Marc Charron's Blog

2012-01-22T10:05:00.006-05:00

Gatineau Park Snowshoeing Trail #71 Saturday PM Jan 21st

Conditions were very good, nice layer of powder over a good base.

Slight crusty layer was more noticeable in the southern portion of the loop (towards P15), almost non-existent in the northern portion (towards Carman lake).

This trail offers great viewpoints of a rolling valley and some nice challenging climbs in the forest.

We stopped a few minutes to warm up by the fire pit before heading back to P15.

Total time: 3 hours.

2012-01-14T16:22:00.004-05:00

Gatineau Park Trail #60 & 61 Friday Jan 13th

Conditions were as good as they have been this year, thanks to a fresh dump of snow on Thursday/Friday. Snow was slightly humid, with a very thin crust half-way down from the light freezing rain.

2012-01-06T20:58:00.003-05:00

Gatineau Park Snowshoeing Trails #60 & 61 Friday January 6th

Trail conditions were good to very good this evening. Still early in the season, very few bare rocks left on the trail, plenty of fluffy powder off the beaten path.

2011-11-29T20:25:00.017-05:00

Climbing Mont-Ham

The village of Saint-Joseph de Ham-Sud is located 10 miles north-east of the world renowned village of Saint-Camille QC.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Mont-Ham rises to an altitude of over 2300 feet to offer a panoramic 360 degree view of this beautiful corner of the Estrie county. A non-profit organization operates and maintains the network of trails, including the fully equipped visitor's centre and various camping accommodations (including log cabins and prospector tents) and activities including a frisbee golf course and snowshoe rentals.

On a particularly cool morning with scattered snow-showers, we decided to hike up the direct "Intrepid" route up to the summit (shown in red below).

The 1 mile hike is challenging, including the scaling of a"Wall" of rocks (much steeper than what's shown below).

The first summit that we reached was fully exposed to wind and made for a rather chilling experience.

The view was outstanding despite the limited visibility due to snow. Below is a picture of the Stoke mountains.

A short hike down then back up led to the adjoining peak of Mont-Ham with its sturdy metal cross.

Not wanting to waste any time to climb down to more comfortable temperatures, we headed back along the "Button" trail (shown in dark blue on the trail map).

Seeing the steep climb down then back up the next summit, we chose to turn around and head down the "Panoramic" trail instead (shown in light green), despite what I had read about that trail. The top part consists of rugged exposed outcrops of rocks, making for a challenging (and today chilling) hike. The trail then starts down the side of the mountain, leading to countless boulders of crushed rocks along the way. While the trail wasn't as steep as the "Intrepid" on the way up, it was a good test of endurance and balance most of the way back.

Curious to understand the unusual rock formations that we had seen, I read up on Mont-Ham's rather unique geology after our hike. I found this explanation on their web site, loosely translated as follows (with help from Google Translate):

"The rocks that form Mont Ham are almost identical to those found in the ocean. It is actually a piece of oceanic crust, lacking only the lower part called ultrabasic. Between 500 and 475 million years ago, during the Geological Ordovitien, the movement of continental plates were inverted and the plates got closer together. In this process, huge forces caused part of the oceanic crust (Mount Ham) to break, pushing it up to the surface, becoming an integral part of the continent. Subsequently other important movements of tectonic plates crushed these rocks to form mountains along part of the U.S. border. The majority of the rocks are volcanic rocks are called basalts and quartz."

The staff at the visitor's center were very friendly and helpful. The cost for a day pass was $8 per person. I would recommend this hike to anyone in the area looking for a challenging and rewarding hike.

2011-10-19T21:01:00.009-04:00

Bald Eagles North of Ottawa-Gatineau

Not far north of the Ottawa-Gatineau area, majestic Bald Eagles have been nesting and reproducing for at least the past two years. According to the Wikipedia map showing the distribution of the Bald Eagle, this area would be north of the Resident - Breading zone, and at the lower end of the Summer Visitor - Breading Zone. This would explain why their nest has been torn-down during winter months (click on any picture to see full-size).

