CSM trail scouting trip

The ski marathon is coming up fast and once again I have signed up for it – how does this happen ;) With only 5 days till we head off into the Quebec country side I thought I would once again do a little scouting trip to see how the snow depth is along the trail. The organizers have been doing a good job this year reporting “best snow coverage in years!” To some more cynical folks one might say – that wouldn’t be too hard :P but I still felt like seeing is believing so off I went to take a look for myself. Of course I couldn’t ski on the trails for the most part as they pass over private property and are only open to skiers on “game day”, but I could certainly drive to a few of the spots where the trail crosses the roads and see what the groomers have had to work with thus far. As it turned out is was an awful day to take pictures – gray skies and really flat light – but I did what I could.
Crossing the fields near CP10
Crossing the Blanche river looks solid
Happy to say that there looks to be really good snow coverage this year. Away from the roads – in the farmers fields things looked excellent. The groomers have been by at least once (perhaps more) and packed a layer of snow in preparation. Close to the roads there are a few slightly thin spots where sticks are sticking up through the packed trail. For the most part though, these were few and far between so they should only be a minor inconvenience.
Paralleling the "317"
A little rough here but shouldn't be too bad
I did jump out of the car a couple of spots and walk briefly on the packed base. It was very solid which isn’t surprising. With all the freeze-thaw cycles we’ve had and the rain followed by cold overnight freezes one would expect the base to have solidified very nicely. Of course when they come to trackset this base I expect it will leave a very abrasive surface. It should provide for fast glide but will likely be hard on the grip wax. We’ll see if we can coax the “wax guru” to make some best guesses but I would say a solid base binder or klister will be needed before you put on your “grip wax of the day” if you want to have good grip all day long.
Good snow depth coming into CP8 in St. Sixte
Leveling out the snow... and keeping the snowmobiles off
Good snow depth here
After touring around the country side I met up with Pete and we skied for a little bit on the trails at the Montebello Gold club. The CSM trail will be coming down through here as it finishes up at the Chateau on Day 1. The trails at the club are very nicely groomed and there is a lot of elevation change which must make for a fun golf round. Thankfully for the skiers, most of the elevation change they will see is down hill at this point. The one thing I did see on the golf club trails was a whole lot of leaves pulled up in the tracks. Not sure if this will be a problem for all of the course as much of it will only be trackset a few days prior so not much time for the local leaves to blow into the track. The CSM trail does cross a few other golf clubs though so I bet there will be some leaves to contend with. What does that mean to the skiers? I certainly picked up a lot of leaves in the grip wax on my skis and it seriously hindered my grip as the day wore on. I’ll be packing a small scrapper to get rid of (rake?) leaves off my bases if they become problematic through the course of the day.
Montebello trails with lots of leaves!
Even found some tracksetting has begun just north of Montebello
So it looks like all systems are go for next weekend. Hoping for good weather and good skiing for all the participants.

The home stretch down the nicely groomed Montebello golf club trails

Be careful what you wish for...

This past weekend I took a long enjoyable ski out to the McKinstry hut. Winter has finally given us something to ski with and - in spite of the occasional warm spell with some rain or freezing rain - the ski base has become decent. Of course with the bouts of freezing rain we've had the groomers have been working hard to grind it up and convert it to skiable snow but all things considered we've had really (really)good tracks of late. Still, when I skied out to the hut it was a warm day with glazed track conditions. Add to that a few flurries of fresh (wet) snow and I struggled with getting the wax to work. Still a beautiful ski but when I was done I was wishing (hard) for a powder day. The ungroomed trails - which shine in a big dump of powder - have been pretty much a no-fly zone as the freezing rain forms an ugly crust which may (or may not) break when you ski it and if it does break under your skis will more than likely shred your ankles - no fun. So those trails have remained untouched in my annual redlining project while waiting for the right snow to fall. And waiting, and waiting...

Murky days but beautiful skiing
Monday I decided to go back to the Adirondacks and see how winter was shaping up. I thought by this point I could maybe use the touring boards to go back up to the Avalanche pass or maybe ski the Lake road to the Lower Ausable lake... but like here, winter hasn't been too kind with limited snow and lots of rain/freezing rain events. Trail reports of people using full crampons and still being turned away from summits encased in ice have been all too common of late. So as I loaded up the car, I looked forlornly at my skis... and then left them behind replaced in my pack with the crampons and ice ax. Of course my wish for a powder day was heard by someone and , pulling into the Adirondack Loj I was greeted with 5" of soft powder. Not enough to have warranted the skis (although I did see tracks of skiers - who clearly hate their skis!) as the fresh blanket of snow had barely covered the summer rocks and roots down low... but enough that my hike today was going to be a bit more challenging than I anticipated.

