Civic Long Weekend

The name certainly doesn’t inspire much but I guess a long weekend is a long weekend. Still, on a foggy morning bike ride I stopped to give it some thought. All the other holiday weekends in the year have something significant attached to them. Victoria day (to the Queen!), Canada Day (to the Realm!) Thanksgiving (to the harvest!) and so on. Even Remembrance day is taking a bigger role in this day and age (as it should)…. But Civic long weekend? Quebecers (perhaps rightly so) thought this was pretty lame and abandoned this long weekend in favour of St. Jean Baptiste day in June. Solid thinking. Surely there is some honorary citizen(living or dead) or patron saint that is currently under appreciated. What about David Thompson who explored and mapped most of North America before they had personal GPS units. Or perhaps an actor like Lorne Greene (in Ottawa we are aware that Shannon Tweed is not up for discussion). Maybe a politician like Sir John A. or a military hero like Billy Bishop or Laura Secord (heroism and choclate... good combination). Maybe Norman Bethune or Tommy Douglas… What about the Group of Seven (might need a whole week off for them)… And maybe that’s the problem right there. Too many good options and not enough resolve to celebrate one and leave the others out. In Ottawa (the nation’s capital) on the “Main street” we have plinths (tall stone platforms) prepared for statues to stand on celebrating great Canadians. Since I was a kid they have remained empty. The bridge has been renovated twice in my life and the plinths refreshed… but no statues have been positioned. Very Canadian I suppose - better not offend anyone by selecting one over the other. I guess Civic long weekend will remain. Perhaps a little unmotivational but a long weekend none the less.

I took the opportunity to visit some friends at their cottage near Maniwaki (where it wasn’t a long weekend). The weather this summer has been pretty bleak with record breaking rains and this weekend was right on course. Moments of sun were spent on (or in) the lake before the next round of rainfall came crashing down. I took a sunny morning to ride another section of the Petit Train du Nord trail near Mont Laurier. It was just a short hop from the cottage so I slipped out early one morning for a nice ride. Saw a lot of people out riding the full trail – utilizing the shuttle to ferry them and their bikes north only to ride back to their car parked in the south, staying at local auberge’s and enjoying the local cuisine along the route. Certainly looks like a pleasant way to spend the weekend.


Returning home to Ottawa my summer took another unexpected turn. On a random stroll through the woods – during a brief sunny period – I stepped on a log. It promptly broke under my foot wrenching it in all directions. The next thing to break was a bone and I was left hobbling out of the forest to seek medical attention. An x-ray the next morning confirmed that I won’t be climbing any high peaks for a little while to come (not that I've logged any this summer :( ). Tried to come up with a more exotic tale to relate on the blog. One that involves heroism of the highest order on my part (and a broken bone for my effort) but couldn’t come up with anything decent. Perhaps the non-descript nature of the injury is fitting of the non-descript long weekend. Certainly I don’t expect anyone will be naming the August long weekend after me.

Searching for Sunny Skies

This past weekend was shaping up with a good plan. Saturday evening I was scheduled to be at my uncle’s cottage in the eastern townships for his 70th birthday celebration. Saturday morning dawned gray and rainy so I casually watched the Tour de France on TV before heading off to the townships in heavy downpours. Good visit to the country as most of the family had managed to make the trip out and we don’t get many opportunities to get everyone together in the same place. Haven’t been down in a while and was eager to see the new addition to the cottage which turned out beautifully.

I had hoped from there I could jump out on Sunday to do some hiking – maybe in Maine or New Hampshire which are both just a couple of hours drive from the lake. But Sunday dawned gray as well. Instead I relaxed and watched the Tour de France with the family and then had a casual lunch on the deck as the day finally started to brighten. The rain clouds looked to have passed but they were drifting lazily east and it was perhaps too late now to justify a trip east to hike the mountains which I would likely find still under heavy rain clouds. Not to be undone I decided to head just a few minutes south to an old favourite - Jay peak - in Vermont. This is a nice hike to an exposed summit which – while sullied with ski trails and summit tramway stations - provides excellent vistas of the northeast kingdom…. You just gotta keep your back to the manmade structures on the summit to keep the wilderness feel  It has been a few years since I laced up the boots on the Long Trail in Vermont so it was nice to be back on familiar terrain. On the summit I spied Big Jay (a sub summit of Jay peak) nearby and decided to hike over there as well on a much less travelled herd path. Big Jay had suffered a great injustice a couple of years back when two individuals illegally cut thousands of trees to create a backcountry ski chute down the side of the peak. Fortunately the perpetrators were caught and great efforts have been made to repair the damage done and stabilize the slope. From what I saw of it things are looking good and in a few more years there may be no sign at all of the slash down the mountain. My run of weather luck however (with regard to sunny outdoor activities) drew to a close as I summited Big Jay and the rain started to fall. In a moment both summits were encased in clouds and the skies opened up. Made for a pretty soggy descent down the mountain but fortunately I survived and got back to the car and dry clothes in short order.

