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?