Boom! Winter...

So winter has arrived... and it came in a hurry! A good storm last week left us with almost a foot of base and very good skiing conditions for the end of November. Usually we get to slowly do a lap or two of the parkways on the rock skis as our poles poke through the thin base to the asphalt below. With each click of pole hitting asphalt we dream of the side trails to come. Of course they are usually a ways off as the rocks and roots are barely covered with the thin early snow... but not this year. A lot of the major side trails were pretty decent from the get go and I rarely feel the ground surface as I plant my poles. With some problematic fall training I opted to push pretty hard onto the skis and have managed 7 days of the last 8 on the boards. Bit of a mix of skate and classic but for the most part slow easy distance skiing working on remembering how to slide with sticks tied to my feet. It's coming back to me. I even did an early morning ski this week to enjoy the sunrise and share the trails with some non-skiers. Some trail users aren't as keen on winter Red in the morning?... Today it's rainy and warm... but not as bad as was originally predicted. I feared the base of snow would disappear if it got too warm but I think we'll be okay. The main tracks should be fast and frozen solid once we go back to sub zero temperatures tomorrow so back at it then. Overall a good start to the ski season and we'll see what's to come.

Searching for Winter

Fall starts to drag at this point of the year. The leaves have mostly fallen. The days get shorter and shorter. Nothing but cold and rainy weather.... Preparations for the ski season ahead continue but - in the dark and cold it's sometimes hard to believe it will ever arrive. I have a series of 3 running races I help out with(on consecutive weekends) through this period of the fall and they prevent me from taking long weekends in the mountains but sometimes I can get away for a quick day trip. With 2 of the 3 races in the "bag", so to speak, I decided to head down to the Adirondacks on Monday. The weather forecast was grim for first thing in the morning but showed signs of potential improvement throughout the day. I normally would steer clear of a forecast like that as the mountains tend to hug clouds like a small child hugs a bear at bedtime - with a strong grip that lasts longer than you'd think. Still, I had the day off and things were looking no better at home... so off I went. It would be a good chance to pull out some of the "winter" gear as the colder temperatures meant that the rain down low might be snow up high. I had of course carefully stowed my winter gear last spring so everything would be easy to find... well... I found some of it anyway - enough to be reasonably safe. Hints of winter I like hiking in the late fall. Most might think -with the colours mostly gone - that the attraction would also be gone. Certainly the days are much shorter so - without a headlamp - you have to pick shorter hikes. Add to that some extra care should you be hiking where the deer and the antelope... umm, get shot (wouldn't want to join them). With that in mind though I find that mountains are a nice harbinger of things to come. Often, warm fall weather down low can transition (ever so subtly) to wintery weather as you ascend... and once you top out you can face the full brunt of winter storms and cold temperatures. On the drive down I had my fingers crossed but the rains kept coming. I pulled into Saranac Lake and pulled over to plan (or perhaps re-plan) my day. The weather was easing but none too fast and - at 5C and pelting rain - it was not too conducive to a pleasant hike in the mountains unless hypothermia is your thing. There looked to be some promise though so I decided to stall a bit. Taking some scenic drives in and around, checking out a few trailheads, seeing the lay of the land and in turn biding my time - ever hopeful that the clouds would roll on. By 11 the rain had almost stopped and as I ate lunch the clouds started to withdraw! Angry clouds start to thin Half the day was gone now and I had to plan something a little less ambitious with less daylight at my disposal. Cascade and Porter were close-by so I decided to head there. The trail itself was muddy to start. A dark, black, coffee colour with no hint of the warm, brown, boot-sucking mud the ADK is known for in summer. There were a few people already on trail when I arrived but I still had a pretty quiet time hiking up this popular route. No doubt most who might have hiked on a Monday were put off by the early rains and found something better to do with their day. As I got higher the snow started to get thicker beside the trail and finally at about 3500 feet the trail was indeed snow covered itself. I continued bare booting up the trail as the snow wasn't too slippery but it’s often easier to ascend slippery snow covered rock than descend. By the time I got to the summit block of Cascade the winds were howling over my head and the snow and ice was thick so I dropped my pack, strapped on the µspikes and put on a dry layer or two before exiting the trees. Limited views on Cascade My timing was poor though and I exited the tree line straight into a cloud. The long ranging vistas from Cascades summit would remain hidden today but the clouds were moving fast so I was still hopeful. Back to my pack and then the short walk over to Porter where I arrived to blue skies! I could see now that Cascade was clear but the Great Range to my south was still clinging to the cloud deck. Still it was an impressive view and I filled the camera with as many shots as I could. Sadly winter (like) ascents mean that summit time is often brief. Even with my puffy down "summit" vest I started to chill down after 20 minutes or so and was soon headed down the trail. One last glimpse at a little ledge on the Cascade summit trail and then it was back into the trees for the return trip down. The µspikes did their job and I had no trouble descending the upper reaches of the snowy trail. Soon enough I was happily walking back to the car under warm sunshine and colourful leaves (on the ground). Finally the clouds start to lift But the Great Range resists the clearing trend A quick shot of Whiteface as I drove through town, an awesome roast beef sandwich from my favourite deli and then the satisfying drive home. Winter IS coming. It may be a few more weeks - even a month or two - but it WILL arrive. I can tell myself that repeatedly as the days get infernally shorter and the cold, wet fall marches on. It's always nice to have reassurances though - and finding winter at 4000ft is a nice confidence booster. It will inexorably march down the hill to meet us - even if I have to march up the hill to visit with it for the next few weeks. Whiteface starting to look snowy!