Monday – a day off for me – was forecast to be more of the same in the Northeast – clouds and threats of rain. I decided to head south through Vermont in hopes of finding some better weather. Camping at an old favourite spot I awoke to sunny skies. I debated a few options for hiking and finally decided on some southern ADK fire tower peaks. When I had packed up on Saturday I had thrown in my New Hampshire maps, the Maine mountain guide and even my Long Trail guide… but I had left my Firetower guide book at home. No matter… with my trusty GPS and some recollection of peak names I was able to navigate myself to the Black Mountain Firetower trailhead where I loaded up and headed up the trail. With all the rain we’ve had it was pretty soggy climbing. Where the trail was flat it was water logged and where it was steep it became a running stream. Forward progress was slow rock hopping most of the way but on top the payoff was worth it with beautiful views of Lake George and the southeastern Adirondacks. The fire tower on the other hand had been cannibalized (Frankensteinized?) into a communication tower with sturdy fencing and a large noisy windmill to generate power – bit of a letdown (but the view made up for it).

Black mountain was a relatively short hike so after a lunch stop and a little more driving chaos sorting my way through Glens Falls I found myself in the parking lot for Hadley mountain. This ended up being a beautiful choice (and the only other southern firetower name I could remember so that was fortuitous). The trail was not overly long but it started steadily uphill from the first step out of the parking lot. Unlike my hike in the morning this trail was pretty dry and had nice long open slabs making climbing easy. Lots of people out today on this trail including many small climbers likely on their first big mountain. Only a few tears echoing through the woods from these young hikers, for the most part everyone I met had a big smile on their face. And why not as the summit opened up to wonderful views of the southern ADK peaks. I was actually able to spot a few peaks I now know which was fun. Strong (cold) winds on the summit made for a short stay but I found the summit steward in the old fire wardens cabin catching up on his reading and we chatted for a bit He’s up till September (with a few days off here and there) as an interpreter for visitors and showed me around his digs. Pretty cozy spot and he proudly told me in the quiet of the evenings he’s getting a lot of reading done. He’d finished his second book in his first two weeks! That might not impress my sister-in-law though who is often finished her second book by lunchtime… Ah well, I can think of a lot of worse summer jobs to have. With a long drive home ahead of me I didn’t spend as long as I would have liked on this beautiful summit. As it turns out I was able to make short work of the descent. Smooth trail – in particular the rock slabs – made for a speedy walk and after a quick change to dry clothes it was off to the Northway and the drive home. Rainy clouds opened up again as I hit Lake Placid so I guess I made the right choice to look for some hikes in the south and avoid the sketchy weather closer to home.

At least the flowers are enjoying the wet summer

Canada Day - long weekend?

Summer has truly arrived. Almost to the day (June 21st ) things got hot and humid (and a little bit buggy) so it finally feels like summer. In fact, the days are getting shorter now so we are on the downslope. Not quite time to get the skis out and prepped but…. Well maybe even too soon for thoughts of skiing. Yesterday was a day off for Canada Day and with the judicious placement of 1 extra day off work I was able to put together a 5 day weekend – sweet! Sadly the weatherman worked against me with promises of heavy rain most days. That coupled with a concert ticket on Sunday night – mid long weekend – and I decided not to make any trips away but rather stay close to home. Kicked it off with a great show at the Black Sheep with Bryan. From there, in spite of the weathermans dire predictions (“Have Ark ready at hand!”), it didn’t actually rain that much. Oh it was certainly gray and menacingly cloudy at a few points but it only actually opened up a couple of times and even then only for a ½ hour or so. No big lose though as there was a lot to do around town and I got a lot of good riding in.

