Hard work in the Sewards

Sunday Mike and I planned to head down to the Adirondacks to hike Seward mountain. It didn’t start off on a very auspicious note as I picked Mike up at 5:30 in the pouring rain. While it was raining here the radar plots suggested it would shortly stop raining where we were going so we loaded up and hit the road anyway. Sure enough, the rain eased off as we crossed the border and there were even a few clear skies as we approached the trailhead outside of Tupper Lake – things looked positive!

I hold a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Seward range. I love its remote nature – truly a wild part of the Park. Of course that same wildness makes it a challenge to get to/from and the trails are seldom used making them tough hikes. We had decided to do a loop hike of Seward mountain. The Seward range does not have any official trails to their summits maintained by the Park authorities. Most of these “trailless” peaks have an official, “lightly maintained” herdpath to access them. A herdpath is not formally constructed or maintained but it is recognized by the Park wardens as “the” way to climb these peaks. The herdpaths are maintained by the 46r climbing club… butthis is done only rarely compared to official trails. This means the herdpaths can have a lot of blowdown to negotiate and can be a challenage even at the best of times. By providing (or accepting) an unofficial – official (if you will) path, the Park stewards provide a unique approach to these summits to concentrate the foot traffic(because people will climb them path or not), limit the development and damage caused by multiple bushwhack paths, prevent (or at least reduce) the number of rescues required for lost hikers in untracked wilderness and yet maintain (at least to some degree) the wilderness quality of these corners of the park. Seward mountain has one official herdpath but over the last few years a second (even more unofficial) herdpath has been developed. The cutting and maintaining of this 2nd path is probably illegal but walking on it is not. The second path meets the ridge partway along between 2 of the three peaks on the ridge. With 2 paths to the ridge we decided to make a loop. We would climb the official herdpath up Seward and then walk along the ridge to Donaldson and pick up the unofficial path down before returning to the car on some woods roads thus making a circuit. Clear as Adirondack mud?

We arrived at the car park and headed off on the Blueberry footpath (an official maintained trail) that proceeds at somewhat great distance around the base of Seward mountain with zero change in elevation. It continues into the wilderness but on its way it takes us to the official Seward herdpath. Fortunately there was much to talk about (NHL draft day anyone?) along this otherwise boring section of trail so the time passed quickly. Finally we arrived at the official herdpath and started up. The path started out gently but soon enough it started to climb. It was filled with good “stick to your ribs” ADK mud and at times was little more than a bushwhack as we plowed through dense scrubby pine. As I was beginning to think this would be only mildly difficult the trail started up…. steeply up….. then very steeply up. It climbed steep rocky slabs covered with water and occasionally jumped into deep flowing streams which forced caution on every step. It was unrelenting and kept climbing steeply beyond all reason until we found ourselves into the clouds (where did the sunny skies go? Arggh!) and a gentle rain started to fall. Finally, after a last cliffy clamber up to the ridge, we came to the summit disk – fully treed with no views (and none possible inside the cloud. Quick photos were taken and then we started off to Donaldson and the route back to the car. The path to Donaldson was much easier than the route up and in no time we arrived on the summit where the clouds had parted and Seward was now clear(sigh). More photos were taken and we quickly moved on as now – with the rain stopping – the blackflies started to devour us (or at least me as Mike had long pants, sleeves and a bug hat so he felt no ill effect to the flies). The walk down the unofficial herdpath off the ridge near Donaldson was much nicer than the way up the official herdpath. It was graded much more gently with only a couple of short scrambly bits. It became clear why this unofficial path has become the preferred route up the Sewards. Even with all the rain the trail had only slight muddy sections – a real delight. Eventually we bottomed out on the old woods road and made the long trudge back to the car. We hiked for 10.5 hours and about 23km– long day made longer by the challenging (but fun) conditions. Some days the peaks come easily while others they make you work for every step. I guess that’s why they don’t just hand out 46r badges to anyone.

Busy Saturday near home

Saturday was a busy day … but all of it was close to home so I didn’t have to run around too much. First thing in the morning was the “Emilie Mondor road race”. This is a 5k road race in memory of Emilie Mondor – a talented yaoung Canadian athlete who was killed in a car accident several years ago. The race is for women only and has many fast athletes competing. Women only events are a rare opportunity for female athletes who, in most normal mass start events have to fight there way through the middle of a men’s pack of runners. This event has grown in leaps and bounds in the few years it has been put on. As the start line is only a couple hundred meters from my front door (starting near the Aviation museum) I decided to go check it out. It was a beautiful morning with cool temps and sunny skies – perfect for running – and the competition was good well worth the walk over to the startline.

