Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019

Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019
On the Archduke's Path in Mallorca

Monday 1 February 2010

Sunday 31 January 2010 – A Trip to the Fire Tower

The Fre Tower beyond McKinstry Cabin

Sometimes social etiquette leaves very little time for blogging.  Today is one of those days.

So I’ll be brief…

Ken and I enjoyed a lovely 26 km ski (3 hours plus an hour for lunch etc) from P12 by Meech Lake, in balmy conditions of –10C, up to this fire tower, where the groomed trails on the southern side of Gatineau Park terminate.  Any further progress would need serious back country skills over pathless terrain.

The fire tower was built in the 1940s and was used for over 30 years to monitor fires in the park.  It was superseded by the more sophisticated techniques of air patrol and lightning detection.

It’s 2.5 km beyond the modern, hexagonal, McKinstry Cabin, so as you pass the cabin you can light the fire (if, like today, nobody else has already done that), returning 45 minutes later to a nice warm cabin in which to toast your sandwiches.  Today we lunched with Judy and Sue, who just happened to be there.

After leaving, we met Jackie on the trail - “Hello Martin” came as a bit of a surprise to Ken, who doesn’t know Jackie!

The trail was lovely to ski, having recovered well from last week’s rain, but it’s not the easiest in the park, and was shunned by most people today, evidenced by plenty of space in P12 but overflowing car parks next to the easier Parkway trails.

That’s all for today.   Goodnight.

2 comments:

Dot said...

We always have to light the fire at McKinstry!

Dot is doing well but has only just got access to the blog and will enjoy reading all the posts.

Snow still remains here with more flurries this morning!

Scrabble resulted in a draw (well, in theory Dot won but by 2 points only!).

Be in touch soon, Sue and Dot

Phreerunner said...

This time we were a bit peeved as a group was just leaving. They hadn't bothered to light the fire.

Good to hear Dot is recovering well.

Our Scrabble contest is as tight as yours - all square at present.

Snow in the Park overnight made for magnificent conditions today for going up and down the Huron Trail (#3).

Have fun!
M