Tuesday I rode out and around Lac Phillippe on some of the great trails in the northern end of the park. Had my first run in of the season with a bear up there which seems kind of late this year. I've usually crossed paths with a few bears by this point in the season. It was a strange run in too as I usually meet bears as I come roaring downhill and they are suddenly scrambling to avoid me. In this case coming to a bend in the trail I was faced with a short steep climb… and quite a big bear walking at the top of it. My first thought was to pull my camera out of the bag as it would have made a great shot just a 100 meters or so in front of me. Alas, as I pulled my brakes to stop they made a short squeak which alerted her to my presence. A moment later – ursine synapses crackling - she bolted into the woods. I gave her a few seconds to escape deeper into the trees and then stepped on my pedals to continue on my way… only to have her re-cross my path running the other direction – What the?! Okay, I’ll give her a few more seconds to get into the trees on the other side before riding up the short hill. At the top of the hill I could see her deep in the trees and it was then that I heard the skittering of claws as her two cubs dropped out of a nearby tree and scampered after her. Seems in her haste to evade me she had forgotten her cubs… so she came roaring back to collect them. Glad I had given her some space – because after all I have slightly above-average ursine intelligence. Ah well, now that I know this spot – and can bet the family will be back – I may try (at a safe distance) to come back for some photo ops.

I also stopped in on my neighbours at the RCMP stables. They had been putting on their annual sunset ceremony this week as a dress rehearsal for their summer tour. Living so close to the stables I’ve seen the show dozens of times and typically don’t bother but coming home from my ride I spotted the horsemen in the back pasture warming up and decided to head over and check it out. No glorious setting sun at the show tonight but no rain either so the weatherman was wrong again. The show of course never changes but the riders and horses do. I looked for a few of the “old guard” of horses I remember from a few years back in the stable but I couldn’t find any. I guess they’ve moved on to a well earned retirement with green pastures and healthy stud fees.

Wednesday was Canada Day. After helping out with the Canada Day road races in the morning (Run Ottawa's first event under the new structure) I went for another long ride in the park. No bears and no rain either (despite 80% chance of showers) so another good day. Tried a new spot to watch the fireworks in the evening. It was certainly an easy spot to get to - no traffic, easy parking, minimal overall effort. The angle was a little off but there’s always next year to keep looking for the optimum vantage point. Maybe next year the weatherman will have a more encouraging (or at least accurate)forecast.

Another tour along the Petit Train du Nord

Bit of a mixed bag weatherwise this past weekend. Made for difficult plan making but I chose to do a bit of riding in town and in the park to dodge any serious weather. With Monday off I opted to head north to Mount Laurier, Qc to ride a little bit more of the Petit Train du Nord rail trail. This is a bit of a new area for me so even the drive up was interesting (made doubly interesting thanks to an MTQ detour partway along that went nowhere and apparently served no purpose).

Arriving in Mount Laurier the main street was busy with traffic but I found the “station” and headed out along the trail which was pretty peaceful. Nicely paved it made for smooth riding. Inside of a few minutes the town was behind me and the trail continued into the Laurentide forests passing some big lakes and bogs. The trail itself was originally graded for trains so it’s never steep. In fact climbs are almost imperceptible. I had my GPS on so I could spot that – for roughly the same effort - my speed would drop slightly thus knowing I must be going uphill. Other than that it was pretty smooth sailing. I was surprised how little civilization there was along this part of the trail. For the most part it cuts through the bush from little village to little village. This is quite unlike parts of the trail further south with continuous strings of golf courses and cottage properties. I had also expected the trail to parallel roads but – if they were there- you couldn’t see or hear any traffic at all.

For a Monday the trails had a few other riders/skaters out but all in all pretty light. It was only as I returned to Mount Laurier in the evening that locals appeared for their evenings excercise. Spotted an interesting sign that suggests roller skiing is only allowed (on a trial basis) on a section of trail (24km) from Val Barrette to Lac Saguay and then only between 6 and 10am on weekdays. I guess there must be a lot of traffic on the weekends and they want to minimize the potential injuries that flailing poles might cause. Still if this Monday was any indication the odd person every 20 – 30minutes that I met could be easily passed by a roller skier with no ill effect. Too bad as 100km of paved trail from Mount Laurier to Labelle would make for some nice roller skiing.

Stopped for a coke at a trail side depaneur in Val Barrette before the last ride home. The extra sugar was welcome as I approached Mount Laurier. I could see approaching thunder heads but a last hard push got me to the car and safely packed up before the rain started to fall. Grey clouds had seemed to be everywhere all day threatening rain but I managed to dodge them all(or perhaps the trail I was on managed to dodge them…). A nice day out for sure.

Central ADK Firetower weekend

After last weekend’s chaos of showing 37,000 of my closest friends around town I decided that this weekend I would spend some slightly more quiet time in the woods. I did get a few requests for photos of Race Weekend events but alas, while I do carry my camera in the truck, I rarely have time or even think to pull it out and actually take any pictures – too many other things on my plate. That said there are some really nice pictures from Race Weekend here and here and here.