Fresh snow on the bridge
Fortunately I had lingered over my egg mcmuffin and one (1) person had already broken trail toward Marcy dam. One track though is hardly a beautiful smooth sidewalk of snow and I quickly found that the uneven trail of summer wasn't too far below the fluffy snow. Still, I guess it's a base builder for later in the season. Took the new trail junction that bypasses the washed out Marcy dam bridge and was soon enough headed up the Van Hovenburg toward Tabletop (with a plan to maybe summit Phelps as well). Indeed it wasn't until I was up to Indian Falls that the snowshoes were really beneficial at all. The route up to Tabletop was untouched when I arrived so I had an even harder haul to get up the trail which now had 7 or 8 inches of snow and a steep narrow (albeit only a 1/2 mile) trench to the summit. Lots of fresh snow means the trees are loaded and waiting for the first hapless passerby to unload their burden on your head.. and I got quite a few snow bombs dumped on me. Enough so as to learn that - even with a lid and two (2!!) internal cuffs - on my winter pack, snow still found its way inside. Ah but like a good Sgt tells his men during an artillery barrage... one place is as good (or bad) as the other so I soldiered on and made good progress to the summit.

Hard work breaking trail ahead
Once near the top, the winds picked up tremendously. Fortunately - in such a different environment, there was no snow in the tree tops as they were all glazed solid with ice. Mountain tops are truly an inhospitable place in winter - nice to visit but I can't imagine how the stunted krumholz ever survive. The top of the "Table" provides good protection in a cluster of trees but a few short steps away are some nice views. Today the nearby peaks offered their grizzled faces to me so I grabbed a quick bite of food in the sheltered summit and then hopped out to grab a few shots before loading back up and heading down. Much speedier descent, as winter trails often are, but when I got back to the Phelps trail I opted against it. It looked (at least down low) to be not much different than a "white" summer version of itself. Very rocky and rooty. I'd already been dealing with the rocky/rooty trail of the Van Ho where your snowshoes catch an edge of a rock and then - using the power of leverage - haul your ankle or leg off in some wild and unpleasant direction. It's no fun and I decided that Phelps could wait for a snowier day when the flat even track would be a delight to climb (and descend!).

Marcy graces me with a view - a veiled view of white on white... but a view none the less
From there it was a short hop to Marcy dam and then another leap to the Loj. Having seen a handful of tracks in various spots on the trail I had spent the entire day without actually seeing anyone else. A little surprising considering the Van Hovenburg (or Van Ho highway) is probably the one of the busiest trails in the Adirondacks (perhaps next to Cascade). So I got my powder day even if it wasn't to be had on skis - nor would I have wanted my skis just yet in these conditions. In fact the ever deepening snow (as I climbed) took its toll on me more than I had suspected. That and the thinly veiled summer trail and I would still call it "late fall" conditions. Puxatawny Phil is a fraud - winter hasn't really started yet!! More pictures here...

A little winter at elevation at least

Ski season is here

Wait, What?! January 19th and I’m only declaring a start to the ski season…. Been that kind of a year. Still, better late than never. We finally got a good storm to track over Ottawa and drop a few decent inches of snow. Before that there was some snow which was pretty thin but skiable. Beggars can’t be choosers though so I got quite a few k’s on the Parkway flats and occasionally ventured off the beaten path – only to find an odd rock or tree still exposed and looking to eat my skis.
Even the base of the feeder hadn't been buried in snow

After last week’s storm the inevitable High pressure cell came in and dropped the temperature 20 degrees in a matter of moments. Cold was the order of last weekend’s skis and lots of layers were a necessity. Still it was great to be out in the snow and skiing some actual trails. Topped it off on Monday with the long loop near Wakefield which cuts across a wide variety of trail types. While I saw very few skiers (not surprising on a cold Monday) Those I did pass had wide grins (possibly frozen) on their faces as the new snow had been freshly groomed just for us. Hard to beat hard packed (yet still snowy) bomber tracks. A few pictures to demonstrate my point.
Easy skiing along the Kennedy road
Skirting the shores of Lac Phillippe
Perhaps a little time for an evening slide in the Meech Creek valley

A New Year - forward to spring

Decided to kick off the New Year on Sunday with a hike in the Adirondacks. The Christmas break had been filled with some marginal skiing on a pretty thin base. Glad to have the snow for sure as, just before the break, there was almost none to speak of. Time though for a little change so I loaded up the winter gear and- very early in the morning (4am!) drove down to the high peaks. The drive down was mostly ordinary. I always seem to pass the Malone prisons during a shift change so at 6am there is suddenly traffic everywhere for a moment or two and then it’s back to empty roads.