By approaching slowly and quietly, it's possible to spend a considerable amount of time observing the eagles at a distance without disturbing them.

The opportunity to see such a majestic bird from so close is great experience.

Of course, when someone gets too close for comfort or makes too much noise, the inevitable happens, ending the experience with an impressive finale.

What a sight!

2011-09-13T20:15:00.001-04:00

Another Spectacular Sunset at Blue Sea Lake

Click on picture to see full size

2011-08-14T21:06:00.007-04:00

Baie Ste-Marguerite, Saguenay Fjord

The Saguenay Fjord is a jewel between Quebec's famed Charlevoix and North Shore areas. As the southernmost beluga habitat, Baie Ste-Marguerite provides exceptionally good opportunities to see these unique whales.

From Tadoussac, it's a 30 minute drive (H138N to H172W) to the Belugua Discovery and Visitor Centre operated by the SEPAQ . After paying park fees to gain entrance, a 3km (~2 miles) trail starts at the parking lot. The trail has a relatively easy grade, including bicycles and the occasional service vehicles.

Numerous informational panels along the trail are well worth noting, allowing you to gain a better understanding of the surrounding area and history. Upon reaching the end of the trail, a meandering wooden walkway leads to a large observation deck, sometimes manned by a park naturalist with all the information you might want to know about belugas.

The scenery is also impressive from the lookout and along the trail.

Some unusual mushrooms lined the path also.

A small campground with a lovely beach offers another great vantage point of the fjord.

2011-08-13T20:32:00.034-04:00

Back From Paradise

We're back from our second trip to "Paradis Marin" and I'm finally getting around to write this long overdue post! All pictures in this post are copyrighted and provided courtesy of my wife Sylvie Desrochers (click on any picture to see full size).

For anyone who enjoys watching whales, the option spending a few hours in a guided boat quickly comes to mind.

The "Paradis Marin" campground offers another very interesting option, watching them all day long from the quiet comfort of a spectacular granite coastline. If you aren't camping there, they offer access to their shoreline for a fee (includes access to some picnic tables and benches).

The whales are so close to shore that you probably wouldn't get any closer to them if you were in a tour boat (guidelines suggest that boats stay at least 200 yards away from them).

This campground is very popular with kayakers (including many wooden kayak owners/builders as shown below), under-water divers, photographers and for some reason, owners of Volkswagen Westfalia Campers.

While the St-Laurent seaway is a major shipping lane, the ships are always very far from the campsite location and do not interfere with kayaks near the campground.

There is something special about seeing large ships go by, maybe I'm just not used to them.

Water temperatures are near freezing all year-round, therefore a wet-suit or dry-suit is mandatory for anyone venturing out in the water. Booties with a good sole are also recommended for walking up/down the ramp, simple neoprene socks are not sufficient.

The whale watching technique for kayakers is essentially the same observers on the coastline... relax, stay still & wait patiently. While boats should not approach wales, you can't stop a whale from approaching a kayak! Sometimes you'll see them coming from a distance, other times they'll pop out of nowhere to surprise you.

The best time to be out there is early in the morning before sunrise, when the number of kayaks is outnumbered by the number of whales.

The whales seem more relaxed and playful early in the day. They can be easily heard from the campground when most campers are still sleeping.

When not distracted by the whales, you can enjoy some spectacular scenery.

Later in the day, the number of kayaks increases steadily until the 5 o'clock rush-hour when the whales often seem to be heading back home for the night.

While most of these pictures were taken with a hand-held DSLR camera with a relatively low powered zoom lens (Canon 55-250mm IS Lens), some photography enthusiasts show up with backpacks full of equipment, along with tripods and very long telephoto lenses. It would be great to see the pictures they take!

That's not to say there aren't any other photo opportunities, such as the flowers on the campground, this time using a short macro lens.

In following posts, I'll describe an exceptional beluga habitat in the Baie Ste-Marguerite area of the Saguenay fjord as well as a hiking trail near overlooking the fjord near Tadousac.

2011-07-15T21:03:00.006-04:00

Back to Paradise

Sometimes, you don't want to tell too many people about a great spot for kayak-camping, for fear that it will become overcrowded and inaccessible.

