so it was a good afternoon workout. Care had to be taken in a few spots as the rocks were somewhat icy but for the most part the climb was straightforward. The tower sits on a mostly bald summit with a particularly nice view east to the Green mountains of Vermont. They were looking decidedly white as well so I guess high elevation peaks throughout the northeast got brushed by the same storm. After some time spent soaking in the views I started to make my way back down to the car. It’s getting dark really early these days.

This will probably be my last climbing of the season. It’s been a good year despite the sprained ankle and the broken fingers. I climbed 16 4000fters and 9 “firetower peaks”. That number would surely have been higher if I hadn’t been forced to take a 6 week “break” in the middle of the summer. I didn’t camp enough and I got perhaps a little too focused on the Adirondacks this year. These are items I can work on next year. Making the longer drive to Maine and New Hampshire will force me to camp a bit more so I’ll probably fix those up with one adjustment to my itinerary. Not that I won’t still come back to the Daks… but rather expand the range again to cover more ground. With luck Ottawa will start to get some snow this week and the ski season at home can begin in earnest. Time to get all my skis out and strip off the storage wax and get them ready to roll.

Skiing to the sky

Climbing to the sky
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

It usually happens this time of year. The snow falls… somewhere else. I end up reading about people traveling to snowy destinations to get in some early skiing while I’m at home roller skiing or riding in the cold, dark woods... but no snow. This year was looking to be much the same until, as I sat looking out the window on Friday afternoon, several flakes of snow drifted by. That was it. Only ten flakes of snow fell in the capital but it was enough to motivate me that I wasn’t going riding this weekend. No roller skiing for me - time to strap on the boards!

Loaded up the car and drove to Lake Placid, which was enjoying it’s first dump of snow of the season. Word had it the Whiteface toll road was in good shape so I grabbed a few pairs of skis, two pairs of boots and several sets of poles so I’d be ready for any kind of conditions I’d meet. A lengthy discussion with the border guard (I am going skiing, yes there really is snow down there, No, I’m not part of an illicit ring of used ski importers) and I was off. Things started to look up. Traces of snow grew to inches of snow and then poorly plowed roads told me I was getting closer. Whiteface was completely enshrouded in clouds (more snow falling!) so it was hard to see what I would be in for but there was at least 6 inches of snow in the woods along the road so I was pretty excited.

At the closed toll road gate I found lots of snow and 8 cars parked along the road. I leapt out checked out the conditions, grabbed some skis and a pack of gear and started to charge up the mountain. For those of you familiar with the Whiteface toll road you won’t be surprised to hear that I stopped “charging” up the mountain about 200 meters along. This road goes up…. up, up, up. Once its done going up, it goes up some more. This is followed by a little more up before it gets down to some serious climbing. It's about 5 ½ miles long and climbs more than 2000 ft. There are no flats to recover anywhere. This can probably not be described as cross country skiing but more aptly "uphill skiing"….. but the operative word here is skiing - fantastic!!

That said I settled into a rhythm and started to enjoy the climb. The snow got deeper and deeper as I got higher – probably 2 foot deep near the top. Fortunately there were a few people ahead of me so a track had been well broken in. I skied steadily up to the final two long switchbacks where things turned decidedly more arctic. Here the tree cover is pretty minimal and it was blowing a gale so the –5C air temperature dropped to a pretty nasty windchill (-20's maybe?). Worse the snow was either drifted into soft cruddy drifts or scrapped right off the pavement entirely. I skied up through the switchback and on to the next - the “Wilmington” turn (the last turn before the top) - and decided to stop there. The road through the curve was bare pavement and the last 5–600 meters to the summit house was dead into a headwind so I opted to turn back here rather than turn into a popsicle on my first outing of the season. Views were limited but starting to open up. I grabbed a few shots and stopped to take a few more on the descent.

The ride down was a lot of fun. Not super fast but jumping into the “skied in” track allowed you to pick up some speed before leaping into the soft powder to crank some turns. Don’t think I’ve covered 5 miles so fast in my life. As I descended I came across more and more people… and a lot of dogs (with their people) out enjoying the snow. All the dogs were sporting very seasonally appropriate flash orange vests – clearly all the rage for the K9 set during the month of November. Back at the car I counted some 40 cars lining the roads… and lots of smiling faces on the skiers (mine was one of them) and I believe what appeared to be smiling dogs as well. First tracks of the season and well worth the trip. Back to roller skiing in Ottawa…. for now.

A weekend of highs and lows

Approach to St. Regis firetower
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

The weekend started and ended well... but somewhere in the middle things got off the rails. Saturday morning was the "Cookie Run" - a 5/10k race that I've helped out with for a few years now. It supports the Girl Guides (hence the name) so there are usually lots of cookies for sale. Always a fun morning, the day was perfect - sunny and cool. We got a good crowd out and I even managed to get back to the start/finish area in time to buy a few boxes of cookies.

Shortly after this - once all the happy runners had headed home - I had the task of putting some of the gear back in the storage garage and somewhere in my haste I managed to jam my fingers in the rapidly closing garage door. The rest of my Saturday went poof in a blinding bit of pain. An afternoon at the hospital, two broken fingers and the rest of the day watching TV with my hand elevated left me deciding to downgrade my Sunday plans. I had hoped to do a "High Peaks" hike but felt now that it would be unwise to head into the deep wilderness with 1 1/2 operating hands so I picked a slightly easier goal - St. Regis mountain. I can hear you saying why hike at all.... but I spent most of Saturday sitting around so I wasn't gonna waste a perfectly beautiful Sunday as well! Plus there's an extra hour in the day (daylight savings time) so that had to be put to good use!!

