Party Time

Wednesday 14 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 11 - Parkway Circuit from P8

 

Today's route:

P8>Gatineau Parkway>Champlain Parkway>Fortune Parkway>Gatineau Parkway>P8 - 22.3 km, 415 metres ascent, 2 hours 57 mins including 9 mins stops.

Whilst Shane and Stephen had opted for the 'Parkway Loop' route, Sue, Susan and I had planned to go to McKinstry cabin and the Fire Tower from P12. But despite being another blue sky day, Ridge Road to McKinstry had a thumbs down from the Park management. Temperatures would start at minus 8°C and rise to plus 5°C, tricky conditions for waxing the skis.

We decided on a clockwise trip around the 'Parkway Loop', with Susan on her waxless skis and Sue and I borrowing Helen and Ken's waxless boards. This worked well, albeit Sue complained about having to work a bit harder than usual.

The highlights of the outing were the frozen waterfall on Champlain Parkway, pictured, and meeting up with Shane and Stephen coming the other way up Fortune Parkway. Stephen was proudly displaying some new skis with 'skins' on them.

Lunch in Tonique Restaurant in Chelsea was good, but allow plenty of time if you go there...

A leisurely afternoon will be followed by 'Party Time'. Ken has a big birthday and the five of us will be joined by S and S, their hosts Lester and Lynette, and our old friends Michael and Sayuri. 

Sue is busy decorating a cake...

Tuesday 13 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 10 - The Taylor Lake Loop and Lusk Cabin from P19 (Lac Philippe)

Today's route:

P19>#50>#55 Taylor Lake Loop>Renaud Cabin>#54>Lusk Cabin for lunch>#54>#55>#50>#51>P19 - 19.5 km, 340 metres ascent, 3 hours 43 mins including 1 hour 8 mins stops.

A blue sky day, at first anyway, found Sue, Susan and me meeting up with Stephen and Shane at P19 - Lac Philippe - car park. Thankfully Stephen's gear had all found its way to the start today.

The trails were icy and fast downhill. Waxing was tricky and despite moving from light blue to blue, Sue and I still had very little grip by the end of the day. Stephen and Susan fared better with their waxless skis, and Shane's skins seemed to work ok. 

We met a coach load of school children at Renaud Cabin, taking a break before setting off to set up some quinzees (like igloos) for an overnight adventure. 

Lusk cabin was toasty warm for a leisurely lunch, after which Shane and Stephen returned direct to P19 whilst the three of us took a slithery alternative down trail 51, which despite its gentle gradients was 'nur für guebte' today.

Monday 12 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 9 - P11 (O'Brien) to Herridge Cabin and back

Today's route:

P11>#36>#50>Herridge Cabin>Healey Cabin for lunch>#50>#36 via beach>P11 - 22.4 km, 380 metres ascent, 4 hours 8 mins including 1 hour 10 mins stops.

After freezing rain yesterday evening, it was fortuitous that the grooming machine had freshly prepared today's excellent trails. Our planned starting time of 10.30 was delayed by an hour after Stephen discovered he had forgotten to load his ski shoes. Replacement kit was hired in Chelsea.

We had Healey Cabin to ourselves for a very leisurely lunch whilst the sun shone outside.

Sue, Susan and I were joined by Shane and Stephen on today's classic trail with wonderful swooping (but not too swooping) descents. They saw a beaver yesterday; today I saw a deer and Sue and I spent some time watching a flock of chickadee type birds high in a tree by trail 36.

The Wellington Gastropub provided an excellent evening meal for all seven of us (the five skiers plus Ken and Helen) tonight.

A great day on the skis, and later...

Sunday 11 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 8 - P7 (Kingsmere) to Western Cabin, returning via the Burma Road

Today's route:

P7>#30>#1>Keogan Cabin>#1>Huron Cabin>#1>1b>#2>Western Cabin for lunch>#2>#1>#3>Fortune Parkway>#1>#30>P7 - 25.3km, 360 metres ascent, 4 hours 17 mins including 53 mins stops.