While this past weekend was not slated to be the best weather wise I still loaded up the car and headed south on Saturday morning. I think in the end I cashed in a lot of karmic chips as I scored some pretty great weather for hiking. As I pulled out of Ottawa it was raining but the clouds started to part as I hit Tupper Lake. I was headed a little further south this weekend with hopes to climb a few firetower peaks. With that in mind I headed towards Indian Lake and then over to the Cedar River dam to hike up Wakely Mountain. Wakely has been one of the firetowers I’ve wanted to hike to for a while. It’s remote location and commanding view of the “little great range” were attractive but it is also the highest firetower remaining in New York which sounded cool. The hike itself was a good one. First a 1 ½ miles through relatively level hardwood forests and then another mile or so straight up the peak. Clearly this trail was cut before anyone thought of switchbacks as the trail climbed right up the fall line with little or no respite from the steep climb. Getting to the summit I was greeted with the 70 foot tower – the only one I’ve come across with guy wires to provide additional stability. Once I climbed it I realized they were certainly needed on this day as a heavy wind was blowing. In the cab of the tower I discovered it rocking and swaying back and forth – very much “Mister Fire Wardens wild ride”. The views were stunning with light clouds floating by so – while my stomach stayed with me - I grabbed some photos of Snowy and the other mountains to the east. Bit of a newbie down in this part of the park so I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking at … but it all looked nice. Back on the ground I checkout out the firewardens cabin(creepy) before heading back down. Bugs were mostly a non-issue as the strong breeze kept them at bay.

From there I decided to check in to Lake Durant to set up a base camp. At this point I discovered I was out of cash so I drove (quite a distance) to Old Forge for the nearest ATM and then – as luck would have it – I was near Rondaxe peak for another firetower hike. This was a much shorter hike of only a mile and very limited elevation gain. Getting there around 6 in the evening I discovered a dozen cars in the lot and many hikers met me coming down the trail…. But I ended up on the summit by myself. I guess the hiking community all had dinner engagements to get to. Took my time and enjoyed the summit before heading back down as the sun started to dip. Back at camp I made dinner and got a fire going. Been a while since I sat in front of the campfire and it was a very peaceful way to spend the evening. It was quite cold however with a temperature of +2C as I went to bed. The cooler weather was doubly appreciated though as it meant the bugs were non-exsistant (frozen in their homes?) and it certainly meant for a great nights sleep tucked in my tent.

Around 5 am I was awoken by rain on the tent… okay, no early hike. When I did get up the rain had mostly stopped but nearby Blue mountain was encased in low cloud. The weather lady on NPR kept assuring me that more clouds and heavy storms were coming so I decided to skip climbing Blue in the morning and instead headed north to Long Lake. Once there I found Owl’s Head summit free of clouds so I pulled into the trail head, loaded up the pack and headed into the woods. Again this hike started out quite peacefully with a mostly flat woodland trail before making a right angle turn straight up the fall line. What’s with these fire rangers anyway? When I reached the summit I was quite stunned to find brilliant blue skies. To the east the morning clouds were headed out to sea and there was nothing but blue skies to the west. Blue mountain was completely clear. Drat(quietly cursed the NPR weather lady )!! Enjoyed the summit – again strong winds were blowing but the Owl’s head tower is considerably shorter than Wakely so no swaying in the breeze. After enjoying the summit for an hour I headed back down to the car, got cleaned up and drove in to Long Lake to grab a bite to eat. To my surprise, as came out of the shop with a sandwich in my hand, I could see dark clouds cresting Owl’s Head summit. Where had they come from? Sure enough, not 5 minutes after driving out of town the rains started to sheet down(quietly recanted my curses of the NPR weatherlady). When I drove through Tupper Lake the whitecaps were huge and the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. As I passed through Tupper Lake the rain turned to snow! It didn’t stay on the ground though so I was wise not to pack my skis. I guess that’s the closest I’ll get to snow in June (missed it by a day) which I’m told happens all the time. All in all a great weekend of hiking and I managed to luck out with beautiful weather while I was hiking and crappy weather while I was in the car. Somehow I know I’m gonna pay for that down the road…

Monday’s weather was looking good. Clear skies and cool but warming temperatures. In fact the overnight low in Lake Placid was supposed to be -4C so Mike and I figured that would do a number on the blackflies… perfect! Plenty of sunshine as we drove down from Ottawa but the high peaks were still overcast. No worries as we were sure the clouds would blow through as we climbed giving us warm sunny skies when we reached the summit. Decided to do a shorter hike as one more tune up for the full on big peak hiking season and Mike had one on his list… but damned if I can remember the name. Sadly it appears on my map right on the fold so the name is a bit obscured… can’t quite recall what the trail head sign said… ah well.