St. Regis is a short drive into the Adirondacks and Sunday was a beautiful fall day - temps in the +8C range and mostly sunny. The hike itself is pretty straightforward - a couple of gentle miles to warm up on and then a short steep climb up to the summit. The firetower is in pretty rough shape but you don't even need it as the views from the summit are pretty much uninterrupted. Spent a half hour basking in the views before making the short trek down. All in all a good Sunday after all so at least the weekend ended on a high note.

Now to see how the injured hand will affect my rollerskiing....

Fall?

The top of Penguin
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Tried to get a few last rides in this past weekend with the nice fall weather surely drawing to a close. It was pretty spectacular over the weekend - sunny and in the 20's C on Sunday and Monday. Even Saturday with spotty rainshowers was pretty nice (since it was so warm). I rode in the Park on Saturday and it was pretty quiet, likely due to the overcaast weather keeping the crowds home. My guess is that was not the case on Sunday. The leaves have really hung on for a long time this year and the forest is a sea of orange and rusts.... really beautiful.

Sunday was the "Jim Howe" cross country running race. I've helped put this event on for a number of years and Sunday was about the nicest weather we've ever had. Most years this race signals the end of fall and snow starts to fall in short order. As it turned out it felt more like an August weekend than late October (but the orange leaves were a dead giveaway). As I type this cold rain is falling and that should start to strip away the remaining leaves and get things looking a little more like November is around the corner. Snow soon?

In the Lyon's den

Lyon Mountain firetower
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

I've been battling a cold for the last week - trying to prevent it from getting its hooks in me. As a result not much action over the long weekend but I finally felt I had kicked the cold to the curb so Saturday I decided to try a hike. The weather forecast looked bleak with a front rolling through by lunchtime but I decided to take a chance. I headed down to Lyon Mountain in the northeast corner of the Adirondacks in hopes I could be up and down this peak before the rains started and then maybe I could try another trail later in the day depending on what the weather decided to do.

The weather has certainly changed since the hike over Giant and Rocky Peak ten days ago. When I parked the car it was 3C but at least the sun was out. That said I could see the cold front roaring in behind my car on the drive down... it was going to be a close one. Lyon mountain is almost a 4000fter so the trail up was a stiff climb. It clearly got colder as I got higher up and as I approached the summit there was considerable ice on the trees. Breaking out on the summit I could see the front over my head. The tower was covered in ice but I clambered up and got some great shots of the high peaks and Vermont to the east. With the cold wind blowing and the clouds slowly dropping in on me I didn't spend long before heading down. As I drove off to grab some lunch the rain started to pound down and the mountains disappeared in the clouds.

After lunch I drove over to a lower peak (Cathedral Rocks) and went for a walk in the rain. As luck would have it I had my umbrella in the truck so I took it with me. The wind was howling but the umbrella did nicely keep my head dry. From the summit of the second peak I had no view...but it was still a nice afternoon walk in the woods. All in all - in spite of the rain - it was a good day for a hike but winter is clearly finally approaching.

Burning Colours in the High Peaks
Thursday I took off from work for a hike in the Adirondacks. Mike and I have been tossing around a plan to do a traverse of one form or another for a couple of years now. The plan was to take 2 cars down and park one at one end of a trail and then drive around to another trailhead and spend the day hiking across the mountains to the first car. There are plenty of good options to do this in the Daks and we’d played around with a few ideas…. But with just two of us as avid hikers it seemed a shame to drive two cars all the way down to Lake Placid. That meant recruiting volunteers to join us on this trek. Things finally came together this week. Initially we had a plan for 5 of us to do it but in the end only three could make it. Bryan joined us after hearing the many tales of high peak climbing. We decided on a traverse of Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge - ~ 12 miles and 4000 vertical ft.

I drove down alone and parked my truck at a trailhead on the east end of the ridge and the guys met me shortly after 9 to head back to the west trailhead. A few minutes “booting up” and we were off. It was a beautiful day – much more summer like then we expected (probably 25C, hazy and very few clouds). The heat made for slower progress than we anticipated and the steep climb up Giant was serious work but we made it up by noontime.

We had chosen a weekday as we suspected it would be quiet – especially during leaf peeping season - but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Seems this particular Thursday was the Lake Placid high schools “hiking day”. The whole school gets packed into buses and shipped off in groups of 10 with a teacher or parent to climb different trails in the high peaks (why didn’t they have hiking day when I was in school?). We ran into 3 groups in all and 2 of them collided on the summit of Giant at the same time as we did for lunch…. Made for a noisy place. I certainly applaud the school for “hiking day” but perhaps they should give some better instructions to the “guardians”. I had to “rescue” one group whose teacher was lost (on a single trail mind you)… she kept showing me the wrong side of the map and asking where her group was? She might as well have had a map of Spain for all the good it was doing her. In the end she was looking for the top of the mountain and the trail only went up one way so it was actually an easy “save” to point her in the right direction.

Another group we met later in the day spent some time on the summit of Rocky Peak looking closely at the rock formations. They were to study rocks later in the term and their teacher suggested they collect a type of rock to take back with them.... most of the kids whispered that they would prefer to collect a rock in the parking lot at school. Shorter haul distance I suppose.

After we had a quick lunch on Giant we headed off to Rocky Peak Ridge and the long traverse down to my car. It soon became clear we’d underestimated the time to cover the distance and had to opt for short breaks along the ridgeline if we were to get out of the woods before nightfall. I don’t think any of us felt shortchanged though as the ridges open views were stunning so you could enjoy the scenery and still keep walking. This – like the Jay range - was another spectacular ridge walk and, with the fall colours in full bloom, there was lots to see. Little by little we descended the ridge over little sub-summits along the way until finally we dropped back into the forest and made the last walk out to the truck just as the last rays of light were fading from the sky…. Perfect timing. From there we headed to the Pub for a beer and a bite of dinner. In the end it was a longer day than we planned – and I hope we didn’t “scare” Bryan from ever coming to climb the Daks again - but it was a great hike. We’ll have to try some other traverses in the future.
Giant of the Valley 35 of 46

Rocky Peak Ridge 36 of 46

..................