Not exactly "A1" winter hiking trails
The weather forecasts were very clear stating overcast skies with rain after lunchtime. I had planned a slightly scenic walk out of the AMR but that forecast made me change my mind. I decided to head for the Loj with Street and Nye in mind. A shorter hike with middling views (which you wouldn’t feel too bad about if you missed out on) seemed a better choice given the day. I parked at the Loj and immediately started unloading my gear. No snow to be seen – so the snowshoes stay in the car. Warm at +5C… so the winter layers can stay behind. Overcast conditions meant I’d be in the clouds… no point carrying the big camera. Five hour hike, probably don’t need a full lunch. Pretty soon my big “winter” pack was all but empty… so I loaded it back up with some gear just for the chance to get used to the big bag.

Another tricky water crossing... and the water here looks waist deep!
Set off for the short, level walk to the Indian pass brook. This would be the only real obstacle of the day. Warm weather meant the ice would be thin and it might be difficult to cross. As it was I found a decent line and a few hops had me across. The climb itself was pretty straight forward. There was no need for spikes until I got to about 3700ft and even then it was of marginal value. For the most part I put them on rather than carry them in my pack the whole day. Nye being only 3800 ft meant I probably could have suffered the last little climb with bare boots. The climb up to Street (+400feet) was a little more wintry but even then it felt more like spring than anything.

Sun through the trees? Could this be true?
The big bonus came as I neared the ridgeline and blue skies greeted me?! So much for the predicted clouds and rain! In fact the peaks all around me were bathed in blue skies by the time I topped out and I had some good photo ops of the nearby MacIntyres and the more distant Santas. Further still Nye clearly has had some of its forested top knocked down (perhaps from Irene?) since I was here last and there are much better views from this formerly forested summit. I enjoyed a little summit time, snacked and took some pics before turning tail and heading down. An excellent day after all considering I was expecting clouded summits and a quick u-turn at each peak.

Poking my head above the clouds

A sunny day afterall!!
The descent was pretty speedy and I met a few groups heading up. Returning to the Indian pass brook I was met with more of an obstacle as the days warm weather had done some damage to the ice bridges. It took me two goes to get across. The first was met with rapidly collapsing slabs of ice and a quick u-turn to safety. The second attempt worked better with a lot of scrambling and a mad dive for the far shore line. Both attempts felt a little like those Japanese game shows where the contestants sprint across the giant dominos… all the while they are collapsing beneath them. In my case it was slabs of ice falling into the brook rather than domino's but “light feet” seemed to be the right solution. In any event I successfully moved on to the “scorpion round”… err, not in the game show I guess so just a dry walk home. Safe on the bank I then spotted a still very solid looking path of ice further upstream so the lesson is don’t always go for the first option. To be honest, the brook is only thigh deep at worst so even if I’d fallen in I would have just had a wet 20-25 minute walk back to the car (and the lovely parting gifts!)… so no big tragedy unless it was -25C (and then the ice would likely be thicker...).

Choose your path wisely grasshopper...
The return drive proved the weather people know their stuff as a warm front chased me most of the way home before catching and unloading rain from Cornwall to my driveway. So, well timed trip, a good hike and an excellent welcome to 2012. Winter returned on Monday with an excellent ski (that could still use some more snow!).

Back to winter conditions

Does 2 years make it “Annual”?

Not sure if the title applies but I’m willing to say – Yes, it does. Time for our second crack at an overnighter in Gatineau Park at one of the interior huts. Last year we skied in to Lusk Lake hut which was a pretty sweet setup but this year we decided to try one of the yurts. I opted to book the Taylor Lake yurt sitting right on the shores of the lake which sounded nice. Of course it was (almost) the shortest day of the year so the scenic vistas would be limited but even still. So with money down we laid our plans for good trip. We weren’t able to convince anyone else that a little overnighter before the chaos of Christmas was an ideal plan but no worries, just the three of us again this year.
the waxing conditions were pretty tough...