For the most part the climbing was good. Nice soft trail. There was a beautiful waterfall just off the trail as we got up higher. Bit of a narrow gully to scramble in to the falls made worse by spring times higher than normal water level but it was well worth it. Equally big scramble out of the gully but soon enough we were on our way again on the main trail. The trail had many switchbacks making the ascent more gentle than the terrain implied. Also made it tricky to spot all the twists and turns as clearly many folks missed the back and forth turns making little extensions of the trail at each bend before retracing their steps to the trail proper.



The climbing never really got terribly steep as we went along. Just prior to the summit the mountain tried to impress us with some rocky rooty trail but it was over before it got too tough so all in all a pretty easy hike. Tremendous view as we came out on the open ridge. High peaks galore spread out before us and all were resplendent in their spring time shades of green. No sun though as the clouds remained locked over the high peaks. Not much wind either so while hardly warm it wasn’t too cold to sit and enjoy the view. We found a spot on the rocks to have a bite to eat while sharing the summit with a couple of ladies from Quebec (not a holiday in Quebec was it?). Apart from them we didn’t really see anyone else all day – work day for the Americans I suppose. I’m sure they’ll all be out next Monday.


After lunch and plenty of photos we headed down again, pretty smooth sailing as the trail was smooth and soft. Back to the car in plenty of time to make the drive home and watch Sid take down the Canes. Wish I could remember the peak name as I would definitely hike it again – pound for pound it’s probably one of the better hikes I’ve done in the high peaks. Oh and on the drive home we got brilliant blue skies as we drove into Saranac Lake. Just where we'd left the blue skies when we drove down in the morning, sigh...

Sun setting on Meech lake
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Pretty weak long weekend considering it is proclaimed the unofficial start to summer. Saturday it rained most of the day - sometimes a bunch. I still managed to go for a (wet) ride in the park as the mountainbike trails officially opened on Friday. This after a month to let the snows melt and the tracks dry out a little. On the plus side, the showers kept the ever increasing population of blackflies at bay. I hadn't been up to the park since Easter weekend so it was nice to get back in the local woods for a - somewhat soggy - ride. In the evening I had hopped to find some fireworks to photograph but was clearly unprepared, looking in the wrong spots and found nothing more than a few neighbourhood local roman candle fests. Some hope (weatherwise) did appear at the end of the day as the clouds started to push out but Saturday night was pretty frosty with the mercury dipping below zero. Another ride on Sunday felt more like November but so it goes. Lots of people taking in the sunny weather to get in a hike or a ride in the park.

Mike and I had debated heading down to the Adirondacks on Monday to get in another early season hike. With cold overnight temperatures forecast this bode well for killing off the black flies and providing cool weather to climb in. Things were finally looking up...

Sunday I headed down to the Adrirondacks to get in an early season hike. Saturday was spent marking ‘k’ markers for the upcoming Race Weekend so I wanted to take advantage of the predicted rain free weather and get in a hike on Sunday. As it turns out Pete had finally cleared his schedule and wanted to get in a winter hike! I know, I know... Pete’s schedule is sometimes a little... umm, shifted. I recommended he start work on freeing his schedule for a hike next weekend and maybe he’d be ready to go in January. While this would be a “winter hike” for Pete I recommended that he leave the snowshoes at home… you know, take a chance on bare booting. I was looking to do a relaxing hike and – opposed to my long day hike in March – a shorter one to ease into the hiking season rather than do a trial by fire marathon type hike. Fortunately the Adirondacks have lots of great options for some excellent short hikes. Pitchoff, Hurricane, Hopkins, Jay, Ampersand... – all great climbs. On the drive down we discussed some of the options, weighed the pros and cons and settled on the idea of Catamount. It’s definetely a shorter hike but it purportedly has some really nice scrambly bits and a nice open summit - and it didn't dissapoint.

Unfortunately overnight rains left the morning sky overcast and gray. But it was no longer raining so we loaded up and hit the trail. Temperature was a brisk +12C - perfect weather for a winter hike. Tricky trailhead to find as it doesn’t have a sign but rather just a couple of red painted trees by the side of the road. We were the first to arrive so no parked cars tipped us off but we found it none the less. The first kilometer is dead flat but soon enough it started up in a pretty steep manner. Nearing the top of a nice little sub summit the trail goes pretty vertical with a cool little chimney to claw up and then some nice little crags to clamber through. At this point the views opened up as well with a nice look over to nearby Whiteface and Esther. Once on the sub summit we took a break. Had to find a sheltered spot as a cold wind was blowing(to be expected on a winter hike) but behind some scrubby trees we were quite comfortable.