But that’s not the end of the story….. When you park your car in a lot and head into the woods for the day (anywhere) there is always a little niggling fear in your head that someone will break in to the car or vandalize it while your off soaking up the views. Its only happened to me a couple of times in the many years I’ve been playing in the woods but it hangs in my mind every time I lock up the car and walk into the woods. When we returned to my car after a long day on the trail we found the parking lot covered in water. It had not rained (not even any clouds) all day. We were perplexed…. And then Mike – upon arriving home – spotted an item in an internet hiking forum about a guy whose day went terribly wrong. Seems his car “self ignited” (electrical fire?) when he parked it in the lot. The owner happened to return to his car 10 minutes after he left for his hike. He discovered he’s forgotten something but returned to find his car engulfed in flames(note Kenmores truck in the background). Enter the volunteer fire department to the rescue that luckily was able to arrive to put out the flames before the tinder dry forest erupted into a conflagration(it hasn’t rained much all year and the forests are dry). My truck – escaped unscathed. Don’t tell me the good karma I’ve logged over the summer helping hikers in the woods didn’t pay back for me today. I can’t imagine what we would have done if we stumbled out of the woods at last light to find my car in embers and a State Trooper looking to collect some information from me for the “report”. I can’t imagine… but I probably will try for a while.

The car (smoldering hunk of metal?) had been hauled away by the time we came out of the woods. I'm still debating if my truck had a more exciting day than I did...

Hiking ADK Firetowers

On Sunday, after Saturdays heavy trail mileage, I was up for something a little more sedate. I opted to go visit a few of the firetowers in the high peaks. I really enjoyed visiting Hurricane earlier in the summer and there are 22 other firetowers currently standing in the Adirondacks. Most of them are an easier walk when compared to clambering up a 4000-foot peak. Easier yes but by no means easy – they don’t put firetowers in the valleys so there is still some elevation to climb. That said the length of trail is typically much shorter for most of the peaks with firetowers and I chose some with a mile or two of trail so I could take stock after each short hike, assess how I felt and adjust my plans accordingly. In the end I visited Goodnow Mountain in the morning and then grabbed some lunch. In the afternoon I went to Mounts Arab and Azure firetowers and enjoyed all three – each in a unique mountainous setting. I also got to experience some of the backroads of the park and … ummm, get a little lost (and then found). Lots of other people had the same idea (to climb a firetower peak), as it was a perfect fall Sunday. Lots of families out on the trail enjoying the weather and the summits were busy spots.

Azure Mountain Firetower's shadow

We only have one firetower at home in the Gatineaus... and I seem to visit it regularly. I like the idea of firetowers in general. Having “Ranger Gord” sit in a little summit post all summer staring over the vast ocean of trees keeping them safe from harm seems an interesting approach. Of course today forest fires are monitored by satellite so the towers have long been abandoned (first replaced by plane surveys). In some cases the towers fell into decay but local community groups are conserving a number of them for their historical merit. There are also legal battles being fought to save a few of the towers, as these manmade structures don’t conform to the wilderness ethic of the Parks “forever wild” policies. Seems a shame to tear down a part of the past whose original purpose was to preserve and protect the park. From the size of the crowds I met on Sunday I would guess there are lots of others that support that idea as well. Certainly makes for a nice destination to take the family for a Sunday hike. ... and the view on a fall day - stunning!!

Visiting (the) Santa(s) in September

Headed down to the Adirondacks for the weekend. Saturdays hike was to the Santanoni range. This is one of the hikes I have been dreading since I started going to the Daks to climb. It’s a long (long) hike over rough terrain. Things started badly as – on the drive down Friday evening – I found all the grocery stores closed so I had to load up on food supplies from a gas station minimart for my Saturday lunch - slim pickins...

Started just after 6am and headed up a short stretch of gravel road to the main trail. Soon I was off the trail and onto a herdpath for Santanoni. It was steep going and the weather was looking grim as the sun came up – heavy overcast clouds with a ceiling of ~ 4000ft. When I finally got up on to the ridgeline (at ~ 4500ft) I found the far (west) side of the ridge clear! Maybe things were looking up!! Tagged the summit and then waited in hopes that the neighbouring peaks to the east would poke out through the cloud cover but it wasn’t to be.

Headed off for Couchsachraga, which is a small bump on the Santanoni massif that involves an out and back hike from the main ridge with a lot of down (and then some up… and then back down and back up again to the main ridge!). The trail out to Couch wasn’t too bad and the weather had cleared nicely. Lots of down, a (thankfully) mostly dry swamp at the bottom and then a short climb to the summit but I was surprised at how tight the trail was. This was the longest time I’ve spent on a herdpath (unofficial trail only “lightly” maintained by the 46ers club). The herdpaths are maintained by agreement with the DEC in order to concentrate us hikers onto one route rather then creating a maze of paths on the fragile high peak vegetation. They are usually great trails especially considering the light maintenance they receive. This one required lots of plowing through the narrow scrub on the way through the bush. Never any problem finding my way but narrow and scratchy the whole way…. and a long climb back up to the main ridge again.