After the racing I wandered over to the Rockcliffe airport where the Ottawa Jaguar club was having their annual “Coupe D’Elegance” car show. A friend at work – Lyndon – was showing his new Jaguar in the competition and invited me to stop by to check out the cars and enjoy a picnic lunch as he sat around waiting for the judging to take place. Jaguar is an interesting and storied auto nameplate that has been, at times, one of the most innovative in car manufacturing history. Along with numerous technical innovations they also have some of the most beautiful (and a few of the most ugly) cars ever created. I guess when you take design chances sometimes you score big and other times you strike out.

True to form a little of everything was represented at the show (the beautiful and not so). Some rare (and beautifully restored) old gems like the XK120’s from the 1940’s were the standouts but of course the 1960’s E-types (arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever constructed) also shone. There were also a few Jaguars created during the more modern “Ford ownership years” (dark days indeed) but perhaps we’ll say no more of these. Of much discussion amongst the club members was the recent sale of Jaguar to an Indian car manufacturer…. How the pendulum of colonialism has swung (no doubt to the delight of Indians). We’ll have to see what TaTa motors does with the venerable Jaguar nameplate. More photos from the show here.

To his credit, Lyndon’s XK8 convertible won best in class… although it was a small class (of 1) for his car type. There was some talk that if his car didn’t score high enough in the judging (meeting a minimum standard) then he would be placed 2nd (in a group of 1) but thankfully he was able to avoid this indignity. With the day winding down I headed home to prepare for a hike on Sunday. Fun day – and all just steps from my door.
The dog rides in the "other" family car

Colden… Take 2 Marcy dam in the morning
With May taken up with Race Weekend prep, the following weekend totally rained out, and then the intense heat that followed the weekend after that... I was itching (bug bites aside) to get out and climb. There was more rain called for on Saturday but Sunday looked like it might clear up so I took a leisurely drive down to Lake Placid on Saturday afternoon to set up camp and prepare for a hike the next morning. Poking around Lake Placid on Saturday afternoon I spotted a guy laying out some cones in the horse fairgrounds… Seems odd, but it looks like he's laying out a race course. In fact it was the route/logistics coordinator for the Lake Placid marathon to be held the next morning. We compared notes. It was certainly interesting to chat with him for a few minutes and hear how others go about staging a similar event although in fairness their event is a lot smaller than Ottawa’s’ (~1200 participants in 3 races). We ended our conversation as some heavy rain clouds opened up dumping significant amounts of water on our heads.

After camping at South Meadow Saturday night I got an early start. The clouds appeared to be disappearing in the east so it looked like it was going to be a good day. I had a couple of trail options in my head but I decided – first big hike of the season and the day after some heavy rains – that another crack at Colden was in order. Pete and I had failed to summit back in April after some equipment problems had slowed us down. Time to settle that account and strike this one off the list. In April we had taken the Lake Arnold trail. That’s the main trade route for this peak - being most direct to the summit from the parking spots. While it would look pretty different from our April trek (without snow), I decided to go a different route rather than repeat the same trail so soon. Instead I went through the Avalanche pass to the trail up the south side of Colden and would then cross the summit and descend the way Pete and I had come up. It was a beautiful morning and I saw surprisingly few people on the trail (just 4 other couples all day!). I made good time up into the pass and stopped for a morning snack as it's truly a beautiful spot and always worth a visit. With no one else about I spent some quiet time in the mornings half light of the canyon. Just a few lazy bugs floating around motivated me to keep moving.
The boardwalks provide the only way to get through the pass... short of swimming

When I'd got to the trail up Colden on the south side the real work was now at hand. Two thousand vertical feet to the top in 1.5 miles... that's a steep climb!! Most of it was up rocky slabs which were still wet from yesterday’s rains. Made for tricky footing but I kept carefully climbing eventually poking out above tree line just below the summit. Colden looks to be a dwarf compared to its neighbours Algonquin and Marcy but it’s a pretty big peak in itself (~4700ft). It provides some breathtaking views – particularly back down into the Avalanche pass deep beneath the summit ledges. I spent a good hour (alone mind you which was quite a shock) soaking in the sunshine, enjoying the fresh air and having an early lunch. Finally (with much regret) I packed up my gear and started to head down meeting the first people I’d seen all day climbing up.A quick stop on the nearby sub summit and then I descended down to Lake Arnold and started the trek back to the car. As I descended the heat of the day started to kick in (~28C) so I was glad I got all the climbing done early in the morning. I got back to the car at ~1:15 so it wasn’t too arduous a journey but the post hike beer was pretty sweet. Great way to start the summer hiking season. More pictures here