Sue, Ken, Susan and I met up with Shane and Stephen in the vicinity of P7 car park. The latter two skied with us to Huron cabin, via a brew stop at Keogan cabin, before returning to base. (It's unwise to ski too far until the muscles have 'bedded in'.)

Meanwhile, Susan shot off to Western cabin and wasn't seen again until the end. Sue, Ken and I paused at Huron then proceeded to enjoy a leisurely lunch in the warmth of Western cabin, which overlooks the Ottawa River. Sue is pictured outside the cabin, and also later on trail 3 (the Burma Road) that was in great condition in today's relatively mild temperatures - minus 9 to minus 12°C including wind chill.

Saturday 10 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 7 - Mooney's Bay Circuits (3.2 km each)

Today's route:

Mooney's Bay - 3 circuits plus add-ons - 10.8 km, 40 metres ascent, 1 hour 45 mins including 6 mins stops.

On an overcast, relatively warm, day with light snow falling, we decided to give Gatineau Park a miss and obtain a bit of exercise at Mooney's Bay, where there's a pleasant 3.4 km circuit within a five minute drive from home.

We met Shane and Stephen, who completed a couple of laps with us before returning to their base to get sorted out for the week ahead.

This lazy day forms part of our annual 'beach holiday'. Today's pictures show Sue with Shane and Stephen, posing in front of a sign that warns about the risks of swimming off this beach. The lifeguards, as you can see from the bottom picture, were taking a break.

Kanata parkrun number 61

The Kanata parkrun regulars were joined by more than four 'tourists' this morning. Ken, Shane and Sue joined me, as well as an unknown runner who came in ahead of everyone else. Ken and I jogged round in modest times given the good conditions, with Shane a little way behind nursing a back injury. He and I have both done over 160 parkruns. Sue, nursing her sore Achilles, trailed behind with the tail walker and just managed to finish inside an hour. "Zoe would be proud of me" she commented, referring to one of Wythenshawe's stalwart runners.

The picture shows Ken finishing whilst the tail walker, Michelle, follows Sue at the start of the second half of the horseshoe.

The Morning Owl café provided good coffee and cake for most of today's 16 participants (I hesitate to describe us a 'runners' - more like slow joggers!)

Friday 9 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 6 - A P17 (Wakefield) circuit via trail 52 and Renaud Cabin

Today's route:

P17>#53>#52>#50>#55>Renaud Cabin for lunch>#55>#50>#51>#53>P17 - 24.5km, 410 metres ascent, 4 hours 6 mins including 36 mins stops.

Sue and I were joined by Ken and Susan for this excellent outing in pristine conditions. Lac Philippe glittered as we passed by on trail 50. 

There was plenty of room in the lunch cabin, which now has dotted windows to stop the birds flying into the glass. Judging by the size of the wild turkeys that lurked below the feeder, such an incident could spell disaster for the window as well as the bird!

Sue and I took the shorter route, trail 51, back to P17 car park, whereas Ken and Susan, who are faster skiers, took the slightly longer trail 53. We all arrived back at more or less the same time.

A coffee shop in Chelsea provided a good choice of apres ski nourishment - Sue is pictured with hers.

Back at base, Shane and Stephen (who we met last year on the Exodus trip to Estonia) called in for a cuppa on their way to stay at Lester and Lynette's air B&B. They arrived on the same AC flight from Heathrow as we did last week. We will be seeing them from time to time over the course of the next ten days or so. 

Now we are seven!

Thursday 8 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 5 - A Circuit from P3 (Gamelin) past Pink Lake via trails 5 and 15

Today's route:

P3>Gatineau Parkway>#5>#15>#35>Pink Lake>Gatineau Parkway>P3 - 16km, 245 metres ascent, 2 hours 42 mins including 24 mins stops.

A blue sky day, not as cold as expected at minus 12°C plus wind chill. Quiet on the trails. Trail 15 is another favourite, as is the fast Parkway descent from Pink Lake, so we were happy. It was warm enough to stop for a cuppa and cake on the trail (no cabins on this route) - an unexpected pleasure.

