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

Canadian ski marathon - trail scouting

Hadn’t expected to need (or want) to make this road trip to check out the ski marathon trails. It’s become a bit of an annual tradition though so it was a nice morning driving around in the Quebec countryside. After the big snows we received over Christmas I figured the trails for CSM were all set. There was some word that – like Gatineau park – a few sections of wooded trail needed to be cleared of downed trees but the snow depth should be fine. Then we got our annual “January thaw”. Significant warm temperatures and some rain dropped the snow pack a bit. Then we got another thaw!! This time even warmer temperatures and more rain. The snow pack in Ottawa dropped significantly after that one. Not enough to open up the trails here in the Park but a few water hazards here and there started to appear. So I figured maybe a drive to see the CSM trail would be warranted.


Checkpoint 4 - quiet today but soon to be a beehive of activity

As with past years I couldn’t actually ski on the CSM trail today. It passes over private property for much of the course so it’s only open to skiers one day a year – on “gameday”. That said the trail crosses many roads as it meanders through the county side so I can always check out the crossing points and take a few pictures. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (perhaps aided by a caption or two;) but all in all we should be fine for next weekend. More pictures can be found HERE.

Not much snowbank to work with on this roadside section... but it was snowing!

A little rough at the gate but the rolling hills beyond look great

The sidewalks of St Sixte were ready to go
Good coverage on this part of section 10... almost home at this point
So the coverage still looks decent. A few of the stretches along the sides of roadways may be a little… ummm, sketchy but they often are so status quo on that regard. Hopefully the wooded parts are cleared now and the “debris” from cutting the brush back isn’t too much of an impediment. There is a slight chance of some fresh snow at the end of the week which could hide the debris deeper in the snowpack.

As it stands the grooming will make for some pretty fast tracks. Everything was hard and icy and could support me walking on the top of the snowbanks. Fresh snow could slow things down a bit so we’ll have to see what happens there. Depends a little when the snow falls vs when the groomers run over the course. If the snow falls on top of the already groomed track… it will be REALLY slow… but if the groomers can work the fresh snow into their fresh track then it should be quite good. Could be a last minute wax call for sure. I look forward to the wax guru’s advice – could be a tough job to get that right.

These girls were starting to carboload - too soon?

Winter update

Time for a winter update. It’s been a tough start to winter for me since the last post. While we got buckets of snow (as I mentioned last time) I managed to get sick on the 2nd day of the Christmas holidays! That meant I wasn’t up to enjoying the snow and it seems like only now am I starting to feel right. Once sick I took the opportunity to get lots of rest so maybe that’s what most people do on their holidays anyway. I’d have rather been skiing but not to be this year. As it turns out the heavy, wet snow has been incredibly damaging to the trails in the park. Lots of trees and branches came crashing down under their holiday burdens. The trail crews have been hard at work trying to clear them but its slow, tough work for sure. That means that even now the smaller trails still haven’t opened… and may not be cleared at all this season! Bit heartbreaking to think a whole ski season will go by with out even one run at the Highland fling or Merry go round but that may be the case.