Colourful leaves

Colder days have arrived and there’s even the occasional snowflake spotted floating around. Can’t be long until ski season arrives but until then there has been some good hiking to be had. Earlier in the fall, while it was still quite warm, I managed to get a few days off from work and decided to head down to New Hampshire to hike a few high peaks in that neck of the woods. The weather was forecast to improve all week so I hoped for the best and headed down on Tuesday. After a pleasant drive, I got to Greely Pond trailhead at about 3pm. In spite of the relatively early hour, the hours of daylight have really taken a turn for the worse so I knew I would be pressed for time... but figured I could still get up Osceola and back before darkness. As it turned out it was a tight squeeze and I was perpetually checking my watch and pressing onwards. Not much time to take in the views but luckily (really?) there weren't any views to be had as I climbed into the clouds at about 3000 ft. That meant a short stay at the view points to get a quick drink and move on. Ran into the first snow of the season as I got to the top of Osceola - not enough to justify the skis just yet but it was nice to see and probably the earliest I've seen it in any fall in recent memory. From there it was a quick descent back and a short jog down the Greely Pond trail to get to the car about 6:30pm - still 30 minutes of daylight to spare. Close up "views" today - in this case a rocky crag to scramble up Drove back to Lincoln to get some groceries before bedding down for the night. I was in Lincoln a month ago and it was a bustling metropolis with a grid locked main street and people everywhere at this hour. Tonight, I was the only one driving the main street and the stores were all shut tight - except for the 24 Price Chopper. Clearly summer was over in Lincoln... and I was still a little early for the rush of leaf peepers which came closer to Columbus Day. Low cloud deck over the Whites today After a good night's sleep I awoke to cloudy skies again. Apparently the low pressure system over Nova Scotia had been obstinent and was not moving on as the weather folks had predicted. I drove past a few trail heads debating what to hike and wishing for clearer skies. Having such a long list of hikes I want to do down here gave me a lot of options and I finally decided on the Carter range (in part because I had driven past almost everything else!). To my surprise, just as I was paying for my parking permit, Geoff drove up. He had been one of the regular volunteers I got to know on the Mount Adams firetower project. I had been aware he and a few others had been down here on the weekend - working on a “Presidential traverse” - but I hadn't clued in that he was staying the week with a full agenda of hiking. In the end it couldn't have worked out better if we planned it so we joined forces for the Carters. Carter Notch hut and the next objective - the climb to Carter Dome The hike up to the Carter notch hut (our first stop) was pleasant and all was quiet when we stopped in for a visit. I think we had passed the hut master headed out for his day off so we had the place to ourselves. Looks like a nice place to stay and hike a couple of nearby ridgelines. After a short break we packed up to head up Carter Dome – the ridge to the north of the Carter notch. The wind was howling in the notch and I feared it would be a cold traverse... but 30 seconds up the trail we entered the woods and the (REALLY) steep