It's been almost a year and I still haven't posted any articles/pictures of our trip up the St-Lawrence. I would be great if I could get around to doing that, before I head back up a second time to bring back even more pictures & stories.

The camping is called Paradis-Marin (Marine Paradise) and it's located near the town of Grande Bergeronnes, about a half hour past Tadoussac along the St-Laurent river.

For now, here's a small sample of last year's trip...

2011-05-14T10:19:00.005-04:00

Wildlife in the Gatineau Park

Spotted this past week near the intersection of Fortune and Champlain parkways.

Seemed in good health and well behaved. Reported the sighting to the Visitor's Center.

2011-03-28T22:18:00.005-04:00

Red Bull Crashed Ice - World Championship 2011 in Quebec City

Perfect weather, great music and a huge crowd for the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2011 in Quebec City.

Here is a short video taken from one of the most difficult corners on the course.

2011-02-14T20:10:00.006-05:00

B&B in Gaspé - Gite en Gaspésie

On our overnight stop along the way to the Chic Choc Mountain Lodge, we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Odette and Jean-Robert, owners of the beautiful Le Chant d'Or B&B (Google translation) with a magnificent view of the St-Lawrence Seaway. If you are looking for a B&B in this area, we strongly recommend you consider this option.

(Photo - Odette & Jean Robert Soucy)

Lors d'un arrêt pour la nuit en route vers l'Auberge de montagne des Chic-Chocs, nous avons eu le grand plaisir de rencontrer Odette et Jean-Robert, propriétaires du beau gite Le Chant d'Or avec un vue spectaculaire du fleuve St-Laurent. Si vous êtes a la recherche d'un gite dans cette région, nous vous suggérons fortement cette option.

2011-02-07T19:23:00.030-05:00

Chic-Chocs Mountain Lodge - Gaspésie, Québec

The Appalachian mountains stretch from the state of Alabama in the south to the province of Newfoundland in the north.

The Northern Appalachians range includes the Chic-Chocs mountains, located in Gaspé region of the province of Québec.

Gaspé was recently chosen as one of the 20 Best Trips of 2011 by National Geographic Traveler editors.

It was from the small town of Cap-Chat (known for it's extensive network of wind turbines) that we loaded our gear in a trailer an got on a shuttle bus for a ride along the picturesque Cap-Chat salmon river, up to a rendez-vous point 30 minutes away.

We then transferred gear and passengers into two Mattracks equipped "Snow Coaches" (converted Ford E350 passenger vans) for a 90 minute ride up to the secluded playground of the Chic-Chocs Mountain Lodge.

Arriving late in the afternoon, we were greeted by and introduced to all of the staff. We then had time to unpack in a very well appointed room with a spectacular view of Mount Coleman as seen below.

We then joined the staff and other guests by the glass enclosed fireplace in the spectacular dining room for our first taste of the "local" Pit Caribou beer while we browsed the extensive wine list before making our selection for the upcoming meal.

In what was going to be a repeat performance five nights in a row, world-renowned chef Alain Laflamme prepared an outstanding meal for all to share around two or three large tables. The staff (including guides) participate in the meal with the guests, making for some lively and interesting discussions.

This is an all inclusive resort (including guides, sporting equipment, avalanche equipment and two-way radios) with the exception of wine/beer/spirits that are extra, as are the various items in the fairly well stocked boutique.

For those venturing beyond the Spa-Sauna-Sofa (the 3 S's), the lodge offers four main activities:

Alpine Touring, a cross between off-trail cross-country skiing and downhill skiing.

Meta Skiing, a very unique mix of snowshoeing and skiing (both cross-country and telemark)

Split-Boarding, a snowboard that splits in two for climbing.

Snowshoeing, on or off the trails

Our first snowshoe outing was to the "Button de l'Est" (East Button). This is rated as a 2-hour Intermediate trail, 4 km (2.5 miles) long with 190m (600 ft) of vertical. Here we are at the top of the Button.

If you were looking closely (you can click on picture to see full-size), that's the mountain lodge that you see near the top of the hill behind and to the right. Below is a zoomed-in view from the same vantage point.

