Wednesday 4 February 2009 – Around Lac Philippe

My first day of retirement was celebrated together with Sue on a neat little circuit of Lac Philippe – P17 (Wakefield) then along trails 52, 50 and 53, stopping at Renaud Cabin for lunch.

Unfortunately Sue wiped out quite badly near the #50 junction. I lounged on a bench whilst she adopted a ‘recovery pose’. She was later coaxed back to life with a hot bath and some ice; now how is that supposed to work?

Renaud Cabin sits in delightfully open surroundings.

We were the only visitors today, which meant that toasting our sandwiches was something of a long job.

I photographed our 'typical lunch' whilst we waited.

Today's tracks were easy but fast, with very few people out (we saw seven all day) as it was cold (-14°C + wind chill taking it to about -30°C), but hands stayed reasonably warm, especially on the delightful final section, with some open countryside, along #53.

Back home by 3pm, we later enjoyed a lovely sunset from the second floor balcony:

Then we all enjoyed an excellent meal at ‘Chez Woodroffe’ - champagne, fine wine and BBQ'd (Ken seems to like barbecuing in frigid weather) pork tenderloin with lavish accompaniments, and thank you, Kate, for your ‘phone call, and for all the contact from other well-wishers.

We enjoyed 24km today, taking from 10.15 to 14.15, including 1 hour of breaks.