Sadly the snow gods didn’t cooperate and the “ski” part of the trip didn’t work out but a bracing walk on a cold afternoon wasn’t too bad either. I'm sure Dave was secretly pleased as the lack of a ski component meant his camp guitar wouldn't take any hits as his ski skills are still in the "rookie" class. The walk gave us a chance to see the progress on the campground washout near the main gate of the Lac Phillipe campground. Clearly those crews have been making good progress thanks to the lack of snow and the work seems to be close to completion (ahead of schedule?).
Work progresses at the new culvert

After the walk in we arrived at the yurt to find the lake frosted over like a sheet of glass. Chopping a hole to collect some water, I found the ice to be a good 2 inches thick so skating would have been a nice option if we’d have brought them along… but alas this hadn’t factored into my plan so we opted to stay on the shore.
Taylor lake as the storm clouds grew
The hut awaits us(photo courtesy of Bryan)

The yurt itself is pretty nice and – with a good fire in the wood stove – warmed up pretty nicely. A good evening spent making too much food, listening to Dave on the camp guitar and being entertained by various electronic devices(more music, a podcast or two and a few videos). We even had some nice howls bellowing from the woods as the local populace (coyotes?) provided some light entertainment. A good evening spent and even a few stars popped out which surprised me as the heavy clouds rolled over upon our arrival so I thought a star show would be out of the question.
The group settles in for the night ahead

As we hit the sack a pretty big storm crashed about outside dropping a little fresh snow (not enough to ski) but we were safe and sound in our bunks in the yurt. After last years experience of stiffling heat in Lusk cabin (that wood stove cranks some serious BTU’s!) Dave had opted to bring only a light sheet for sleeping. This worked extremely well for Bryan and me. As long as we stayed tucked in our sleeping bags, we could outwait Dave as the fire died down and the winter chill filled the yurt. Dave would inevitably be the first to feel the cold and he’d be forced to get up to stoke/rebuild the fire – a task he did efficiently 2x’s through the night (Thanks Dave!).
Checking out the ice wall on the hike out

Morning and a fresh blanket of snow on the ground as we hiked out. The snow was pretty effective at hiding layers of ice on the trail and Bryan and I took the hits with a couple of nice wipe outs as we hiked/shuffled/slid our way along. This allowed Dave to shrewdly skirt any slippery spots and protect his guitar which would have taken the brunt of any fall. I guess our “spotting” the ice patches for him was fair payback for his hard work stoking the fire overnight. A nice hike out and soon we were rolling back to town and watching the snow melt :( Looking forward to next year already when hopefully the snow will fall, the coyotes will be bolder still and indeed “annual” will seem like the appropriate term.
The motley crew (photo courtesy Dave)

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!

Trailwork underway at Lac Phillippe

Been up riding in the Lac Phillippe (and beyond) end of the park quite a bit this fall. It makes for some nice riding when the more southerly trails are overrun with leaf peepers. Further north the parking lots are fewer and farther between and fall hikers usually only make it one or two km's. Beyond that it feels a little more like I have the park to myself. I hadn’t ridden up there much this summer so it was nice to get in and explore a bit. Lots of trail erosion on the main trails after the spring melt and heavy rains of early summer. Certainly the Lac Phillippe campground road got some press after it dramatically washed out in the summer storm but riding the back woods I found all kinds of erosion trenches and damaged trail bridges. These were no problems to ride around/over etc. but with the coming ski season they'd be a bigger problem.

Pretty big Bike Eater along trail 56!

On my ride through the park on Monday it was nice to see crews out working to fix some of these problem areas. I didn’t ride out into the affected areas too much as there were heavy trucks and vehicles rolling along the trails so I didn’t want to get in the way. Still, there was lots of activity in the campground which is “closed for the season” so there was clearly some haste to get work done before the snow flies.

Road washout - the water moved some pretty big trees!

The first big repair is the campground road bridge which washed out in the early summer. It sat all summer looking pretty ugly with the culvert pitched in the air and big trees wrenched aside by the strong forces of rushing water. The heavy rains actually washed out the side of the dam upstream which must have sent a tremendous wave downhill. Back in June a temporary bridge was placed in another location closer to the lake so the campground could function through the summer season. I was beginning to wonder if that would be a "permanent-temporary" fix for the ski trail as well. On Monday however it was good to see some heavy equipment in there removing the debris and preparing for new culverts to go into place. I guess, after a design phase they waited to close up the campground before the heavy equipment got to work.

High hoe clearing the debris to prepare for a new culvert

Of the most concern to me was the bridge at the base of the hill up to Lusk lake. This is a favourite trail and seeing one of the bridge piers collapsing had me worried that the trail would be closed for the season. The bridge itself looked passable for a skier but the heavy snowcats wouldn’t be able to cross and groom the trail up the hill.

Lusk Lake bridge pier looking shaky

Since my first visit in October, it’s nice to see that crews have shored up the bridge. I must say its a pretty ugly "bandaid" approach they’ve applied to the bridge… but I hope it will work. I guess the bandaid approach was employed here because of high costs in other areas. Perhaps next season they will patch up the bridge properly as I think there are a few key flaws to their repair which won’t last in the long term.

How many structural weaknesses can you count - as an engineer, I can see 3 that leave me wondering...