Finally on my return to the main ridgeline I climbed up Panther Peak and met a guy from Rochester sunning on the summit rocks. He had been given a “free pass” from his wife to take the weekend on his own (he has a family of five girls!) to commune with nature, howl at the moon, clear his soul etc – whatever his Y chromosome required. He’d spent most of the weekend alone at a nearby leanto and clearly this wasn’t what he was used to in his household so he was eager to chat. It was a beautiful afternoon in a beautiful spot so I wasn’t in a rush to leave. After about an hour we parted ways and I made the long descent back to the car.

Strangely dark clouds started to form as I descended the east side of the ridge – a real storm maker this peak was turning out to be and I lifted my pace to get out before any rain came. Somewhere along the way out I ran out of water but decided that I should push for the car rather than stopping to filter some water from a nearby stream. This may have been my last mistake of the day as dehydration effects slowed me in the final walk out. By the time I crawled (not literally) into the parking lot I was done (physically and literally). I had planned to head to camp before making dinner but I was so hungry I pulled out the stove and made dinner on the spot. A big bowl of pasta, a beer, lots of water and half a Hershey bar (all I had left) later I was ready to consider setting up camp. Lucked into a nearby camp spot and spent an early night as I tried to read for a bit but was quickly overcome by sleep.

Santa played a strong role in my dreams that night....

Santanoni 32 of 46
Couchsachraga 33 of 46
Panther 34 of 46

Flagpole Hill

Flagpole Hill
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Sunday I took a hike in Frontenac Park. The section of the Rideau trail that passes through the park is tough to do as a solo day hike and is really designed to be a through hike. Its about 12km of rugged walking from the Park entry to the Perth Village road crossing. As luck would have it my parents were off to Toronto on Sunday morning so I arranged with them to meet me at the Perth Village road and ferry me around to the Park gate so I could hike through the park and back to my car. It worked perfectly and I enjoyed a piece of the trail I have long wanted to hike.

The section of trail is a really pretty one passing many small lakes and bogs, climbing rugged Canadien shield and then diving deep into deciduous forests.... a real nice mix that was continually changing as I hiked along. The highlight was Flagpole hill which was a high granite rock that stood above the park with a good view in all directions. Only met a few people along the trail so it felt quite remote - perhaps more so than it actually was.

Fall was truly in the air as cool overnight temperatures (3C) made for a brisk start in the morning. By midday things warmed up and I had shed layers pretty quickly but it was a good reminder that colder temps lie ahead.

Jay walking

Walking the ridge
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday I went down to the Jay range in the High Peaks with Mike. This is a hike I had heard many (many) good things about and was looking forward to giving it a try. It’s not a "46er" (sitting at 3500ft) but it sounded like a worthwhile hike none the less so we decided to give it a go. As it turns out it was a stellar decision. The trail climbed steeply from the parking spot and finally deposited us on the main ridge which is for the most part an open walk. Seems there was a forest fire here a hundred years ago (+/-) and the tree cover hasn't been able to grow back. The result is an open scrambly ridgeline with stunning vistas in all directions. This is not a walk to try to rush through. Too many good things to see along the way and the cameras were clicking all day as Mike and I came home with 2-300 photos. The day was perfect for hiking - slightly cool with a few clouds that eventually blew off leaving a clear bluebird sky. Fall is starting to take hold as the trees and alpine meadows are slowly turning colours but we still had some luck to find a few late season blueberries for some “free” calories along the trail. From the summit we could see to the east and the green mountains of Vermont while just south of us were the main high peaks of the Adirondacks and to the north was Montreal, Mont. St Hilaire, Orford and Owls Head. We spent 7 hours on this hike and came across only a dozen or so people – amazing for the start of the long weekend. Guess this hike is a bit of a local secret….. shhhh! Back to the car, de-booted and refreshed we popped into the Lake Placid brew pub for an excellent hefeweizen and some dinner. A day well spent to be sure.

Upper Works Ghost town

Upper Works Ghost town

After the hike on Sunday I decided to take some time to explore the ghost town at the trailhead. These are predominantly the old buildings from the Tawhaus club that operated in the late 1800s and into the 1900s as a fish and game club. Along the road – and a little deeper in the bush - are a number of slowly collapsing buildings. Just recently a brand new asphalt road surface has been put down on top of the old gravel roadway. This provides a smooth access to the ghost town.... I assume its for the hiker traffic as the ghosts probably don't care if the road is paved.

One of the buildings has recently been stabilized. This is the MacNaughton cottage where Teddy Roosevelt was vacationing in 1901 when he got the news that President McKinley was succumbing to his assassins gunshot wounds. He raced to the train station but arrived only to receive a telegram that the president had died…. Thus he took office. It holds some significance in US history so it is being preserved. Not sure of the preservation techniques however. I took a close look and the new siding (to replace the rotted out boards) is a pressed board siding... I don't think its historically accurate but I guess the important thing is its helping to keep the rain and critters out.

A little further down the road is the MacIntyre furnace that is also being preserved. This was a remnant of an iron works built here in the 1840s. The furnace towers some 60feet in the air and looks a little like a Mayan temple but is perhaps more a monument to the industrial age. It is kind of nice to see it enshrouded in the forest. In its day it would have consumed every tree for miles but Nature has reclaimed her own. It’s a nice example of a dry stone tower using massive stones. The flue and fireboxes are all mortared brick masonry. The preservationists are installing a high quality copper roof and rebuilding the brickwork to keep the water out. They’ve even installed a plexiglass arched roof (not original ;-) over the open chimney tops to keep the rain out. I wandered around the site for a short while and can see all kinds of remnants of the ironworks including the compressor and bellows for the furnace, a breached dam and other decaying structures. Definitely worth the time to explore some more the next time I come down.