It's now that you start to appreciate the remote location of this lodge and the very large (64 sq. km or 25 sq miles) playground available to the guests.

Following a very hearty meal including hot soup and desert, we set out in the afternoon for Chute Hélène (Helen Falls). Here is a view of the valley down to the falls (in the bottom right corner).

This is rated as a 2-3 hour intermediate trail with 5km (3 miles) long and 230 meters (750 ft) of vertical. Below is a close-up view of the 50m (160 ft) high falls.

There is a short loop next to the lodge that provides great views for very low effort. It's rated as an easy 1-hour trail, 1.7 km (1 mile) long with 60 meters (200 ft) of vertical. From this trail you can get a great view of the adjoining valley...

...looking back at Mount Coleman and the snow-bowl next to the Mattawees...

...and the impressive Mount Nicol-Albert....

We also climbed Mount 780, named after it's elevation of 780 m (0r 2500 ft). On the way up we had some good views of the lodge.

The view from the top was rather impressive and gave us a chance to cool off a bit after all the climbing we had done.

On the way back to the lodge from Mount 780, there's a good view of Lac du Versant in the Grand-Fond (Large-Bottom) sector.

On the last day, I had the opportunity to catch this woodpecker in action a few feet away from me on the loop behind the lodge.

Here are three different views of the impressive Mount Coleman.

While we were there, the heliport was busy flying some well known people in/out of the lodge, including:

Keith Bellows, Editor in Chief, National Graphic Traveler magazine
Jean-Yves Germain, Co-President, Groupe Germain Hotels
Daniel Gauthier, President & General Manager, Groupe Le Massif

In closing, a sincere word of thanks to Guy Laroche and his outstanding team for a great opportunity to unwind in world-class lodge located in the breath-taking Chic-Chocs mountains.

For a free electronic copy of the Stay Guide for the mountain lodge, click here.

2011-01-23T11:22:00.003-05:00

A Call for Input from All Snowshoers in Gatineau Park

From Charles Hodgson's Guide Gatineau web site:

"On January 12 the Gatineau Park Winter Trails Roundtable met. This group includes local ski and outdoor clubs, NCC officials, trail maintenance contractors, ski patrollers and representatives of the park-using public. One of the main tasks of the meeting was to explore which issues should be discussed and in what priority. The Roundtable came up with some priorities but would benefit from other park user’s input. I’ll report on survey results as they accumulate and make sure the roundtable sees them too."

For more details, click on this link.

2011-01-16T20:16:00.016-05:00

Trail #71 - Full Loop

Following yesterday's pleasant discovery of a small portion of trail #71, I decided to try the full loop today. Conditions were good to very good, with only a few bare spots here and there on steep sections or areas shaded by a lot of trees.

From P15, with the wind in my face and the sun in my back, I took on the full force of the minus twenty-something windchill by choosing a counter-clockwise direction around the loop.

The first part of the trail on on very flat but picturesque fields in the adjoining valley.

The trail is well marked however it could be easy to miss the signs in a heavy snowstorm.

There was tons of powder to be had for anyone willing to wander a foot or two off the beaten path.

Eventually you must cross a steep ravine created by small stream.

Here is the first crossing...

...and here is the second. Not that difficult but a definite contrast from the surrounding fields.

After 2 km you reach an intersection with Trail #71 headed in two different directions, one way leads to trail #72, the other way continues the trail #71 loop (a rather confusing set-up, see the map above).

In the picture below, I arrived from the left and continued to the right towards the rest area on trail #71 (as described in yesterday's post). From here it's another 2.5km to the rest area, then 1km to trail #70 and another 1km back to P15 (for a total of 6.5 km).

A round-trip to Brown cabin in one day would be doable but I wouldn't take this way Healey cabin unless I was staying there overnight. For a day-trip to Healey, trail #70 provides a much more direct route.

The second part of the trail leads to the very peaceful Carman lake. I was surprised to see open water on the lake near the trail.

When I saw the bridge I then realized that the lake empties out into a stream at this point.

Upstream view from the bridge looking back onto the lake.

