Colour returns to the GAT

Gatineau Park: Bleakney and Wood Trails (11 km)
Parking (Larrimac Golf): N45 33.251 W075 49.700
Tunnel crossing: N45 32.816 W075 50.561

A great day of hiking in Gatineau Park (as are all Mondays). The sun was shining and still the bugs were sleeping. More importantly the colours of spring have begun to pop up through the rusty dead leaves.

This was a new trailhead leading into the GAT for me. I parked at the Larrimac golf course and strolled down the cart path to the start of the trail. My full concentration was on spotting the entrance to the woods as I crossed the green adjusting my pack. My focus broke when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and realized that it was a 70 year old man patiently doing practice swings at the tee. Yikes. Starting the day with a golf ball to the side of the head would not be a good thing.



The highway crossing to the park is two massive tunnels under the divided highway. Whoever designed this must have been a hiker and/or skier. Though I have seen photos of wildlife overpasses used regularly by bear and deer before so I imagine they'd appreciate these tunnels too (as would the drivers).

The hike consisted of a lot of ups and downs (and unders) and several beaver dam crossings between ponds. No doubt a couple of weeks from now this area will be swarming with blackflies though I have no intention of coming back then to verify that theory.



My lunch stop was smack in the middle of the trail on a sun warmed stretch of exposed rock. A relaxing day all in all.

A Spring ski in the GAT

Today I hit the GAT ski trails for what will very likely be my last ski of the season. Joining me was Mike and Ken on what turned out to be a sunny warm (12°C) spring day.



Not long after leaving P10 we passed the monster grooming machine... two of them. They were doing a great job tidying up the scars of the skate skiers and giving the illusion of a fresh snowy surface. This early in the day the trails were a little icy in the shade but just right in the sun (this would change as the day continued to grow warmer... but still very ski-able).

Our first stop was Shilly Shally were signs of spring were breaking winter's grip in every direction. The birds were busy singing and eating their fill of seeds now uncovered by the melting snow. We even spotted a robin in the mix sparking a debate surrounding the old wives' tale that a robin is the first sign of spring. (closing arguments can not be printed in this family friendly blog)



From here we skied straight on through to Huron Lookout where we spotted our first patch of blacktop. Now that's a sure sign of spring. Here we snagged one of the free picnic tables and relaxed to a fine lunch and a couple of tasty pints.



After lunch Ken decided he was going to part company and head back to work for one last meeting. It wasn't until he had skated off into the distance that I realized he still had one more pint in his pack. Luckily so did I.

From here Mike and I skied on the next lookout and then over to Western were we were greeted by the duct tape "ICE" sign at the top of the trail leading down to cabin (btw somebody should come back and update this sign to read "MUD"). After removing the boards we walked down the mud soaked hill to enjoy some more rays and one last pint on the back bench.



Western's back bench is a great spot to catch some sun and enjoy another great view of the Ottawa River and valley below. My only complaint here is that some cautious do-gooder has placed a rather ugly chain link fence between me and the view. Arg.

The ski back to P10 was much slower as the sun had cooked the snow up into a mix of watery slush and ice pellets. No complaints though, it only helped stretch out what Mike and I knew was going to be our last ski of the season.


Cheers to another great xc ski season...though not nearly as awesome as last year.

Pitchoff slideshow

Spent Saturday hiking with Mike in the Adirondacks. We chose Pitchoff as our starter hike for the 2008 ADK hiking season. Great hike, excellent view, perfect weather. I'll post more details later, for now here is a cool slideshow feature from EveryTrail that allows you to link together your GPS tracklog and your photos using the time stamp data. Very groovy. Be sure to click on the "back to trip" link where you'll get information on time, elevation, distance, etc. It even creates a file to view with Google Earth.


Pitchoff hike - Adirondacks, NY - Widget powered by: EveryTrail


Story to follow.

3rd Annual Luskville Falls Hike

Photo by Kenmore.
Gatineau Park: Luskville Falls and fire tower (5.8 km)
Parking Luskville: N45 31.965 W75 59.840
Fire tower: N45 32.669 W75 59.753

I was going through some spring photos the other day and noticed that for the last two years we have kicked off the hiking season with a trek up Luskville Falls. I also noticed that it just so happens that the day has landed on April 21st. Not needing any more of an excuse to take a day off for a hike in the GAT, I emailed the regulars and we all agreed to go for it.





As luck would have it, this was another summer-like April 21st with temperatures reaching a high of 25°C. Add to that, no stinking black flies and a ton of melting snow providing us with a pounding 2km cascade of water and you have a recipe for a day in heaven. What more could one ask for? (scroll down to find the answer to that one)


Photo by Kenmore.

Upon reaching the top we pulled up to our usual resting spot and broke out some lunch and beverages. First round was on Kenmore with a nice selection of Saranac Brewery and Lake Placid Pub & Brewery ales.


Photo by Zartimus.

Lunch was followed by the annual crossing of the falls and trek up to the fire tower. The view from here is truly breathtaking.



At the base of the tower we soaked up some more rays and we even took a moment to build a small icebox using the remains of the frozen x-c ski trail to chill our Grolsch. Sweet.



All in all it was time well spent. And until next April 21st feel free to read up on the other blogs marking this annual event, April 21, 2006 and April 21, 2007.

Luskville Falls and the Fire Tower, Gatineau Park

Yesterday was a stellar day. The weather was nothing short of fabulous. Sunshine and 23°C. Perfect conditions for a hike to the top of Luskville Falls in Gatineau Park, Quebec.

Mike and I met up with Ken in the parking lot shortly after 9:30am. Technically it was alongside the road just outside the parking lot as it was still gated while the clean up crew did their spring thing.



Kenmore stops for a shot with his awesome Canon Rebel XT


From there we hiked down the road and then up the 2km ascent, stopping once in a while for one of the many great photo ops.

Spring is definitely the time of year to make this climb. The lack of mosquitoes or even black flies is certainly a plus and the melting snow provides for an amazing cascade of water falling down the side of the Eardley Escarpment (certainly more impressive than the trickle that falls in November).



Once we reached the top we stopped for a little break to take in the breathtaking view. Sweet.

From there we crossed over the falls, hopping rock to rock, and headed up even further to the fire tower.






While Kenmore took the "fast" way down, Mike and I opted for the safer route.

After some lunch and a refreshing Grolsch we headed down yet another trail towards a newly planted geocache, GC10BQW. As we approached the cache (from the wrong angle) a rock climber stuck his head over the top and then rapelled back down. Needless to say we would not be logging a find on this cache today. Regardless it was yet another great spot to stop, soak in some more rays, and enjoy another great view. From here you could see the long line of cars parked just outside the gate. Seems we weren't the only ones enjoying a spring hike.

All in all it was yet another great start to the GAT hiking season.



Cheers.