Winter Solstice ski…almost

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!