The climb up to the summit was equally nice with lots of rocky little chutes to negotiate through and in short order we were on top. Had a little stroll around and took some photos before sitting down for an early lunch. At this point there was no sign that the clouds were going to break up – so after a good rest on the summit we started down. Equally fun descending the crags and boulders. Back at the chimney we met up with our first group of hikers coming up. It was certainly nice having the peak to ourselves but we would discover that Catamount in springtime is no secret with local hikers as we met some 30 folks in different groups working their way up. We even came across some guys clearing the blowdown. They had some little hand saws with them and while there were only a few trees across the trail they were pretty big ones so it must have been hard work – many thanks. Roundtrip was only 11 or 12km so we were back at the car by 1:30. This left us plenty of time to hit the patio for a post hike beverage and watch some of the Wings/Ducks games… wrapping it up like any good “winter hike” with a little hockey on the big screen. Excellent day out. Sadly the sun broke out as we drove home but the morning hike was a good one in spite of the cloudy cool weather. We’ll get you out in your snowshoes yet Pete!

Catamount - definetely worth the trip

Saturday was “take 2” on the annual Luskville falls/firetower hike. Unfortunately the last minute change of date meant Mike (still) couldn’t make it and Dave was tied up with “new home renovation” work. As it turned out Bryan was able to convince (bribe?) his family to come along so we had an official “party” to put this one in the books. Turned out to be a spectacular day. Soon the bugs will be out but Saturday it got up to the mid 20’s and was sunny for the morning anyway so it felt like full on summer (sans bugs). I had to get up extra early to do a distance certification ride for the MDS Nordion 10k (all is in order now so here’s hoping we get a world record run on the course). As it turned out that worked out well as Bryan could only rouse his family later in the morning so I headed straight up to the Luskville parking lot and met up with them there.

Quick gearing up and we were off…. Stop! Sara had to demonstrate genetics rule by immediately nabbing a snake (like father, like daughter). Even more interesting was no sooner had she nabbed the snake then she had also named it (Edward) and started work to convince Mom and Dad they should take it home to join the family collection of pets (it proved no sale and Edward the snake was returned to his (her?) habitat). From there we were off in earnest and up, up up we went. Several nice breaks on the climb to take in the views and with no leaves on the trees yet there were lots of views to be had. Finally at the upper lookout we stopped for a well earned snack break. Here Bryan deployed some interesting treats from his pack. Chocolates, and several kinds of sweets were dispensed keeping the crew happy. I notice he doesn't carry that kind of stuff when he hikes with just us... I felt like a bit of a fool with my carrots and triscuits. From there we headed up to the tower proper. Clouds had rolled in and a few patches of rain fell but they only served to cool us down and never lasted more than a minute or two. Another good break at the tower and then it was time to head down. By now a lot of people were heading up the trail so we must have picked a pretty good time to head up, beating the hordes who were looking to take advantage of the beautiful (albeit now cloudy) day. No sign of Edward at the base so it was off to the local poutine shack (part of Bryan’s bribery agreement I understand). As it turns out this shack has the “meilleur poutine du monde” (it said so right on the sign by the road so it must be true). Who would have thought, in all of the world, we would stumble across the best poutine anywhere – lucky days indeed! An excellent hike with a good crew. Glad we were able to get this hike in the books pre-black flies.

The ski season has now wrapped up for me. Most of my skis are cleaned up, storage wax applied and put away so it was time to think about other activities. After a weekend of lethargy (following last weeks "work" chaos - an exhausting week where nothing seemed to go as planned) Monday was to be the annual hike up to the Luskville fire tower. Bryan had booked it months ago but – as with anything booked months in advance – turns out one of the regulars couldn’t make it and the weather looked a little sketchy so we decided on another option. Instead we headed to P16 , dropped a car and then drove up to P15 to hike the snowshoe trail into Healy and Herridge shelters with an exit route down the Pine road to the first car. Turned out to be a nice little loop. The snowshoe trail still had a few spots where the snow was pretty deep but the trail “spine” was solid so walking was easy. There were also a few flooded sections but short bushwhacks were not too tough. We met up with three gentlemen who were pre-hiking the trail, checking the trail condition in advance of a larger group coming in on Wednesday. They were busy building up “bridges” where there was water to cross and dragging off blown down branches to clear up the trail. I wonder if the NCC was giving them a fee for the hard work. Probably not but they were doing a fine job so we let them go ahead of us :). Once at Healy we enjoyed lunch in the dwindling sunshine. After lunch, I noticed a live animal trap had been placed behind the shelter. Whoever had dropped it had clearly forgotten it as the trap had been sprung and the victim had expired inside the trap. In fact the poor thing had been mostly devoured by other creatures that had managed to pull it bit by bit through the bars of the cage… talk about picking at your food. Not a good way to go. On to Herridge (Dave’s first visit) where we inspected the bird feeder which was a busy spot as always. By this time the clouds had rolled over and the temperature was dropping so we didn’t stay long and were soon on our way down the trail for home. Scattered along the ski trail on Pine road a few patches had a lot of snow - over a foot deep in spots. Not too good for skiing though as there were long stretches with no snow at all followed by 2 or 300 meters of good skiing. Clearly we’d made the right choice by walking today. Firetower or no this was a good start to the hiking season.