Flowed lands
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Sunday I wanted to head up and hike somewhere in the Adk’s but I wasn’t sure what trail to do. Mike was going to the Santanonis but – while I’d dearly love to get 2 (or all 3) of these peaks off the list – I didn’t feel I was ready for this hike. It’s purported to be long and rough and, once you head in, there is little in the way of options. I felt I should go somewhere with more options in case I had a problem with the ankle that forced me to choose not to push to a summit. I flipped and flopped – maybe this… perhaps that… and finally on Saturday afternoon I chose Marshall. It provided me with a choice to enjoy Lake Colden and Flowed lands (low elevation) even if I didn’t go for a summit. This was also the summit Mike and I were headed to when I first injured my ankle…. so there was a score of sorts to settle.

I parked at the Upper Works trailhead and hiked into Flowed lands (pictured) under dark skies. Flowed lands are the remains of a lake, which sat behind a dam that was breached 20 or 30 years ago. Thirty percent chance of showers became 100% as I climbed and the clouds shrouded the peaks all day. After climbing the bouldery trail up to Flowed lands I made my way to the herdpath for Marshall. This herdpath is a beauty that looks very much like a west coast trail with thick dark evergreen forests and moss everywhere – it was a nice climb up. When I got to the summit however the rains started to fall more consistently. Light drizzle to start but heavier as I descended. The beauty of the trail quickly became a slippery, muddy mess, which took me a fair bit longer to descend then it took to go up... and of course the views were non-existent as the cloud level was quite low. Finally down I had lunch at Lake Colden and then headed back to the car – somewhat soggy but none the worse for wear.

In spite of the rain and tricky trails things went well so the ankle is healing nicely. It still feels “soft” and tweaks incredibly easily given some bad footing but it’s getting there. I probably won’t have a carefree hike until next year but I should have a good fall season this year as long as I’m careful.

Marshall - 31 of 46

Nippletop summit
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After Saturdays short (but successful) hike (and the evening rescue operation) I decided to try something more challenging on Sunday. I weighed my options and decided the right answer was a loop over Nippletop and Dial. The hike had all the right elements including some good bailout options if needed.

The day was overcast and cool (10C) – I must have missed all the hot hazy weather during my convalescence (that’s a shame ;-). Dark clouds filled the sky as I started but I gambled that it would clear up by the time I got to the summit (it never really did until I was driving home but at least it didn’t rain). The start was the walk up the Lake road, which – being a gravel road - was smooth and flat. Then the trail proper started uphill past Indian head to the Elk pass before the serious climbing began. The final ascent to Nippletop was really (really, really) steep - unrelenting steep for over a mile. At least the footing was good so I was able to climb well (albeit slowly). The summit was a gem with a good-sized balcony looking over the high peaks. I had some lunch and took a few photos before heading along the ridge to Dial. The rest of the walk was pretty easy. It was a gentle forest stroll with occasional (short) steep downs and ups… good walking.

By the time I reached Dial my ankle was starting to ache and it only got worse until I got back to the car. It forced me to slow down the pace and limited my mobility quite a bit as I descended the last mile or so. Seems like 5 hours is the current limit before it maxs out and starts to rebel… but hopefully with time that will get better. Today’s hike was 7 hours and change… not the longest but a good loop to be sure. I was hoping to do a few long hikes (10-12 hours) this summer but I may have to wait until later in the fall at which point some of the walk will be in the dark…no biggie as long as the things that go bump in the dark leave me alone.

Nippletop 30 of 46
Dial 29 of 46

Back to square one...

Hurricane firetower
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

I decided to head down to the high peaks to "test drive" my slowly recovering ankle and see how it coped with the mountain trails. Hurricane Mountian seemed like a good choice - the trail isn't too long (2.5 miles) and not too tough (although it does climb 2000ft). Add to that a nice open summit and it was a done deal. I drove down after lunch with a plan to summit in the early evening. For the most part things went well. I had to pay special attention to my footing at all times as the ankle still feels a little soft. There was a nasty stretch of trail that was loose and gravelly (tricky footing) but for the most part it was a great trail. I only tweaked my ankle twice and neither time was too serious. That said, having been off the mountain trails for 6 weeks meant that it was a pretty tiring hike. Legs and lungs were put under duress... but that's all part of it and the first step back to trail fitness is now taken.

After the hike, as I headed to Lake Placid I was flagged down by a group near their car. It was a group of students (pdf's) from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal whose battery had died while they enjoyed a hike. We tried to boost them with their wimpy light duty jumper cables but it was a no go (I don't usually put my good cables in the car till the snow flies). In the end I ferried 2 of them into town where we got a mechanic to call a tow truck to help them out. I like to think I topped up my good karma quotient with that save and - while I waited at the garage to make sure they would actually get a tow truck - one of the girls ran next door to the depaneur to buy me a box of cookies for my efforts... so there's that even if the karma thing doesn't pan out!

Island Park Bridge

Making the turn
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday night was a big night in Ottawa for civil engineering fans... of which I am one. I headed out to watch as the Island Park bridges on the 417 were removed and replaced by new ones all in one night. The highway was closed at 8 pm and then the old bridge was lifted by a hydraulic system and gently driven over to a nearby staging area where it was placed to be dismantled. A new section (built over the last two months) was then picked up and driven back into the gap where the old one once stood. The whole operation took some 16 hours and the highway was reopened to traffic about noon on Sunday. It was a real marvel to watch the 600 tonne bridge casually driven down Island Park and then - just as casually - a new section driven back up to span the gap. For the European contractor this was old hat but this was the first time something like this was tried in Canada so it drew a lot of "white hats" to inspect.

