First tracks

Fresh snow on the parkways!!

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

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


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

Trail update

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

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

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

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