climb quickly warmed us up. After that first pitch the grade eased and we were now in the clouds so there was no views. We stopped along the way to check out the site of the former firetower on Carter Dome. In truth there isn't much left except the foundation blocks... but for some reason firetowers draw our interest. Soon enough though we were headed along the ridge to South and Middle Carter. I had expected more open areas along this ridge but - apart from the occasional open ledge the trail stuck to the trees. Again the ups and downs were mostly mild so we had no trouble and took quick breaks so as not to cool down too much before heading down the Imp trail to complete the loop. Today's grey weather was certainly a good day for some company so it was an amazing coincidence that Geoff and I met up at the start of the day. Unfortunately our agenda's were headed in different directions for the next day so we parted company here but it was great to see him. Some summit colour replaces the scenic views today Another good night's sleep and - finally - the day dawned sunny and clear. I headed over to the Franconia notch, parked at the Basin and headed up the Flume slide trail. This is purported to be one of the steepest trails in the White mountains and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Lots of scrambly fun though with only a couple of WTF moments along the way. I lost the slide a little closer to the top... but found a good herd path and, after a few more minutes pushing up through the trees, was back on the slide(!) I had lost and then finally crested the ridge. Blue skies and warm sunshine greeted me!! The last rocky scramble to Flume Mt. I took a good rest on Flume before heading over to Liberty. Originally I had planned to carry on up the ridgeline to nearby Lincoln and Lafayette but the warm sun and the prospect of a long drive home at the end of the day convinced me to enjoy some extra summit time on Liberty before making the early descent down Liberty Springs trail. I think this is the 4th time I've been up on the "rim" of the Pemi... and it was the first time I could actually see anything (more than the inside of white clouds) so I wanted to cash in those cards and enjoy the view for a while. Looking over the "Pemi" A full set of pictures from the NH trip are located HERE Leaving Liberty Mt. - I'll be back one day for Lincoln Mt! A couple of weeks later Mike and I organized a trip in the Adirondacks. I had probably missed the peak of leaf season but things were still pretty colourful. We ended up picking the “Soda” range which is a nice loop hike around a cirque of little peaks. The trail is a beaut with all kinds of little view points to stop along the way. An excellent choice for a leaf peeping hike. We took our time and took lots of pictures. It probably was the last warm sunny day of the year for us to hike so we were in no rush. Certainly a good chance to fill the retinas (and photo cards) with colour before the long, monochromatic winter rolls into town. A full set of pictures from that hike are located HERE Perhaps past peak but colourful none the less Still managing to get a little riding in although the colder temperature means more and more layers. The “late” turning leaves are still pretty colourful but it will probably only take one big storm to bring the rest of them down. We’ll see where we go from here as the days get shorter and the first snows (Nov 17th – mark my words…) arrive. Yep, leaf season is all done...

Summers all done...