The event drew huge crowds (in the thousands) and bleachers were set up. There was a VIP area where large plasma TVs braodcast closeup details and appetizers were served... but I didn't order my tickets in time for that area. For the rest of us "fans" we stood outside the fenced off areas and marveled at the sight and enjoyed snacks (for a fee) from the snack trucks. There was much applause as the bridges started to move... but then people didn't know where to applaud after that - kind of like the symphony where a pause in the music gets a smattering of erroneous applause only to be greeted by more music. Some folks stayed all night but by 2 am most of the significant lifting had taken place and I headed home to get some sleep. Again - this hardly seems like a trip to the woods but Hampton Park does have a lot of trees, and paths, and animals, and things so maybe...

Test walk on the Rideau Trail

Monarch on a thistle
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After leaving the crowds of the Montreal race weekend I drove just north of Kingston to camp and get ready to do some hiking. With the recovery of the ankle going slowly I decided to ease into it with a few sections of the Rideau trail. I hoped this would be slightly less demanding trail and I could evaluate how my ankle was doing. I recently got the newest version of the Rideau Trail guidebook and noticed there were a few relocations of the trail in the southern portion so I thought I would check them out.

The RT has a wide variety of conditions along its length from bushwalking and swamp crossings to hydro easements or farmer’s woodlots and fields. I took a nice stretch south of Sydenham to start and walked through some farmer’s fields to a hydro easement. The new trail was a bit spotty to navigate. The grass was pretty tall and there hasn’t been too much in the way of trailwork so it was sometimes tough to be sure I was on the trail at all and not just bushwhacking but every now and then a trail marker appears to remind you that you are still on the right path. At one point I was stopped by a herd of cows passing through the bush in front of me. They actually flanked me and soon surrounded me! They passed me by with little more then a sideways glance. This was good as, while I have seen my share of cowboy movies, I’m not actually sure I know how to “punch those doggies” in practice.

By the end of the day I had tweaked my ankle more then was probably good for it so I’ll have to give it some more time before I hit the rugged mountain trails. Back to the bike for a while longer yet.

A day at the races

Lining up for the start
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Okay, not exactly a trip to the woods but I decided last minute to make a trip to the Busch Grand National race at Isle Notre Dame. Of course several famous F1 drivers claimed to be concerned about the wildlife on the island. In both cases they incorrectly referred to groundhogs as deer(?!?) and beavers…. so maybe it’s a trip to the woods after all. The day was perfect – hot, sunny weather – great for sitting in the grandstands with 70,000 friends and watching a race. The racing was also quite good with a lot of clever strategy, a hometown (province?) hero (almost), and some great controversy that made for a fun race to watch. Of course – being “closed wheel” racecars - there was a fair amount of bent sheet metal and frayed nerves, which also adds to the fun. I’m sure Montreal race fan enjoyed the inaugural event and will be back for more next year.

Did a fair amount of walking around the track over the course of the day although the trails on the Isle are well paved so my ankle held up well. At the end of the day I met up with a friend who lives a few minutes from the south shore metro stop and we grabbed a bite and relived the racing action as the sun went down.

Evening calm on the Jock river

Evening calm on the Jock river
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Still rehabing the ankle. I can ride now (getting in and out of the pedals comfortably now) so I'm off the couch. Went for a couple of short walks along the Rideau Trail as well and was able to walk with minimal pain but I don't think I'm ready for mountain trails just yet. Day by day things improve so hopefully soon I'll get back to the peaks. We're into the hot hazy days of summer so climbing high peaks perhaps wouldn't be too enjoyable anyway - at least I keep telling myself that.

River sunset

River sunset
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Progress goes slowly on recovery from the sprained ankle. I seemed to gain some initial mobility quickly (perhaps as the swelling went down) but now things have plateaued - perhaps as the real healing gets underway. I have no rotation possible in my ankle so I don't think I'll go hiking for a while. I can walk almost normally until I have to turn a corner.... and then I'm forced to kind of hop in the way your car would without a differential. I have managed to go riding a little bit - nice to get off the couch. The only problem so far in riding is getting my cleats into my pedals which requires a twisting motion of the foot.... When I came back from todays ride I just took my shoe off - still clipped in to the pedal - but I suppose that's not ideal should I want to stop somewhere along the way. In the meantime I'll take what I can get.

Stopped along the river pathway to get some nice shots of the sun setting on Friday - of which this is one. Managed to remember to a) bring my camera, b) insert a memory card, c) insure battery was charged up, and d) focus... so perhaps I've overcome my bad "photo luck" of late.

Be careful what you wish for...

rockyfallsleanto
Originally uploaded by md_price

I’ve had some bad luck the last few weeks so no recent posts. Two weeks ago I took my camera to go paddling in an “authentic” (fiberglass) Voyageur canoe with my Dad and niece… but managed to forget to put a memory card in the camera. Last weekend I headed up to the ‘Daks with Mike to go bag a peak. The day started off badly. The alarm didn’t go off and I awoke at precisely the time I was supposed to meet Mike across town!!!! Desperate run to grab gear and race up to the meeting spot ((un?)fortunately only 15minutes late and Mike was still there). In the mad scramble I forgot my sunglasses (no big deal) and later discovered I’d forgotten my camera as well. Those disappointments aside we made the drive down and picked a loop hike to Mount Marshall. The weather looked a little sketchy so we decided this would be a good one as – if the weather turned bad – we could still have a good lowland hike and forget the actual summit push.

Geared up (sans camera) we started along the Indian Pass trail but a couple of miles in I stepped on a loose rock. The rock rolled and my boot sole gripped so the only thing left to give was my ankle…. with a rather loud crunch. #%^@%!!! Another chance to use my medical kit..... in two successive hikes!