Even the snakes would give a thumbs up for spring(if they could)...

Truly a beautiful Easter weekend. The sun shone, the birds sang… and the skiing was pretty good. Alas, all good things must come to an end and I fear, as this weekend draws to a close, so too does the ski season. I skied all 4 days and little by little the snow is starting to recede. No word from the snow gods regarding my last plea for more snow. I think they’ve started their journey to the southern hemisphere so we won’t be seeing them again for a while. Double digit temperatures all this week with lots of sun in the forecast. Doesn't bode well for the snowpack.

Skiing from P10 today the walks were getting longer. Small gaps in the snow that were 5 steps on Sunday were 25 steps on Monday. In spots the snow is really nice. Above the Khyber pass and then again out towards trail 24 things were good - at times really good - but somewhere in between those two spots things are a little ugly with rocks and gravel poking through. I also skied out Ridge road from Keogan towards Penguin a ways and there the trail has reasonable coverage but was somewhat uneven thanks to hikers tromping along the trail. In fact today I think skiers were outnumbered by hikers. I guess most people have had enough of skiing for another year and are moving on to other pursuits. Bit of a melancholy ski back to the car. I don’t think the remaining snow, for me, is worth the drive up before work to get in some quick pre-work skis. Even with the short week this week I don't think there will be much snow to speak of next weekend. Maybe a little tele will be possible on the slopes of Camp Fortune but other than that I think the inevitable has come and it’s time to pack the skis away for another season. So it goes. It's been a good and surprisingly long season from October until now. Time to get the hiking gear out, scan some maps and plan a few trips… Clean up the bike and see how she rolls. And of course there is lots to do before the end of May so a lot of my time is already spoken for in the next little while. Apparently some pretty fast guys are chomping at the bit for some prize money so we've gotta get out and confirm the distances and make sure all is in order before race day arrives.

Spring is arriving so it's time to embrace it.

Signs of spring

Signs of spring
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Took another ski today. Thanks to tips from several other internet trail reporters I decided to wait until things warmed up a little letting the track soften up a bit. Got to P10 around noon and skied out to the trail 24 junction. Conditions were pretty good all the way with the snow providing enough texture to get a decent edge. A couple of thin spots here and there (including a nice "F1 style" gravel trap starting to open up at the bottom of the Khyber pass) but I didn't have to take my skis off except as I went past the Brule and Huron lookouts. It was a bit windy to find somewhere to sit and take full advantage of the sun today but the skiing was fine. Things were opening up a bit on my ski back so the season is clearly wrapping up. Another day or two and then who knows. Last time I "called it" we got 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow... Any chance the weather gods are listening again with another trick up their sleeve?

With some fresh snow falling during the week I managed to convince Mike and Bryan to dig their skis out of storage (yeah, like they’ve already gotten around to storing their skis) for one last ski. While the snow was probably the best around P10 and P12, the guys seemed intent on one last mission up to Lusk cabin… and who am I to argue. Sunny day, beautiful cabin by the lake…. let’s go! Seems like Lac Phillippe got a lot less snow than further into town near Fortune Lake but there was still skiable snow (after a short walk from the parking lot). It was a little cool when we started (-2C) and the snow pack was icy fast. It was also pretty badly chewed up by a truck that must have driven up the campground roads… but there was still good snow along the sides. Cruising along we found a few spots we had to portage but they were mostly short and painless. It was clear that some of the walks were likely going to be a little longer on the way out though as the snow was melting fast. Once at the turn off to Lusk cabin we had good snow all the way up to the lake – nice frozen base and skidoo/ATV tracks compacting the snow to give some easy skiing. In fact we met the ATV coming down from the cabin as we skied up. He had a big box of birdseed on the back so I guess today was time to refill the feeders. Clearly the birdseed they give to the birds at Lusk cabin must be like crack for birds as the chickadees at Lusk seem to be the most aggressive birds I’ve ever met at looking for handouts. Not just “Will you feed me? Tweet, tweet…” but more “Hey, buddy! Hand over your sandwich… and anything else you got in your pack. Do it now and no one gets hurt!!” Kind of like getting mugged by little birds.