So summer is truly over now. It's been a busy one indeed this year but sadly most of the workload has been just that... work. Still, there have been a few opportunities since my last post to get into the woods. Mostly they were spur of the moment decisions to throw some gear in the truck and go but we did wrap up the principle work on the firetower this year which was nice. Work on the tower has been a 3 and 1/2 year process so it was nice to see it completed. I put together a photo retrospective of the tower work over those last 3 years which can be seen HERE. What lies forward is some more basic day to day maintenance and perhaps a trail rerouting... but certainly the work trips will be scaled back. It was a truly enjoyable project though so I was glad to have an opportunity to contribute to it. The finishing touch - a new map and alidade for "peak spotting" I also got to get to the Whites a couple of times this year. After one of the Mt Adams(NY) work days I did the rare traverse across New England to climb New Hampshires version of Mt Adams. I must say the latter is a bit more significant a mountain. It had also been a while since I had been up on the "rockpile" so it was a tough reminder how difficult an environment it can be. The long site lines are both a blessing and a curse and the rocky trails are hard sledding. On a relatively beautiful summer day its a hard place to go for a walk... and if the weather is foul... well it's probably not the best place to be at all. Up on the "rockpile" With summer quickly wrapping up I did manage to drive down to Montreal to catch the UCI pro road race over Mount Royal. This year's edition had an exceptional field taking part. At one point, prior to the race start, I was standing within 50 meters of 4 of the last 5 Tour de France winners. Not to mention a lot of the significant players on this year's world cycling tour. As it turns out the course in Montreal has a very similar profile to the World Championship road race course just held in Florence, Italy. With that in mind, a lot of the big names had come to Montreal to test themselves as a warm up for the Worlds. Usually the winner of the World Championship road race comes out of the Vuelta D'Espagne - the 3 week tour of Spain which takes place from mid August to September. Three weeks racing in Spain (and a little recovery time) tends to leave the riders quite fit! This year however, the (just) crowned World Champion (Alberto Rui Da Costa) came to race in Montreal (and he had won the Montreal race 2 years prior as well) so that certainly indicated that most of the teams were right to opt for Canada over the Spanish tour - at least for this year. As always there were copious amounts of photos taken and a full set can be seen HERE Ryder sprinting for the finish! The Army Run in Ottawa is also an indication for me that summer is drawing to a close. I've been involved since its inception in organizing the route for that race. This year we had 22,000 participants in the 2 races (5k and 1/2 marathon) which marks remarkable growth over it's 6 years. It's a bit of a handful but a fun weekend overall. This is the last year of our "contract" with DND so we'll see if we are out there again next year. If not then that might give me one more weekend to go climbing instead so win-win either way that comes out. The steady stream of runners - crossing the bridge On to a busy fall schedule. Seems like each weekend is already booked up with things this year so it should be a quick transition from the colourful leaves to the snows of November (fingers crossed!). Time to start thinking about winter if I'm going to be ready when it arrives!

May flies...

May flies by as it usually does. Too many things to do all crammed into a 31 day month… Someone official should add more days to May, but I don’t suspect that’s going to happen. This year was supposed to be an easy year for me with regards to "Race Weekend" planning. The courses were identical to last year. Apart from a couple of minor tweaks to improve on last year’s version of the races… just print out last years plan and I’m done! Alas, this was not to be as we are all aware. In the 7 weeks after Boston we had a host of additional planning meetings, upgraded our emergency plans, “exercised” our command and control program, added to our security contingent, and gained some new language to our vocabulary. Amongst other things, “curious” will no longer refer to a funny monkey for me.
Marathoners passing the US Embassay Still, with all the extra planning, we had a great weekend and of course there was very little expectation of any incidents (of which there were none). The weather was perfect for a running event - cool and overcast - and by all accounts all the 44,000 participants had a great time. I usually don’t get a lot of sleep over the weekend and this year was no exception. From Thursday to Sunday night I logged about 6 hrs of shut eye – par for the course. Still the event tends to carry me through so no plans of changing my May plans for now.
Runners streaming back from Gatineau An added event to the weekend this year was a “Marathon” relay. In conjunction with the Greek Embassy we had the flame from Marathon(Greece) come across the ocean to Marathon, Ontario (just outside of Carp, population 12). From there we had a relay to carry the flame in to City Hall to kick off the weekend. Ironically the route was 42.2 km! Well, in truth it actually proved a little more as a construction detour around Bronson added about 1 km of distance… but it wouldn’t be summer in Ottawa without some construction to contend with. Not sure if the torch relay will continue next year or not, but it was a fun day out so we’ll see how that goes forward. There's a few photos from the relay here.
The starting line in Marathon! The flame rolls through the construction The weekend before the races I went down to work on the Mt. Adams firetower. It proved a good chance to clear my head before the races began. This was the first “work trip” of the season and so a small group assembled to clear blowdown on the trail and get it ready for the summers visitors. It was a fun group to work with and we cleared a lot of big trees. Someone had loaned us a big 2-man “double buck" saw. It was a bit of a beast but once we got the hang of it, it tore through some pretty serious wood. With the trail now open there is really only one major job left to do on the tower. The floor of the cab is in pretty rough shape so we’ll be replacing the floor boards next weekend. Apart from that and a few other small jobs the restoration is more or less done. Time for a ribbon cutting I suppose. A set of photos from trail clearing day here.
Time for the big saw? Time for the big saw