Downstream from the bridge is an old water-level control dam.

The third part of the trail takes us back into the mountains. You'll notice from the contour lines on the map above some rather lengthy and steep climbs. In the picture below, my camera is horizontal looking towards one of these steep sections.

After a while, the terrain levels out and the trail takes you through some very pleasant wooded areas of the park.

Thankfully a fire was already burning at the rest area, enough to keep warm during a quick snack before the last 2 km back to the parking lot.

Total time: 2h45m at a brisk pace and with short breaks.

2011-01-15T18:32:00.008-05:00

Fluffy Conditions on Trail #71 in Gatineau

Directions: Highway 5 North until it joins Highway 105. Turn left at traffic signal and left again after 1.5 km onto Cross Loop Road. Parking lot #15 (P15) will be on your right after 2km.

From P15, a gradual 1km climb on Trail #70 awaits you before reaching Trail #71.

Trail #70 is fairly wide, looks like it serves as an access road during summer time. Today the snow was compacted on this trail from the numerous hikers and snowshoers. This section of trail #70 offers a very nice view of the adjoining valley.

After 1 km on trail #70, you reach an intersection with trail #71 on your right.

Trail #71 is more interesting as it cuts through some natural sections of the forest. Conditions were nice and fluffy with what looked like only a half-dozen snowshoe tracks before us.

After 1km along trail #71, you reach a rest area with a fire pit and two park benches.

There seemed to be a supply of wood under a plastic tarp, and I noticed a shovel and axe hanging on a tree nearby. We had to turn back at this point after a quick snack and didn't stick around very long.

I definitely want to go back to trail #71, it seems to compare well to trail #74 (see previous post), one of my favorite trails so far in the Gatineau Park.

2011-01-09T16:45:00.010-05:00

Trail #74 Gatineau Park

Following yesterday's outing on Wolf Trail, headed up to the Lac Philippe sector expecting to find more snow than the Meech Lake sector. As it turns out, that wasn't quite the case but conditions were nonetheless good.

Starting at parking lot 19 (P19), it's a bit more than 3km to reach the Renaud shelter. Once near the Renaud shelter, the Philippe and Pines shelters aren't far away and the Wanakiwin Yurt is just a bit farther.

The base was still thin along many sections of the trail, with branches and leaves piercing through the snow.

A warm fire was already burning in the stove at the Renaud shelter when I got there.

Here's a left and right view of the small Renaud lake.

Next to the lake is a group camp site (GR4) with a very nice "lean-to" style shelter.

2011-01-09T16:16:00.010-05:00

Wolf Trail

Also known as Blanchet Trail or Trail #62 in the Meech Lake sector of Gatineau Park north of Ottawa.

We finally received somewhere between 10 to 20 cm of fresh new snow, enough to tackle this classic trail in snowshoes. While ice and rocks could be found on various spots along the trail, the overall conditions were good.

Starting from parking lot #13 (P13), the trail splits after 500m. To the right is the rugged and steep section leading up to Mahingan lookout. To the left is the longer and easier section to the Tawadina lookout. The trail continues between the two lookouts to create a 7 km loop.

We find it better to climb the steep section to Mahingan and usually walk the loop in a counter-clock-wise manner.

Until you reach the beaver pond, streams often border the trail. Many of them were not frozen yet.

Streams could be crossed without too much risk.

The snow load on the branches was a welcomed sight.

A well-deserved rest for the legs after the 800ft vertical rise to the Mahingan lookout.

From here the view is quite pleasant.

After a snack to replenish our energy, we continued towards the spectacular Tawadina lookout.

Total time from start to finish: about 3h15m at a reasonable pace with a 10 minute break along the way.

2010-12-26T15:25:00.013-05:00

Parc du Mont Morissette - Blue Sea Lake

After a scenic 1h15m drive (or 94 km) north of Parliament Hill (in Ottawa, ON), we arrived at the Mont-Morissette regional park in the municipality of Blue Sea Lake.

Located here , this regional park offers a free network of trails (3 trails totaling 13km) and a shelter with a wood stove next to lookout with a breathtaking view of the surrounding lakes and hills.