Beautiful skiing., Alas being able to breathe is an important part of this activity...
Despite my illness I did manage to get out a few times (for better or for worse). Pete and I try to do a "New Year's Eve" afternoon ski each year. He ends up working a half day so it's easy for him to bust out at lunchtime and get a ski in before heading for home. This year we went to the well cleared trails at Lac Phillippe. Visited Taylor and Lusk lake and had a quick beverage to salute the old year. After a week in my sick bed it felt good to get out on the boards even if my lungs weren’t feeling at full capacity. We also got a snowshoe in the day before going up the Lusk falls trail to “test” Pete’s snowshoe gear. It was a beautiful day indeed though somewhat cold… and a good chance to see the amount of damage the trees had endured on the summit ridge. Probably be a while yet before crews get the ski trail out to the tower cleared and ready to ski.
The last push to the tower. Surrounded by snow laden trees
A week later, after a few tentative mid-week skis, I decided to make a run down to the Adirondacks to do a little climbing… and maybe even a “ski/shoe”. On Sunday I took a leisurely drive down to the Loj and got on the trail at the alpine hour of noon! With a late start I opted for Wright with thoughts of maybe going up Algonquin as well. Overcast skies meant there would be no views but the day was warm at only a couple of degrees below 0°C. Light snow falling but the trail was wide and well packed so going was fast. On the way up I met a lot of groups coming down including a fair number of snowboarders coming off the Wright ski trail. A couple of the hiking groups had attempted Algonquin and failed owing to strong winds which helped me decide on scratching that part of the plan.
So warm I wore a ball cap... until I pushed above the tree line!
One tricky (icy) scramble before the Wright junction required a couple of careful foot placements but nothing too bad so the “shoes” stayed on and the spikes stayed in my bag. From tree line things still looked good but I put on my gortex jacket as the wind was humming. The last ¼ mile to the summit was in the open and visibility was down to 30 or 40 feet with the wind buffeting me about. Slow progress from cairn to cairn and I topped out with a quick u-turn and slow progress back to tree line. The snow surface was fine for snowshoes though crampons might have been a better choice. Unfortunately the surface and light was all a pretty uniform grey so it was a little tough to get much depth perception and careful steps were required to not walk off a taller than expected ledge. Visibility opened up in the last hundred feet and I beat a hasty retreat down below the treeline… where once again it was quite a pleasant winter day. From there a fast decent had me back to the car in no time.
Visibility was poor, but I always could see the next cairn (well, almost always)
Monday – after a night of light snow – the sun finally came out (though the temperature dropped to -12°C) so I opted for another easy hike to Sawteeth. I decided to ski the lake road through the Ausable club property and it proved a good choice. Not sure if it’s any faster than hiking. Its a 4 mile gentle climb I took a little less than an hour to ski up it with my 30 or 40lb pack. My normal walking time in summer is usually a bit over an hour… so perhaps a push. The ski out took about 20 minutes on packed powder. It’s not really a steep road but the club work crew skidoos had tracked it so conditions were pleasant. I ended up skating most of the flat stretches on the way out which used different muscle groups and was appreciated.
Crisp blue skies and snowy trees on the summit ridge
At the lake I made the change over to snowshoes and headed up. The trail was reasonably packed until about halfway up where I was met with the fresh snow in the trail. Clearly some hikers had turned back at this point so I had to break trail from there. The trench itself was solid though with only light snow – maybe 2 – 4” deep - so not too much of a chore. By the col the snow had gotten deeper (maybe 6 - 8”?) and the steep pitches were slower going. Bit of a 2 steps forward – 1 ½ steps back process but persistence paid off and I was soon on the summit and rewarded with nice views under bluebird skies.
Even the pine martens stop to take in the view
After a few photos and some food the downward progress went quickly. A few fast slides down to the col and then a few “snowshoe skis” down the (slightly less steep) trail in the fresh snow. The ski out was pleasant and before long I was back at the car. Nice couple of days on the trail. A few more pictures can be found HERE. As it turns out I got “slightly” sick (again!) after this trip but I seem to finally be bouncing back. A long, fast ski last night actually felt “good” for a change. Time to get on to winter and hopefully I’ve left the fluid filled sinuses behind me.
Hoping this is the sunrise of winter instead of the sunset

Snow, finally...But at what cost.

Been doing a bit of skiing over the last few weeks. The snow has been slow to come and the little bits we got were often good for a parkway run but little else. Still it was nice to get out on the skis and start to tune up for the season.
  Huron sunset
A week ago we got out for our annual trip to a Lac Phillippe shelter. As luck would have it it was actually snowing as we went in so I skied in with a sled in tow. It worked pretty well but the fellas opted to just walk in as the base was solid and there really wasn't that much snow to speak of. A long night of (too much) good food was enjoyed and the cabin (The Pines) we stayed in was more than up to the task of staying warm. In fact it was somewhat tropical again - similar to Lusk cabin - so sleeping bags weren't really necessary. Sadly the snowfall turned to freezing rain over night and I had a bit of a tricky ski out in the morning. Another good trip in the books.
Des Pins
With the first official day of winter we finally got some serious snowfall. While it started as light freezing rain, by the time the storm got going it was wet heavy snow. Excellent snowman/snowball snow to be sure. This boded well for a holiday week of skiing but alas it seems too much of a good thing isn't always great. The wet heavy snow loaded up the trees pretty badly and a tremendous number have buckled under the weight. As such the trail crews have cleared a "lane" on the parkway but the side trails are a warren of broken trees and branches. Could take a couple of weeks before they are all cleared out.. and then we'll need more snow to cover all the debris left behind.
Skiing through the woodwork
Ah well, while I was hoping to get onto the trails proper, the parkway will have to do for now. Skiing is skiing after all.
A ski by any other name...

Summer Vacation!