Also at work were repairs to trail 56 which heads off into the woods and up to the Pontiac lookout and Lac Richard beyond. Having ridden through there a couple of weeks ago I had found some pretty big “bike eating” ruts from water rushing down the trails(pictured at the top). It was all well and good to ride around these in the summer but with a blanket of snow these would become a invisible and pretty hazardous crevasses, surely catch skiers out and causing some serious injuries. These washouts of course only occurred in steep parts of the trails so skiers would be going pretty fast when they fell into these unseen trenches. Kind of like an elephant trap! Being in lonely parts of the park would only compound the problem of getting help and extraction of the injured parties. Glad to see those repairs underway.

Trail 56 closed for repair work

Truckloads of fill heading along trail 56 to the washouts

So lots of work going on in the north end of the park. That coupled with big repairs of the culvert on the “Doldrums” – further south - has surely meant a big bill for the NCC this year. Could this in part be responsible for the ski pass price increase? Ah well, glad to see some action which will mean good skiing once the snow flies… which I’m getting really antsy for. My ride on Monday was under sunny skies and +18C!! That’s definitely not mid-November weather and not conducive to snow production.

Lots of work underway to get ready for ski season and beyond

Loon Mountain Treat

I haven’t had much luck with my “Monday’s off” this fall. A colleague of mine takes Fridays off and he has lucked out with warm sunny days on the golf links (his pastime of choice). I on the other hand have gotten cold grey days with an icy rain falling. Perfect weather to get hypothermia – bleah! It was with great pleasure, however that I woke up yesterday to sunny skies and a good forecast so I decided to take full advantage of the weather. Had to run a few errands in the morning but then chucked some gear in the truck and raced off to the Adirondacks. Beautiful sunny drive down and I arrived at the trailhead with a nice “alpine start” of 1:30pm. No worries though, late day sun often makes for better picture taking so I loaded up all the gear and headed up the trail.
Bright colours still to be had - just not primary colours
Today I had picked Loon Mountain as my destination. It’s actually considerably closer to town than the high peaks so it made for a short drive. The hike itself is not too long either at about 3 miles to the summit. With a firetower on the summit to visit I had often wondered why it was not on the official “Firetower challenge” list. I learned this summer that, until recently, the forests around the base of the mountain had been owned by a lumber company and public access was forbidden. Now – after changes in ownership and new agreements with the state… and all the insueing paperwork and legal hurdles - public access had once again been restored (in 2009). The forest rangers have made a pass at remarking the old fire wardens trail and have plans (one day) to restore the tower but for now the trail is somewhat rough with an additional 1 mile or so walking along the old forest roads before getting to the trail itself. Once it becomes “trail”, it starts uphill in a hurry with some pretty steep scrambly bits climbing close to 1000ft in the last mile. Forest rangers clearly had never heard of switchbacks when they built their approach trails. On this day I even got a bit of a taste for winter as the trail got higher. Never enough for the need of traction devices but just a nice dusting of snow as if to say “we are coming!”
Early signs of the snows ahead
Finally on the summit I added a layer and then took time to enjoy the view. Sadly – while sunny when I started, the grey clouds rolled over as I climbed. And not even very interesting clouds either – just a steel grey November cloud deck(a day early). From the look of the high peaks to the south I would guess the clouds were about 5000ft as the summits of Marcy and Algonquin disappeared in the grey. Undeterred though I shot quite a few frames. While the leaves are mostly gone there is still some beautiful colour to be had. Mostly rusts and bronze with interesting red berries on the Sumacs. The mountains take on an interesting skeletal form after the leaves are gone (appropriate on this hallows eve). Searching around the summit, I couldn't find many remnants of the fire wardens here. Not clear (to me) where the warden’s cabin might have been (up high? down low?) but there was a steady line of telephone poles up the trail indicating his (her?) communication system.
Fall colour - blaze orange - as it's that time of year
The tower itself looks to be in rough shape. The first riser of stairs has been taken down and chained to the base. While it would be an easy scramble on the steel frame up to the first deck, I opted against as the stairs above didn’t look to be in much better shape. The steel frame – while rusty – looks to be fine so I expect a repair job wouldn’t be too onerous. But who has the money these days. Not the DEC that’s for sure. They will be cash strapped for some time repairing bridges ripped out by Irene. The views are fine without the tower so no big loss that I stayed on the ground for this peak. Got back to the car around 5pm and then made the drive home. While only about 2 hours from home my return trip was slowed by lots of goblins roaming the streets of the small towns I passed through. Best to give them a wide berth lest you be “recruited” to their undead army.
Winter looming not too far in the distance