We chose the Intermediate Trail #1 leading up to the summit. A bit more than 1km long, it provides a good workout with a good vertical rise.

As you reach the summit, you will see two towers. One is a communication antenna used by local radio station CHGA. The other one is an abandoned fire-lookout tower. Despite having been closed to the public for over 30 years, it was always tempting to climb to the top of the tower for an incredible view of the surrounding area. This past year, the old wooden steps were removed, making the climb up almost impossible.

A few hundred meters further awaits a heated shelter with wooden stove and two large picnic tables.

Next to the shelter is a platform with a small picnic table.

From this platform, the view of the lakes and majestic pines on surrounding mountains is fabulous.

The quantity of deer tracks in the area was impressive, obviously a popular spot for these animals. We were probably too noisy and scared the deer into the forest. The only mammal brave enough to stick around what this guy below.

On the way back down, we opted for the easier main access road with lots of powder on each side.

A very nice trail in quiet surroundings with an impressive view, a very satisfying day in woods!

2010-12-19T17:44:00.004-05:00

Altas 1230 Snowshoes Strapped to North Face Patrol 35 Packsack

If you read my post on choices of backpacks for snowshoeing, you'll know that I opted for the North Face Patrol 35.

Here's a picture of me with my Atlas 1230 snowshoes strapped to the back of the lightly loaded pack.

I've taken the pack out a number of times on 2-4 hour hikes. This was the first time with it on a snowshoeing outing. So far, still very satisfied with this pack.

2010-12-05T17:19:00.004-05:00

Kayaking Today on Meech Lake in Gatineau Park

Picture taken this afternoon of a brave soul on a relaxing paddle on Meech Lake

Outside air temperature was -4 deg. C (25 deg F.).

Click on picture to see full-size.

2010-11-02T20:08:00.012-04:00

Late Fall Hike on Wolf Trail

Pictures from a today's hike on Wolf Trail up to the Tawadina lookout in the Gatineau Park.

Search this blog for "Wolf Trail" for other related posts and pictures.

Click on any picture to enlarge to full size.

2010-10-25T18:51:00.028-04:00

Backpacks for Snowshoeing

After having spent a few hours researching the availability of backpacks for snowshoeing, I thought I'd share what I've found so far.

My idea of a backpack for snowshoeing starts with straps for attaching snowshoes to the pack (when conditions are such that you are better off walking with boots only) and gear hooks/straps for poles (when conditions don't require the use of them). In my case, I was looking for a pack in the 30 to 40 liter range. Preferably the pack have an abrasion resistant finish on the back to lessen the wear & tear from strapping snowshoes.

Below is a diagram of the packs I've found so far (click to see full size), followed by some comments on each pack.

Deuter

Snow Walker 25 Made specifically for snowshoeing, this nicely detailed pack is a bit smaller than what I had it mind but it's still worthy of a mention. It includes adjustable straps (sizes Small to Extra Large) and adjustable back ventilation. The 25 liter model has two top-zip openings along with a 2 outer mesh pockets - something not found on the 35 liter model. These pockets can be useful for (insulated) water bottles for users who don't like hydration systems. It has relatively short padding along the hip belt, probably not much of a concern if the pack is going to be lightly loaded.
Snow Walker 35 With similar features as the Snow Walker 25, this model is a top loader with a lid an significantly longer padding along the hip belt. If you plan on loading your pack, this would be a better choice over the 25 liter model. While the straps and back ventilation may be adjustable, the length of the pack is not. That means that this pack (and the 25 liter model also) won't fit everyone.

Osprey

Kode 30 With details and construction typical of Osprey packs, this is the only model in their product line designed specifically for snow applications. More of a snowboard and ski pack than anything else, the strap system is bit convoluted and more complicated than necessary for snowshoe applications. This pack opens wide from the back, facilitating access to the full contents. The buckles are smaller than most other brands and look fragile. Available in S-M-L sizes and Black & Alpenglow colors.
Kode 38 Very similar to the Kode 30 with the addition of an expandable top helmet pocket. Since most snowshoers don't wear helmets, this extra space may/may not be useful. Available in S-M-L sizes and Black & Alpenglow colors.