Chatted to a couple of chaps from Nova Scotia. Apparently there is no snow there and everything is green. They are in Ottawa for the CSM (Canadian Ski Marathon) which takes place this weekend. None of our gang are - for the first time in living memory - doing the CSM this year.

Helen has a cold so visited the doctor. Susan arrived from Connecticut. Ken went to work (soon to be a thing of the past as he retires at the end of the month).

More visitors are expected - watch this space.

Wednesday 7 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 4 - P7 (Kingsmere) to Champlain Lookout and back, using Parkways and trail 1

Today's route:

P7>#36>#1 Ridge Road>Keogan Cabin >Fortune Parkway>Gatineau Parkway>Champlain Parkway>Champlain Lookout>#1>Huron Cabin for lunch>#1 Khyber Pass>#1>#36>P7 - 15.7 km, 275 metres ascent, 2 hours 58 mins including 37 mins stops.

A lovely ski with Sue. Light snow fell throughout, and it was cold, so very few pictures taken. Quiet trails in the main, but there was an incident. An old lady suddenly appeared beside me and cut in to the groomed trail I was on over my skis, falling over in front of me. She wasn't hurt and I managed to stop before skewering her, so I moved to one side and continued on and moved well over when she caught up again. "Take care!" I offered but she completely ignored me. Sue had seen her antics and had spoken to her. Apparently I was to blame for the fall! Sorry, old lady, but you don't own the trails - pity others who get in your way.

Luckily the drivers in the 10 cm of snow that fell today were more courteous.

The pictures today were taken at Huron Cabin, plus a picture of my electric gloves for Conrad. The power packs - one on each hand - each contain three AA batteries.

Tuesday 6 February 2018 - Snowshoeing at Mont Cascades

Today's route:

Red>Grey>Yellow (see image above) - 5.5 km, 250 metres ascent, 2 hours 20 mins including 30 mins stops.

Helen had some downhill skiing booked at Mont Cascades, where there are no x-c ski trails. So Sue and I borrowed some snowshoes, having left ours in the UK as we never seem to use them here!

Nice woodland (albeit contrived) trails led to viewpoints over the Gatineau River. Despite me having cold hands for a while, having foolishly left my electric gloves at home, it was a lovely little outing with a satisfactory rendezvous at the club house for a late lunch. 

Monday 5 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 3 - P16 (Vallée Meech) to Herridge and Healey Cabins, returning via Meech Lake

 

Today's route:

P16>#50>Herridge Cabin>Healey Cabin for lunch>#50>#36 to Meech Lake beach and back>#50>P16 - 13km, 240 metres ascent, 2 hours 50 mins including 35 mins stops.

A lovely outing with Sue and Helen, in perfect conditions under a deep blue sky. No fire in Herridge Cabin so we went to nearby Healey Cabin and enjoyed lunch with a couple of Helen's friends. Lots of  blue jays and one grey jay outside.

4 February 2018 - A Birthday Supper

I'm not a fan of birthday celebrations, but this one did provide an excuse for some goodies, albeit the lobster racing could have been a bit messy. Sadly, there weren't enough berries available for the cake to match my advanced years.

Sunday 4 February 2018 - X-c Ski Number 2 - P10 (Fortune) to Huron Cabin via the Burma Road (trail 3), returning via Fortune Parkway

Postings from this trip will be brief diary entries by way of notes and a log, as similar reports have been made, with many illustrations, in previous years. So I'm continuing with the 'mobile' postings rather than faffing with downloads to the computer, etc.

Today's route:

P10>Fortune Parkway>#3 Burma Road>#1>Huron Cabin for lunch>#1 Khyber Pass>Fortune Parkway>P10 - 12km, 210 metres ascent, 2 hours 19 mins including 35 mins stops.

Overnight snow was fortified by day long flurries, about 10cm in total. Sue stayed at home to work and nurse her sore Achilles. Helen went on what we thought might be a 'Wild Lobster Chase', but she excelled herself and returned with the goods. Meanwhile,  Ken and I enjoyed a lovely ski from P10 and up the Burma Road, my favourite ski trail.

The afternoon will be spent 'Beach Holidaying' and no doubt we will witness the sad demise of the lobsters.