Marauder demanding his due
Once up to the cabin we took up positions on the deck and enjoyed some lunch and the warm sunshine. Beautiful spot to spend a little time, read the cabin log book, eat (quickly before the birds steal your lunch) and enjoy a beverage. Finally it was either head back to the car or stretch out in one of the bunks for a nap so we strapped on the boards and headed down. Things were much easier on the descent. The warmth of the day had turned the top layer of the icy base into a nice layer of velvet. Quick stop at Renaud and then we headed back to the cars. Lots of people on foot along the campground roads – even a family on bicycles (walking them across the snow) and we came across the ATV again, this time hauling baggage into one of the huts (the guests don’t carry their own bags?). Longer stretches of asphalt on the way out but the warm sunny day made these seem like no big deal. I expect I’ll get out for some skiing tomorrow but, if today was any indication, this weeks last blast of winter is melting fast.

Groomed

Prefered parking
Originally uploaded by kenmores

And I’m not referring to my stylish new haircut. I’ll have to check with Ms Morrisette but I find it somewhat ironic that after my last post declaring it likely my last ski of the season… it promptly snows for three days. I headed up this morning with a renewed chance to get some more tracks in. While the city has only seen a dusting of snow stay on the ground, the park has received 4 or 5 inches of fresh powder. Exposed asphalt, rocks and roots are now once more buried under a white carpet. Conditions were amazingly good. I’d almost forgotten how good skiing fresh powder can be as we haven’t seen this much fresh snow since February. I brought my classic skis expecting to have only a hard fought "skied in" classic track to follow thanks to my fellow skiers. Much to my surprise – like the early October snowfall some months ago – I found a groomed track. Okay no classic tracks but nice smooth corduroy up the center of the parkway. Nice of Demsis to get out there some 10 days after the official “end of the season” and almost 2 weeks after the last sighting of the groomers. Turns out they had worked the Parkway from P8, around the Doldrums and up to the “T” as well as a little of Ridge road…. But it’s better than nothing. Slow work too as they only had the skidoos out pulling a grooming sled so it took many passes to get a wide enough track for skating. As I had my classic skis with me I skied in the "skied in" track left from my fellow skiers last night (thanks for your efforts). There were signs that some individuals had skated through the deep slow snow last night. For their heroic efforts I mostly left the corduroy for someone more deserving to cut in the first tracks. Met the work crews up at gossip corner and Shilly Shally as I worked my way around for a loop. Last season, in spite of mounds of snow the skiing ended abruptly with some sustained +20C days. This year its felt like the season has been wrapping up since early March… but it keeps on ticking along. Easter skiing here we come.

A sunny Sunday

The Champlain parkway
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Went for a ski this morning. Wasn’t sure what to expect and wasn’t feeling too good to boot so I opted for P6 as a starting point. Might have been a better guarantee of snow higher up in the park but as it turns out the parkway was in pretty good shape (all things considered). I probably could have done a lap of the parkway and only had a handful of short walks to contend with (although the Doldrums might be pretty thin by now). A nice light snow had fallen overnight and the base was still pretty fast so skiing wasn’t too bad. I skied from P6 up to the” T” and for the most part had first (ski) tracks despite my late start. It was also a good chance to spot a few of the parks other inhabitants’ tracks left behind in the fresh snow. I saw a lot of familiar ones (geese, deer, rabbits, maybe a coyote (but probably a dog)) and a few that I couldn’t identify (what do we have that has a long thin tail?). Certainly “name that track” made the time pass as I climbed the Black Lake hill. At the top of the hill there was the only long stretch of exposed roadway but the portage along the grass was a nice change of pace. There were also other skiers tracks (coming from P10) once I got back on the snow but in the end I only saw one other skier. There were however a number of people out walking around MacKenzie King and they gave me bemused looks as I skied past. As luck would have it the sun came out while I skied and it was a nice chance to be out and enjoy the day. It may prove to be my last ski of the year though as things are getting pretty thin. In fact small patches of exposed asphalt as I skied out to the T were noticeably bigger when I skied back. We have some more rain in the forecast this week. I suppose Ridge road may still have snow next weekend but once the hiking from one snow patch to the next gets to be more than the skiing I tend to call it a season… we’ll see what happens.