Mammut

Nirvana Pro 35 Recently updated, this pack seemed to have everything I wanted. However many reviews commented on the length of this pack and how it was too short for people that were 6ft1in (187 cm). On that basis, I gave up hope of owning this pack. Opening in the back similar to the Osprey Kode, this pack seemed to have more robust straps and buckles, as well as tougher (but heavier) fabric. Available in one size only and oasis-smoke, deep sea-smoke and black-smoke colors.

Deuter

Freerider Pro 30 Similar to the Freerider Pro 28 SL (winner of Backpacker's gear review awards for Best for Snowshoers pack). A bit on the heavy side, this pack seems to have a sturdy strap system with possibly the best abrasion protection of all packs listed here. See Outside's blog for more comments on the Pro 30. Available in white-pine-black colors.

Arc'Teryx

Silo 30 With a price corresponding to the brand's reputation, this clean pack is "V" shaped, which may make it inappropriate for "A-Frame" carrying of skis. It seems to have a clean and easy to use strap design along with good abrasion protection. This panel loading model has waterproof zippers and two nice Velcro accessory straps. Available in Regular and Tall sizes and in black-black, black-copper and black-everglade colors.
Silo 40 similar in appearance to the Silo 30, this is a roll-top model with lid. While this provides easier access/loading of large items in pack, the contents aren't as easy to access as on other packs with multiple compartments. Available in Short, Regular and Tall sizes and in black-black and black-copper colors.

The North Face

Patrol 35 A top-zip model with a large front pocket and bottom compartment for ski skins or crampons, this model has an "Inverted-V" shape which may reduce snow accumulation during heavy precipitation. Available in Medium and Large sizes and in black-asphalt grey and chili pepper red-asphalt grey colors. The opening for the pack is perhaps not as large as other pack but the volume inside the pack is rather impressive. It has two very easy to use straps that hold snowshoes (and skis/snowboards) securely to the back of the pack. It also has an easy-access side ski pole pocket, which can also be used for large or medium sized bottles. Not shown on the pictures is a elastic gear loop near the front top-left corner of the avy equipment pouch.

Summary:

Unable to find a local dealer for the Deuter and Arc'Teryx packs, I was able to try the Osprey Kode 30, the Vaude Snow Walker 25 and 35 and the North Face Patrol 35. Trying the Mammut Nirvana Pro 35 meant waiting for the SAIL store to open in Ottawa in November to December time-frame with a likely conclusion that it would be too short.

The Vaude bags were interesting but unfortunately not long enough for my 6ft4in (195cm) frame despite the adjustable straps. The 25 liter model ended up being a good choice for my wife.

The Osprey Kode was a high quality pack but the straps for the snowshoes and for stabilizing the pack were more hassle than anything else. Probably a decent design for skiing/snowboarding, not the best solution for my snowshoeing needs.

In the end, it's the fit and comfort of a Large model of the North Face Patrol 35 on my rather longish frame and the very simple strap set-up that did it for me.

P.S. If I've missed any backpacks that should have been given consideration, please leave me a comment with the details.

2010-10-11T18:23:00.011-04:00

Best View of Ottawa-Gatineau

One of the most scenic hikes in the Gatineau Park is the King Mountain Interpretive Trail shown as the hollow green line on the map below (click to see full size).

It's about a 1-hour walk around the loop, with fairly steep & rugged climb up & down King Mountain.

A nice lake with a picnic area and "washroom" facilities are within easy reach next to the parking lot.

The hollow blue star designates the location of a National Historic site where the 1st Canadian Geodetic Benchmark was set.

A commemorative plaque is installed on a cairn donated by Micheal P. Mulvihill in 1930. A good write-up about this historic site can be found on the Guide Gatineau web site.

Arguably, this is "the" spot to get the best view of Ottawa-Gatineau area.

Here's a view towards Gatineau:

Here's a view of downtown Ottawa:

Here is a view towards Aylmer:

And a good look down at the Kingsway golf course below the escarment.