It’s the kind of thing that could happen anywhere on the trails so perhaps I was lucky to be so close to the start of the hike. A quick examination of my ankle at a nearby stream showed it looked like someone had slipped a tennis ball under my skin. It was clear the day was done. I iced it off in the stream and then wrapped it with a bandage. From there it was a slow hobble back to the car and the drive of shame home. On a positive note it looks like it rained (heavily) on Marshall – one of those really “localized” showers I suspect - so I think I saved Mike from a dreary trudge in the rain ;-) This was Mikes second failed attempt at summiting Marshall so I suspect he will not be asking anyone to go with him on his next try (or perhaps I shouldn’t go with him when I go back…). Almost a week later and I have pretty good mobility but the tendon that “let go” prevents me from certain kinds of movement (no rotation of the foot without great pain) so it could be a few weeks before I get back to the peaks. So it goes. I’ll try and do some riding this weekend. The photo – Mikes – is from the lean-to we stopped at to ice my ankle. It’s actually a nice little destination in itself. I camped here some years ago with my friend Mark…. but found the babbling brook (while quaint) not conducive to a good nights sleep.

Canada Day

Looking for "General Sherman"
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

After the big hike, the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed. I headed back up to my friends cottage near Maniwaki to partake in some campfire time and enjoy the fireworks. There was also a concerted effort to catch "General Sherman" (as pictured). As of this posting he remains.... at large.

Of course there are no freebies in life and the next morning - having enjoyed the camp fire and fireworks - I was once again put to work . This time designing and laying the groundwork for a concrete staircase to be built for access to the new dock (which I was put to work on during my last visit). When it became clear that there were insufficient supplies to actually start pouring concrete I took the opportunity to head for home..... concreting will have to wait until next time.

Lake Tear of the Clouds
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Getting to Gray peak one drops down off Skylight and then has to bypass Lake Tear of the Clouds (pictured here) which is the headwaters for the Hudson River. It’s a beautiful little high mountain lake and probably the best photo op when climbing Gray peak. The herdpath up Gray is kind of what I expected herd paths to be. Tricky to navigate, scrubby, bushwhacky and a real test of will. Fortunately most of the herd paths I’ve been on so far have proved to be not what I expected of them – they have been for the most part well maintained, easy to follow and a real pleasure to hike along. Gray on the other hand… was exactly what I expected herd paths to be (scrubby, bushwhacky, test of will). At least it was pretty short.

After scrambling up, taking a few summit shots and working my way almost down I managed to jab my leg into a broken tree branch and dug a pretty big gash in my leg. After the initial “@#$%^!” of pain, I was actually pretty pleased with myself. Finally, after many, many years of hiking, I was going to get to use my first aid kit that I lug through the bush trip after trip – yippeeee!! I pulled out an alcohol pad to wipe away the now flowing blood (no lactate monitor handy to take valuable data). The small 2-inch pad quickly soaked red and was pretty useless. Another pad did the same…. Blood starting to roll down my leg. Hmmm…, time to apply pressure and get a band-aid on this (debated needle and thread to stitch up my thigh… opted against it). Applied band-aid, which seemed to stop the bleeding. No longer in a threat of losing quarts of blood I had to now package up the “medical waste” and continue on my way. Debris safely stowed I headed down the herdpath and regained the main trail. Five minutes back on the main trail and the band-aid was now showing signs of falling off my sweaty leg. Possible recurrence of bleeding scenario? Still 6 or 7 rough miles to the car? As luck would have it a group of young ladies from the Gordon College backpacking club arrived on the scene… but before I could get them to administer wilderness first aid – for extra credit – I realized the cut was no longer bleeding…. Drat!

Other excitement of the trip back to the car was a chance meeting with Pin-Pin (and Pin–Pin jr.). He’s (they are?(long story)) an Adirondack legend (from Montreal) who has (have) summited the set of 46 ADK high peaks close to 80 times (that’s more then 3600 summits!!!). He whizzed by me like a flash with a brief conversation in French (I tipped him off about the college girls ahead so he may have quickened his pace ;-).

All in all another great hike. I was less beat up at the end of the day (cut to leg notwithstanding). The hike was a similar distance and elevation to the last hike so that suggests I’m getting stronger. Good start to a Canada day weekend.

Marcy - a revist
Skylight 28 of 46
Gray 27 of 46

Skylight peak

Skylight peak
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday I managed another long hike – Skylight and Gray by way of Mt. Marcy. This was almost a complete repeat of a hike I did a number of years before with my friend Mark. We did it that time with full backpacks camping at Flowed lands and Indian Falls. This time I did it as a day hike and kept marveling at how dim/strong we must have been as the climbs (with a full pack) are brutal. On that hike we hadn’t tagged the two side summits along the trail so I had to go back and “finish the job” today. Another excuse for a great walk in the woods.

I headed out from South Meadow with another cool day ahead. I was careful to check my watch as I walked the van Hovenburg trail to the summit of Marcy. Last fall I read a report that Kris Freeman – US elite xc-skier – used this trail for a training jog and topped out in 1 hr and 26mins. He commented on how much he likes the trail as it is a steady 8 mile grind to the summit - a couple of steep pitches but nothing extreme and fairly even footing for a mountain trail. I’m no elite skier and I had a full daypack on (and more peaks to climb afterwards) so I was really pleased to steadily hike the trail in 3hrs flat. I may come back in the fall and try again (with lighter pack and a bit of running) to see how I do while I get ready for the ski season. At least now I have a baseline to compare with.

Reaching the summit I shared it with the ranger (Doug) who comes up to educate hikers on the fragility of the alpine flora…. We chatted for a while. He does an 8-hour shift on a summit every 3 days – tough commute but an excellent “window” office.