Colden 37 of 46

P.S. Driving back through town I saw the last finishers out on the marathon course (~6 hour + marathoners). Interestingly, as I got to the center of town, the car in front of me stopped and a lady got out (with number!) and started trotting in towards the finishline. I assume she had/or shortly would withdraw from the race otherwise her time would be somewhat suspect. Driving 4 or 5 miles of the course is a great way to improve your PB.... but it's none too legitimate.

P.P.S. Here's a comparison shot of the Lake Arnold trail from April to June (the diagonal tree provides some reference). Note how the snow evens out all the... ummm, crap(?)(sorry if this is too technical a term) providing a nice treadway to hike up. If only you could hike in shorts in January...

Mad dogs and Englishmen...

Hiking down the GAT escarpment
Originally uploaded by Tripper (bvt)

We got the first few days of really (truly) hot weather this weekend. Humidex tipping into the 40's Celcius made for pretty sticky weather. The one blessing was a good breeze that blew most of the weekend so it was never completely insufferable. In spite of the heat 4 of us made a trek up the yellow box trails in the western part of the Gatineau Park. This is a favourite part of the park for me as it is typically uninfested with people. True to form - be it weather or remote trails - we didn't see a soul all day.

The first few km's were under heavy brush and the air was thick with steam (and bugs). This (the bugs) warranted a speedy pace (and a good quantity of bug spray) but finally we turned up the escarpment and got a little more into the open (and the breeze's). With the bugs held at bay we poked along the escarpment nabbing a couple of caches and taking a few breaks to take in the view and enjoy the day. Somewhere in those first few kms I discovered that the battery for my camera was still charging at home :( My camera ended up acting solely as ballast on this trip which was a shame.... but Bryan graciously took extra photos so I could post one here.

Finally it was time to head back down. Being later in the day the sun beating down on the rocks made it feel somewhat oven-like in spots but we kept well hydrated and made our way safely down. Off to the fry shack for a snack although none of us could muster the thought of poutine in this heat (which would have disappointed Mike to no end(alas he couldn't make this trip)).

My post hike plan was to head up to a friends cottage and help him with some construction projects... but I got a panicked call from him as I drove through Wakefield. A) he was not going up this weekend after all and b) he had forgotten to replace the key in the "secret spot" when he left last week... so my plans were dashed. Came home, went for a ride and then took another ride on Sunday.... pretty slow paced due to the heat but it was at least good to get out for a bit after last weekends rains. Some say its best to stay inside in the mid-day sun but I'm not sure I agree....

Still here

New Ed water station
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Haven't posted in a while and was reminded I should update my tens of loyal readers where I am at. Two weekends ago was Race Weekend and I was, as always, run off my feet busy... but thats okay, its always a good time(and they give me a snazzy truck to roar around in so thats good). No actual pictures from the races(this one is from last year) as I just don't seem to have time to do anything but the task at hand.... set up the course, tear down the course, keep my crews rolling and get the Police on and off duty as efficiently as possible to keep costs down. It all went fairly smoothly this year so that's always a plus and it was nice weather so that's a bonus. One year it will surely be miserable weather - law of averages I suppose - but until then I keep praying for sunny days and (so far) for the most part keep getting them.

After showing 33,000 of my closest friends a good tour of Ottawa, I decided the next weekend would be a bit of a decompression period. Unfortunately it rained most of the weekend so I didn't get out to the woods. Instead I thought I would finally go down and tour the new War museum. It's only been open for 5 or 6 years so it was time to pay it a visit. I thought it would be a nice quiet way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. As it turns out they have a constant soundtrack running in the museum (bombs going off, heavy machinery etc.) so in fact the noise level is fairly high.... still a nice museum to visit and well worth the trip.

This weekend is looking to be hot and sweltering with humidex in the 40C range.... yikes!! Perfect weather to be too sweaty for words while the blackflies swarm so I may not get out to the woods much this weekend either... we'll see. Soon enough the summer hiking will begin.