Snow falls on the GAT

Gatineau Park: P10 to Western (18 km)
P10: N45 31.141 W75 51.234
Western: N45 30.840 W75 55.045
Click here for a trail map.

I decided to take Wednesday off in order to make the most of the fresh snow before the weekend rain washed it all away. Marc joined me on this adventure making this his first chance to test out his new xc ski gear.

The morning started off with some sticky snow making our trip up Trail 3 a real lung burner. Technically some parts were more of a snowshoe walk than a ski. Still, the scenery was spectacular and I'm sure the doctor would give me two thumbs up for the cardio benefits.

The groomers were hard at work though with the heavy snow fall it was actually difficult to tell in spots. Regardless, their efforts are appreciated.


We started out with no real destination or plan and in the end we ended up skiing the reverse loop of my last ski trip to Western. P10 start to Trail 3, to Trail 1, and then from 1B down black diamond 9 to the Western Hut. A highly recommended route.


These last few photos were taken only days apart and should give you a bit of an idea of the difference a fresh snow fall can make.




Update: The snow is wet and slowly melting but so far the rain is holding off.

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

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.

Ski day to Western cabin

Gatineau Park: P7 to Western (19 km)
P7 Kingsmere: N45 29.416 W75 50.558
Western: N45 33.218 W75 58.387

I woke up Friday to another snowy morning. We had about 10-15 cm earlier in the week and another 5 cm last night. Other than the week long melt we had in January this winter has been all about the snow snow snow. Our snowbanks are now above my head but unlike most of my fellow Ottawans you won't hear this winter baby complaining.

By the time Mike rolled into the driveway the snow had stopped and a blue sky was peeking through. We were officially off for another great x-c ski in the GAT.



For this ski day Mike had planned for us to start at P7 and make our way to Champlain Lookout and then on to Western cabin for lunch. The sky was clear and windchill temperatures were hovering around -18°C.



As we made our way up the trail we passed several orange markers recently planted for the weekend's ski race, the Keskinada now known as the Gatineau Loppet. Gatineau is the official location for the Canadian leg of the world loppet circuit. For those of you wondering (myself included), the Worldloppet Ski Federation is an international sports federation of cross-country skiing marathons. The aim of Worldloppet is to promote the sport of cross-country skiing through the various ski races around the world. All that to say we'd made a good choice not to wait until the weekend to ski as we likely would have found some of the trails blocked off to the public.



The ski past Huron and Champlain Lookout provided some great photo ops before continuing on to Western cabin for lunch. There are two ways to ski down to the cabin, the quick and hairy trail or the longer and better groomed trail. We chose the short and hairy. But thanks to last night's snowfall it proved to give us a fast but gentle roller coaster ride before dumping us off at the side of the main trail just above the cabin. Skiing down the last hill reminded me of Mike's hilarious wipe-out last winter as he skidded off the trail into the bush. Aw, good times.



This time I found myself skiing down the hill to find a gaggle of Gatineau students leaving the cabin. I nearly ran over a couple ski tips before coming to a stop in the middle of them. Turned out that they were too busy eating chocolate bars and throwing snowballs to take any notice.

Lunch consisted of the usual toasted turkey and cheese sandwich washed down with a can of Blue. Sweet. This time I remembered to bring cheese and crackers to munch on while my sandwich cooked to perfection on the woodstove.



As per usual the ski back was mostly downhill allowing me to take a couple of action videos (see previous post). The last leg back to the parking lot has a couple of back to back steep hills marked with two "!" signs. It can get a little hairy but with a bit of fresh snow on the trail I thought I might try video taping the event. Worked out rather well other than the near colison with the wankers that decided to wax their skis at the 90 degree turn.



The only question left at the end of this awesome GAT day was, where would our next ski take us?