From there it was off down the backside of Marcy to Skylight. This may be one of my new favourite summits. I spent close to an hour here alone with a (bold/greedy/hungry?) little bird as I ate lunch and watched dozens of people top out on nearby Marcy. The top of Skylight is a unique little alpine meadow above tree line. A beautiful spot to spend some time. (hiking) Legend has it that if you bring a stone to the summit of mount Skylight then it will not rain on you. I added my rock (collected from Ottawa) to the massive pile on the summit – apparently a well adhered to legend. From there it was off to tackle Gray peak – highest of the trail-less summits.

Gothics

Gothics
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

One more shot from the Saturday hike. This is looking up to Gothics from Armstrong. Gothics, from almost any other angle, looks like a big, wide, rounded summit (check out the photo in my August 8th - 06 post). From here though it looks like a narrow arrete with a pointy summit. It was an interesting view of a mountain I'd been around a few times. It was also an interesting scramble down the ridge to get to where I'm standing now. Lots of precipitous slabs to clamber down - fun.

The temperature on Saturday was surprisingly cool. It chilled down to 6C when I woke up and was only 10 or 12C (at most) when I was on the ridge line. There was also some strong winds blowing from the NW so each time I stepped into the open (after sweating up a storm climbing a ridge) I was greeted with icy blasts and had to scramble to get a jacket on before I quickly chilled off. It reduced my summit time somewhat... but not too much. On the plus side all of the bugs seem to have perished (but were probably hiding) from the cold so I had a bug free day. Not the mid summer weather I had expected but in the end it was still a pleasure to be out there.

Pyramid Peak
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturdays hike was a “solstice hike” of sorts. There is a tradition amongst hikers to go out and hike the longest trail possible on the summer solstice - because it’s the longest day of the year. Many of the “ultra hikers” report 14-hour hikes with many thousands of vertical feet – truly remarkable challenges. I am just NOT up to that kind of distance and time as yet so I tried something a little more manageable… but still one of my tougher hikes to date - a traverse of the lower Great Range.

As I slept Friday night I was periodically awakened by falling rain … this was bad news, as I feared the rainy clouds might not move off before morning. Indeed when I awoke, the Great Range was still shrouded in clouds. I debated my options as I drove to the trailhead and finally decided that I’d take a chance that the clouds would burn off as per the forecast. My target was to be the lower half of the Great Range – 7 peaks (5 of which “count”) and 16 miles of trail. I would cross Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, Upper and Lower Wolf Jaw as well as Pyramid and Hedgehog mountains. There was probably 5000ft of vertical to cover. It had me a little intimidated at the start but there were bail out routes along the way…. routes that were not needed in the end. It was truly a spectacular hike. Hard to be sure but I was rewarded with some stellar views along the way.

The photo is from Pyramid peak – a sub summit of Gothics that sits in the heart of the High Peaks. This is by far the most amazing view I have ever had on a mountain and one I’ll have to return to in the future.

Sawteeth 23 of 46
Gothics 24 of 46
Armstrong 25 of 46
Upper Wolfjaw 26 of 46
Lower Wolfjaw 27 of 46

Mt. Pitchoff

Mt. Pitchoff
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Took off from work at noon on Friday. It was a little later then I had hoped so I didn't get down to the Dacks in time for a 4000fter hike. In the end that was okay as there was still some rainy weather pushing through and a big hike would have resulted in no views from the high peaks. I opted instead for Mt. Pitchoff which is a nice little ridgeline walk (after a steep climb to the ridge). I climbed up with intermittent rain falling. Under the tree cover I was able to keep mostly dry. Even spent a few minutes ducked under a big fir tree keeping dry while a heavy shower passed. Finally I spotted a dry patch and went up onto the ridge to enjoy a mostly dry walk to the summit and a nice sunset on the way back. Back at the car I headed to camp to prepare my gear for the next days trek.

Evening ride

Evening ride
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Did a little riding this weekend. I had originally thought I might head back to the Adirondacks to add another climb…. but when the alarm went at 4:30am I just didn’t have it in me to climb out of bed so I (quickly) decided that (after a little more sleep) I’d go for a ride instead. It was a little warm this weekend. The heat of summer has begun but it wasn’t too bad from a humidity standpoint so not too oppressive. Bugs were out in force. I stopped for a short break last week on an evening ride and was immediately mauled by mosquitoes and deerflies. As long as I was moving it was okay but there were no breaks after that. The photo is from an evening ride last week. We got hit with a short heavy rainfall but it passed by quickly. After I got to the car there was a lot of mist coming off the hot pavement and it made for a nice shot.

Seward Mountains, NY
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Kicked off the climbing season with a walk up Mt. Seymour on Saturday. The hike is not the longest (nor too short), and the climb isn't the hardest (tho' not easy) – perfect to start things off without killing myself first time out. Mike and I went down relatively early and started the long flat approach hike in the cool morning air. Things looked overcast as we drove down but they were forecast to clear out so we booted up and headed along the trail.

The Sewards (4 mtns. in the range including Seymour) are an interesting group of mountains. Apart from long distance views (20+km) you can’t really see them as you approach. The roads have too many trees along the side or twist just the wrong way to provide a nice view. As you drive into the trailhead the tree canopy is too thick. The approach walk is relatively long and flat(5 miles) and is entirely in dense forest. It’s not until you climb the herd path to the summit and get pretty close to the top that you finally see the mountains you have been labouring to get up. It’s a nice surprise to see such rugged mountains as you poke your head out of the trees at the top.

As we summited we discovered it had indeed cleared up and we enjoyed a nice sunny lunch on a good viewing ledge. For the most part it was bug free but by the time we headed down the blackflies had woken up and were a little annoying but not too bad. The long walk out had us both a little leg sore by the time we got to the car but all in all a good first hike of the season. Bodes well for things to come.

Seymour 22 of 46