Transitions

Well I hung up the skis last weekend after a nice ski (and a bunch of short hikes) in the sunshine. It was getting to be more hiking than skiing which is always the cue for me to call it quits. All in all though, not too bad a ski season. Things got off a little slowly but to ski until April 21st is an accomplishment I can’t recall doing in recent memory. I always say, if I can ski into April then I’ve done okay and we’ve far surpassed that. A little snow here and there With the last snow behind me it was a quick change over to the bike. Applying storage wax to the skis and tucking them in the closet left lots of room in the workshop and putting the bikes together was no problem. After a “test ride” in town I took the bike back up to P10 last night and had a nice, quick ride up to the lookouts. In this case it was the reverse of Sunday’s ski with short walks across the snow and easy pedaling on the asphalt. Surprising how much more asphalt had opened up since the weekend but not so complete that I didn’t have to walk a couple of stretches. Can't ride on the trails just yet as they don't open until May 15th (once they've dried up a bit) but the parkway remains closed to traffic for now. It will probably be a while before they get all the debris cleared from the storm back in Decemeber... so some more traffic free riding up there and good times ahead! Nice quiet evening at the lookout Also interesting to see the wildlife having to fight over the available open water. Still a fair amount of ice on the bigger lakes so there was a little crowding on the smaller ponds and some grumpy residents that were unhappy about having new “neighbours”. I’m sure all will be sorted in short order as we get a little more summery weather this weekend and the rest of the lake ice melts away. Getting to know the new neighbours

Still feels like winter... for now

So spring has (formally) arrived. As I write this its +12C outside and there is call for warm rain tonight. The skiing is still passable but with every day like this the snow pack dwindles. The last ski can’t be far off and warm days of summer are already coming to mind. A nice spring ski to Lac Richard I’ve tried to make the most of the last of the snow though. Since my trip to the Dixes – the last of the “winter” - I’ve welcomed spring with some nice spring skiing here in the park and a couple of trips to the Adirondacks. This ski season has been an interesting paradox. We probably got more snow than we’ve had in years… but that very snow led to a considerable amount of branches down and trails closed. The crews worked hard until the money ran out and sadly a fair number of trails never saw the light of day from the early season storm. I didn’t get much “practice” on the backcountry trails although I did get one run in on the Highland fling (so not all was lost). The trail out to McKinstry and the firetower was only cleared about 2/3 of the way out which felt… unfulfilling. Equally a few of my favorite little side trails never got cleared at all. Still, I am grateful for all the trails that did open up again. There will probably be a fair amount of trail work for the crews to clean up all the slash once the snows melt as well.. so that could change the cycling season in the park as well (maybe a longer closure of the parkway - for car free cycling!). Has this little guy been lonely this winter? With winter officially over I got a call from Pete to do a “winter” hike. By the time his winter schedule comes together he often seems to fall just outside of the official March 21 winter hiking limit. Fortunately the mountains don’t care what season you call it and are still pretty wintery well through April (and Pete isn't too particular either!). He wanted to try out some better snowshoes for the vertical pitches so we opted to do a hike out of the Loj where you can rent snowshoes for a reasonable fee. We picked Phelps to hike as it gave us a good climb, some nice views and enough time to get back with the snowshoes before the rental shop closed. As it turned out the views weren’t exactly stellar on this snowy (wintery) day… but all the rest of the pieces fit together. A good hike was had on what was clearly a popular trail. Through the whole of this winter I saw maybe 10 people on the trails on my hikes in the peaks. Today we must have seen 50 or more folks out enjoying the day. The views from Phelps were... elusive Finally, I decided to get back one more time to the peaks before the snow starts to melt in earnest. This past Saturday I went down to hike Cascade and Porter. I have struggled with winter boot options all winter often resulting in sore and blistered feet. On this trip I wanted to do something short and try out another pair of boots – my backcountry touring boots. Add to that I had often thought of climbing a peak to take in the sunrise or see a good sunset. Saturday looked like the ideal day so I hit the trail at the late hour of 4:45pm in hopes of getting up top in time for the sunset. Met a few stragglers hiking out but for the most part I had the trail to myself. It’s a nice little climb of about an hour to the main ridge. From there a short hop over to Porter and then I came back to Cascade to set up for the “show”. As it turns out, an incoming warm front brought a bank of clouds in to (slightly) spoil the sunset but I suppose that’s the risk you take in the “sunset photo” game. It was still nice with the alpenglow on the mountains and the rapidly changing colours. Once the sun finally set I packed up and headed back down under the beam of my headlamp. The ski boots worked pretty well too, though this short hike might not be conclusive. There are a few more "sunset photos" from that hike HERE for those interested. Alpenglow on the Great Range as everything goes pink! So was that sunset the end of winter. We’ll have to wait and see. Perhaps a few more skis in the park still. Maybe a hike or two on the smooth snowy carpet… but for the most part it’s time to start thinking about packing up the winter gear and moving on to spring.

