Monday, May 19, 2008

Tromping through Tremblant

Heading down the ski run

This May long weekend we joined the Neills up in Tremblant, Quebec. They had borrowed their friend's chalet for the weekend and invited us as guests. We had an awesome time. We hiked, we dined, we rocked, and we even celebrated a birthday party. (Happy Birthday Katie!)

Tremblant village


The last time we were in Tremblant was again with the Neills back in 2002 when we last stayed at the very same chalet. The kids were much younger then and spent most of the time riding in a backpack carrier enjoying a free ride. This was the same trip that put our families on the "Tremblant Summer Brochure" when a German photographer had us sign waivers and then spent nearly an hour snapping photos of us at various picturesque spots along the 360° Trail at the top of Tremblant. Oh the memories. I noticed the photos are still in use in some of their brochures. Too funny.

Tremblant_Brochure


There was no photo crew waiting for us at the top this year. But then again we did take one of the longer, less touristy hikes selecting Trail F to Johannsen Peak. The round trip was about 10km. There was even some snow here and there on the trail - sometimes as much as 3 feet - but that just added to the fun factor.

Our first snack break was at The Edge where we were able to sit at the top of the ski lift and catch a nice breeze that helped keep the nagging black flies at bay. A few more kms of hiking and we finally reached the somewhat anti-climatic Johannsen Peak. The best part was definitely not the view as there really wasn't much of one, but the Whiskey Jacks (aka Grey Jays) diving bombing us for cashews and bits of ham sandwiches. It was a lot of fun getting them to land on various parts of our bodies for salty nuts. (some photos withheld)

Ski lift
Crossing swords Snowballs in May
Grey Jays


Heading back down to the village below
Tremblant Gondola


At night we kicked back and listened to Mikey play slide guitar or pluck it hillbilly style on the old banjo. When that failed we watched various comedy clips on the internet. Flight of the Conchords proved to be a crowd favourite... check them out as they play "Business Time".



Sunday was unexpectedly another great weather day so we opted to hike one of the many other trails in the immediate area. Originally we had planned to hike a trail suggested by the owner of the chalet but somewhere along the way we were side tracked by one of the other many "hiking this way" signs and ended up doing a different loop. Oh well, we'll just put it down on next year's hit list.

Red trillium


Until next time...

Neills give a shout out

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