Wait, What?!? Either this post is rather late… or I was. As it turns out the latter is true. Finally got my act together and took a little time off. As it turns out I couldn’t even get that quite right and in the end had only a handful of days to string together. I guess you take what you can get. With time short I had to keep a careful eye on the weather maps. While things looked good for a day or two here or there I was aiming for 3 or 4 days to string together so I tried to put an agenda together to maximize the sun wherever I could find it.
Snowy mountain firetower peaks out above the trees
First stop was a relatively familiar spot in the Adirondacks. One of the few firetower peaks I had yet to hike was Snowy mountain so I made a bee line for this peak on the first morning. As it turns out I got a whole variety of weather in a single hike… but it was still an enjoyable climb. The first part is relatively mellow and I enjoyed the fall colours with sun and occasional rain coming through the trees. As I got higher up the trail the rain changed to snow and the trail turned into a running stream. Snowy would live up to her namesake and before long I was climbing in wintry conditions. The snow was pretty wet though as – at +4C – it was too warm to really build up much. That said it made the trail pretty wet so I managed to have pretty wet feet. Summit time was nice though there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing so I limited my time in the tower and stuck more to the open balcony where the fire wardens cabin would have stood. Soon enough I made my descent down the soggy trail. Must say I was pretty pleased with the performance of my Salomon GA hiking boots. They got pretty wet but – as there’s not much to them – they were dry again in a few steps so wet feet wasn’t as big a problem as I’d suspect. Add to that, after several long hikes I felt no immediate need to rip them off my feet as I returned to the car… they’re just that darn comfortable!
Summit views down into the fall
From the base of the mountain, once I’d changed into dry gear and spread my wet cloths out in the car to maximize drying potential I surveyed my options. With rainy weather covering the Adirondacks I pointed myself south to Massachusetts. Spent a dry(ish) night camping in Vermont and woke to a little rain but nothing too serious. Popped across the border and started to hike up Greylock. It’s the high point in Massachusetts (~3600ft) and a nice state park. I opted to take the Appalachian trail to the summit but alas, with the grey clouds meant I would be hiking in fog for the rest of the day. The summit offered no views and I quickly turned and headed back down. As is often the case, the sun came out as I got back to the car. While this is often a bit aggravating, today it was no big deal. Once cleaned up from my hike I jumped in the car and drove back up Greylock on its parkway style road! The summit now offered beautiful evening views and – because of the cooler temps and the rainy morning I had it mostly to myself. Grabbed a few shots and checked out the summit tower more closely this time before making my way back off the mountain. Greylock Park, which surrounds the mountain, definitely has a lot of options for hiking and camping and the road to the summit looks to offer an excellent (and challenging) bike ride so I may have to come back.
Greylock summit in view
Greylock Memorial tower
Had good luck with my camping spot in Vermont so another short hop back across the border and I was set up again looking forward to a clear night. Of course clear at this time of year means big high pressure system… and that means coooold. Woke to temperatures of about -8C. Wasn’t really expecting it to be that cold and – while warm in my sleeping bag – I didn’t really use my head in getting set for the day. Ran around in all directions scrambling to get things set for the day as I shivered in light layers. Meanwhile, perfectly warm jackets and toques sat unused in my car. Brain must have been frozen as I clearly wasn’t thinking. Still, in spite of my blunderous start to the day I finally got things together and headed up Equinox mountain under blinding sunshine. The steep track certainly warmed me up and for the most part my early start meant I only had a few dog walkers near the trailhead and then saw no one else until I was almost down. The hike was nice though the summit reminded me that – unlike the Adirondacks – most normal mountains have a plethora of radio towers on the summits. There was alos a toll road up this peak but I managed to enjoy the summit buildings before the road opened and just ducked back down the trail as the first cars of the day pulled in. It was a good hike though and a beautiful day.
Fall colours on the Burr-Burton trail - the sun belies the temperature
A reminder that the toll road at Equinox summit has been here a while
Back at the car, I looked at the weather map and realized I was now hooped. Rain looked to be heading everywhere over the northeast and there was nowhere to hide for the next couple of days. To that end I took a leisurely drive up the spine of Vermont before making the drive for home. It was certainly interesting to see the after effects of hurricane Irene in another location (as opposed to the Keene valley in NY). The White river valley was also hit hard in that storm with a lot of flooding and damage to houses in the valleys as the water rose. While most of the highway structures have been replaced I was shocked to see so many houses damaged beyond repair and abandoned by their owners. Seems strange to me that more than a year later these buildings lie exactly where Irene dropped them with no efforts to demolish and remove the carcasses.
Post hurricane Irene (nearly 13 months ago!) this house still sits derilict in (what was) the river...
So, even if I didn’t get a full week on the trails, it was a nice little diversion. Summer vacation at this time of year does have its perks. No heat, no humidity and no bugs... so it's got that going for it. Perhaps there will be a few more chances to get away this fall before winter arrives in force.