A day in the Dixes

Elk Lake gleams below me on a slightly overcast day It’s getting close to the end of winter and I wanted to get out in the Adirondacks at least once more. Decided to take a “March Break” day and go for a walk in the Dixes on a mild day (+4C). The forecast called for sunny skies earlier with storm clouds rolling in the afternoon so I figured I would be in good shape… but the overcast skies when I arrived didn’t bode well. Left the winter trailhead about 9am and made the easy road walk 2 miles up to the actual summer parking and trailhead. From there it was another short walk to Slide brook leanto, where the actually climbing started. Climbing up the herdpath I was reminded that these “pseudo” trails are tight and scratchy, and doubly so in winter. It meant a lot of mini battles with spruce trees and a lot of hunching under low branches all day… but the extra work pays off in remote locations. My first view of the slide on Macomb mountain I found a lot of rock exposed. The past weekend I had read lots of reports about people enjoying great glissades down the 800ft slide… but a couple warm days of rain had rendered that impossibilityfor me now. The snow pack – where it existed - provided good grip for the snowshoes but it was hard and crusty and – as mentioned - a lot of rocky sections would make for a pretty painful “2 minute descent”. The Macomb slide - 800 vertical feet of fun Topped out on Macomb and enjoyed the limited views as the clouds swirled around me. Finally, after some snacks and pictures I headed off along the ridgeline for my next peak - Carson. Lots of little “dead ends” and false trails along the ridge but for the most part they are well marked with sticks blocking the wrong path so I only got briefly off trail once. The climb up Carson was a little more exposed and in line with the prevailing winds so I moved up quickly to gain the shelter of the trees at the top. After cresting the summit I didn’t waste much time and headed on to the third peak – Grace. A distant view of the high peaks About the best views of the day as a couple of little patches of blue soared overhead. I enjoyed both the main lookout points before heading back to Carson and the decision of the day. By the time I got back to Carson, the clouds engulfed the higher peaks and it started to snow. It was here that I had to decide to push on to the higher 2 peaks of the range or bag it and head down. With the high peaks now clouded over, and I assumed the storms clouds arriving, I opted to leave Hough and Dix for another day and head down Lillian brook. Of course by the time I got to the bottom of the brook path, the clouds had moved on and the sun came out! So it goes – there will be other days I’m sure. Snow clouds "appear" to move in - which fooled me! The path down Lillian brook was interesting. The brook itself was roaring along after the warm weather and rains of the previous days. Most (if not all) of the snow bridges across the brook were out making for some interesting “full body workouts” clambering down from the snowpack(about 1m deep) into the brook, scramble/rock hop/leap/splash across… and then clamber up the far bank. This was repeated numerous times as the herdpath goes back and forth (and back and forth andbackandforthandbackandforth…) across the brook. Finally left the brook behind for good and there was nothing for it but the long walk back to the car (now in the warm sunshine!) With the sun out, the snow pack was a little softer on the main trail out which led to a few shallow snowshoe postholes. The gravel road was certainly getting a little squishy so the spring weather was having its way. Dix and Hough before the clouds engulfed them - I'll be back! Discovered – back at the car – that my toque, which I had carefully stowed in my pocket after passing the leanto, had quietly liberated itself on my walk out. Debated putting up some “Lost toque” posters… but decided it was now old enough to be on its own… unless the guys behind me picked it up and brought it out. I now find out I’ve lost a collector’s item as you can’t get those toques anymore. We’ll have to see what Stephen decides to do with a “name change” before I get a new toque. Trying to stay out of political debate here. For those that know what I’m talking about – feel free to read into it my displeasure with that idea. For those that are a little lost by these last statements… Enough to say - I lost my toque… But that didn’t ruin my day in the Dixes. As always, there are more pictures HERE

