After getting back from the parkrun there was insufficient time for a ski in Gatineau Park, so Sue, Helen and I took a 15 minute drive to P11 car park in Ottawa's Greenbelt - at Stony Swamp. This is the largest forested area of the National Capital Greenbelt, and it offers a diversity of trails and activities.
The activity we chose was cross country skiing, for which we shared a trail with walkers and snowshoers. The trail varied in width between 50cm and two metres; it was narrow.
The skiing was a bit like back country skiing without the hills. Very slow. In a couple of hours we covered about 7km. In the park we would do twice that distance.
The trail we followed was the 'Jack Pine Trail'. It was well signposted, with added information boards and many bird feeders. The birds around here don't go hungry, especially when Helen comes equipped with a bag of sunflower seeds. Sue is shown first with a Chickadee, then, after a few pictures showing the nature of the trail, with a Red Breasted Nuthatch, which is rarer than the common or garden Nuthatch, which has a white breast and is a bit larger.