Ski day to Herridge with the kids

Gatineau Park: P16 to Herridge Cabin (10 km)
P16 Pine Rd: N45 34.345 W75 53.134
Herridge Cabin: N45 34.260 W75 56.395

Another Monday off and another ski in the GAT. This time it was the family joining me... well the kids at least, mom was at home fighting off a nasty cold/flu thing.

We arrived at about 10am and started the long climb from P16. The weather was a little brisk but nothing that we couldn't dress for, besides, the uphill ski is enough to get the blood pumping on even the coldest of days.



This time we passed by our usual stop at Healey and skied the extra 200m to Herridge. There were still hot coals in the woodstove so I chopped some wood and quickly brought the fire to a roar. After toasting sandwiches and pouring hot coco (and a pint for me) we kicked back and enjoyed our lunch and the warmth of the empty cabin.



Gotta love the Monday traffic. We didn't see another soul the entire morning and it wasn't until about half way back to the parking lot that we passed our first fellow skiers.

Having just hiked up here before the snowfall I was able to remember some of the photos I snapped earlier and compare them with the winter scene.

Annual birthday ski in the GAT

Warm fire, good company, a celebratory beer (brought by Ken all the way from BC), and rocking tunes... what more can a man ask for on his birthday? (rhetorical question folks) I suppose I could add that this was also a Monday off work spent xc skiing in Gatineau Park. How's it sounding now? I say sweeeet and cheers to me.

I arrived at P10 around 9:30 and skied up to Shilly Shally cabin where I started up the wood stove and kicked back while I waited for Ken to join me. After some hellos and a birthday beverage we skied further on down the trail to Huron and then on to Western for some lunch.




This will make it my third birthday ski in the GAT and to think that the weather almost crapped out on me. No worries though, conditions were more than adequate and temperatures were plenty warm. Thank you Mother Nature.

Birthday ski 2008
Birthday ski 2007

Chris Brown and a Spin Doctor

Thursday at the Black Sheep Inn it was Chris Brown (Bourbon Tabernacle Choir) joined by Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors), Sarah McDermott, Anton Fier, and Elijah Abrams (The Abrams Brothers). It was their first time playing together as a band (Open Heart Society) and I'm sure it won't be their last.

The opening act for the night was The Jack Grace Band hailing from Brooklyn. Well technically it was just Jack and Daria less the band. They put on an entertaining opener, very Johnny Cash like, and if I'd timed it I just may have been able to confirm my suspicion that they actually played longer than the headliners. ;) And of course Luther Wright was on hand to join Jack on a couple of tracks.



By night's end, Open Heart Society had put on a good show. My only complaint was that it could have been 3 or 4 songs longer. Oh and after a taste of Eric jamming out a raunchy rocking version of "Back Door Man" in the rehearsal, I was expecting him to step up to the mic at least once to let go. Oh well, next time maybe...