Monday with Marshall

Decided to go down to the Adirondacks on Monday to get a little hiking in. For a moment it seemed like maybe I would have some company… but alas it didn’t work out and I was on my own. No trouble though, a chance for some trail solitude is always nice and, as is often the case, I usually meet some interesting people on the trail. As I packed up, I decided the weather would be good for a ski-shoe and maybe I should give that a go. With the snowshoes strapped to my pack I could ski in a distance of the flatter terrain and then – when things got steep – ditch the skis and put on the snowshoes to climb. Always tough to get going when the 4 am alarm rings – especially when I’ve been packing until midnight – but I managed to get going regardless and was soon on my way. On the way down I decided upon the Upper Works trail head. I don’t get down there too often and it has a nice skiable approach to Lake Colden with a few options to climb from there.

Time to sign in for the day ahead
Arrived at the parking lot to find 1 car which was slightly covered in snow so they had probably been camping somewhere in the woods. Interestingly, no one had signed in yesterday (Sunday) either so it meant I would have some snowy tracks to contend with. Undeterred I strapped on the pack, jumped in the skis and set off. A light dusting of snow in the well trodden track made for some nice skiing and it looked like I wouldn’t have to break trail all day. Temperatures were decidedly warm though - at -1C – and I soon had my winter gloves off and never put them back on until I was well up the mountain. The climb up to “Flowed lands” is a nice one. It opens with a flat stretch of mostly open woods and then has a few short, steep ascents as it climbs along the Calamity brook. Once at Flowed lands it became clear there would be no views from the summits but the day as a heavy overcast sky loomed over the peaks. The warm day and the light snow made me decide on Mt Marshall for the climb. I skied across Flowed lands to the Herbert Brook leanto and took a short break to stow the skis, strap on the snowshoes and eat and drink before the climbing began.
Skiing past the rock wall along the Flowed lands

The trail up the Herbert Brook is a really nice one through thick evergreen forests. In summer it winds its way back and forth across a slide sometimes splashing up the brook that gently trickles down the mountain. In winter the snowshoe track goes straight up the slide which climbs about halfway up the mountain. It made for an easy ascent and I was bitter I had left the skis at the leanto as they would have been perfect to take for the descent later on… next time for sure.
Wide open slide would have been great skiing
As the climb gets higher the trees get shorter and the track gets narrow and low. A lot of hunching over and plowing through the spruce is required for the last few hundred feet of the climb. While this is tough on the body it also means all the lovely dusting of snow that you enjoy on the branches is destined to wind up down your neck as you push through the trees. Hood or no hood on my gortex the snow found its way in. So it goes though and soon enough I was topped out – quite soaked mind but on the top. Put a dry layer on and wandered around to a few of the “viewing spots” which offered up a few tantalizing glimpses of what lay beyond. Now that I was stopped I did in fact enjoy how the light snow had carefully frosted all of the tree branches. Quite beautiful when it’s not ending up as a cold, wet lump dribbling down your back.
Delicately frosted branches
The descent was speedy (though not as speedy as if I had brought my skis up the slide). There were a couple of nice buttslides to be had but for the most part the pitch was a little shallow. Still, winter hiking is nice and soft on the knees so a fast pace can be maintained going down.
Time to switch to skis for the ride back to the car
Back at the leanto, I packed the snowshoes and jumped into the skis for a short tour of the “Flowed lands” area before heading back to the car. There are certainly a few nice leantos around the edges of the “pond” area although I seem to recall there being a few more many years ago when I first started coming here. I suppose they(the DEC) have removed a few to try and limit the number of people coming in on a busy summer weekend. Certainly not too busy today as I saw no one all day – just me and my tracks. The ski back down to the car was good fun. Some nice little drops as I worked my way back. Always tough to try and remember the little twists and turns of a trail I haven’t been on in a few years but the snow was relatively slow so there was lots of time to step around a sharp curve or dodge a snow covered boulder. All in all a successful ski-shoe.
Leaving the snowy high peaks
Back at the car I signed out, got changed and loaded up for the drive home. There are a few more pictures HERE. A nice day out in the woods with just Marshall and me today.

CSM 2013 and the Gatineau Loppet

Well we’ve gotten to the midpoint of the ski season. That meant I finally had to decide if I was going to get into the ski marathon this year or opt out. I’ve been steadily sick since Christmas and been unable to get any long skis in so the ski marathon was only going to be a touring route for me at best. Still, it’s a beautiful trail and only available once a year. Add to that the weather was shaping up to be a really stellar weekend… so I finally dropped the cash and signed up with a few days to go. As it turned out the rather crusty conditions I reported in my last post proved only to be a base as it snowed (and snowed and snowed) on Thursday/Friday before the marathon. A total of 25 cms was just the ticket for some nice skiing. Signing up late meant I had to race down to Montebello on Friday in the blizzard to get my number but in the end – while a slow drive – it wasn’t too bad.

Skiing in beautiful tracks on a sunny day
Saturday dawned with perfect blue skies and comfortable conditions. I opted to ski the last 2 sections of the first days track, from the Rouge river to Montebello proper. With a short (ish) agenda I took one of the later buses and it proved a real blessing. Only 2 riders on our bus to the checkpoint and an empty trail in front of me! The mass of skiers trying to do the whole trail were still toiling away behind me (in the days earlier sections) and it took me a while to catch those that had taken the early bus… so the wilderness was mine (except for the bear!). Even once I caught up to the other skiers it was easy to pass people and they were well spaced so I could ski my own pace for the most part. Arriving in Montebello was a little slower than I anticipated as the whack of fresh snow was a little slow(perfectly groomed but still…). With only two sections to ski I still got home with plenty of time and had all the “night 1” chores done in record time.

A bitter, cold start to day 2

Sunday I headed out extra early to take some night shots of the CdB start at 0530. As it turns out they were allowed to start earlier (about 0500) so I missed the shot of the “golds” I was looking for… but I got some other pictures of the silver and bronze group headed on their way. The reason for the early start was the morning had dawned a bitter -27C!! Even in all my winter clothes as I took pictures (and with a warm car nearby) I was pretty cold snapping shots. After the skiers went I stripped down to my ski gear and drove over to catch my bus. While I waited for it I seriously thought about bagging the day and heading home as it had only “warmed” up to -24C… but I dutifully got on the bus anyway and it proved a good choice by days end. The first section was a bit of a survival test but the temperature steadily rose and by the time I got to the line it was a delightful -7 or -8C… so a good day after all.

The Army checkpoints are always on call
I skied the last 3 sections on day 2. For the most part it was a beautiful, but uneventful ski. There was one new relocation of the trail near Mayo which caught me by surprise. I suspect the relocation was in part owing to my friend the escaped horse from last year as the new trail detoured around the farm in question. Perhaps the farmer had not wanted a repeat performance of his escaping livestock. Fortunately there were some skidoo club trails we could use that got us to the checkpoint in good stead – though it added some exciting ups and downs that weren’t part of the agenda in past years.

Skiing along the CSM trail
So another CSM in the books. I ended up doing ½ the course this year which – based on the amount I’ve skied this season seems about right. It was certainly a beautiful weekend so in that regard we lucked out tremendously. Had the Friday storm or the subsequent Monday storm arrived on the weekend it would have been a much tougher ski through the country side. Pics from the ski marathon are HERE.

Elite wave start is on course
This past weekend was the Gatineau Loppet and I usually run around the park trying to catch as many frames as I can as the racers do a big loop. This year there was a new twist in that the “big race” was now on a linear course from Lac Phillippe south through the park to the Gatineau high school. Being a linear course meant I couldn’t jump ahead of the racers (without a helicopter) so I decided to just take in the start at P19 instead. With such a small parking lot at P19 the organizers closed it to the general public until after the start. That meant I had a nice ski in from P17 to get in place for the start. I shot my pics as the racers blasted off and then had the northern reaches of the park more or less to myself – Nice! In the end I probably skied close to 35k on the day… so perhaps I should have left the camera at home and got a race number instead… maybe next year. Loppet pics are HERE.

A long string of skiers