Update: For a more detailed description of this trail, Michael Haynes has a written a complete article starting on page 5 of the June 2010 edition of Ottawa Outdoors Magazine.

2010-10-03T18:14:00.013-04:00

Upper Duck & Lower Duck Islands

For boats and kayaks, one of Ottawa's best and most convenient put-in spots is located at the end of Massey Lane, off of Blair Road in the Rothwell Heights area.

The main ramp is gravel used frequently by boaters with trailers. A stone-throw upstream is a very small but more "kayak friendly" beach.

From the put-in, Kettle Island is to your left, Upper Duck island is straight across and Lower Duck islands is to the right. You will notice from the map below (click to see full size) that Upper Duck island has a very unique and unusual shape with a very long inner channel.

Signs on the Upper Duck island suggests that it was the city of Gloucester's first "Wilderness Area".

Gloucester has since been amalgamated into the City of Ottawa. A quick search of the Web did not uncover any relevant background information.

Lower Duck island is part of the National Capital Commission's Greenbelt as shown on the picture below. It is designated as a Natural Area as seen on the NCC's Land Use Map.

The inner channel of Upper Duck island offers a natural refuge from the winds and currents for everything from Canada Geeese, Mallard ducks and turtles.

Below is a view of the inner channel looking in.

And below is a view from the inner channel looking out (Lower Duck island is very near the outlet to the right).

As usual, the color of the foliage this time of year is impressive.

In summary, a pleasant and relaxing destination near downtown Ottawa-Gatineau.

2010-09-12T09:15:00.005-04:00

Wolf Trail Under Sunny Blue Sky

The trail was in great shape yesterday, not too much mud, probably because many of the streams were dry.

For more information, enter Wolf Trail in the search box at the top left corner of this page.

2010-09-12T09:11:00.003-04:00

Capucin Chapel on Meech Lake in Gatineau Park

Sky was blue, lake was calm, great photo opportunity.

See here for a bit of background on this chapel.

2010-09-06T19:21:00.005-04:00

ClustrMaps Archive - 27 August 2010

2010-08-22T10:09:00.010-04:00

Gatineau Park - Dan Brown's Wolf Trail Article in Ottawa Citizen Newspaper (Photo Credit)

Dan Brown, publisher and editor-in-chief of Ottawa Outdoors Magazine, has written an article on page C8 in Sunday's edition of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper describing the Wolf Trail in the Gatineau Park near Ottawa.

For those of you reading the printed or digital edition, you may have noticed the following photo with credit with my name.

The photograph in the article (shown above) came from the following post. Further information and photographs on the Wolf Trail can also be found in this additional post.

2010-07-14T20:12:00.018-04:00

Camp Site #19 at Poisson Blanc Reservoir

Further to my general description of the Poisson Blanc Reservoir as a great kayak-camping destination near Ottawa Ontario, here's a more detailed description of our campsite.

As you can see on the map of the park, campsite #19 is near the middle of the reservoir. That means that you'll need to paddle at least a couple of hours from the put-in before reaching your destination. Due to the distances involved, this availability of this site is likely better than easier to reach alternatives.

Contrary to what's shown on this map, there are two campsites (#18 & 19) on this island, not just one. We found this out when we were given a colour map by the park staff at the put-in. Luckily this didn't turn out to be a disappointment, given the considerable distance between the two sites. We never saw or hear anyone from the other campsite.

The campsite is located on the southern point of the island, offering a magnificent 270 degree view of the area. If you look closely at the picture below (click to enlarge), you'll see the top of our tent tucked away on the left side.

First impressions are good when you arrive at the site. Firewood is in a bag as promised, site is clean and magnificent chain-saw sculptured bench adorns the fire pit.

Apparently this site had an even more impressive table hand-built out of logs but it disappeared one night a while back.

You get quite a lot of nice accessible space from this campsite as you can see from the picture below.

This site is described on the park's web page as being suitable for 2 to 6 people. If everyone is in a small 2-person tent, that might be reasonable. If anyone has a medium or large sized tent, that could be a challenge.

In the pictures shown on their site, I never would have thought to set-up a tent in the area where they show a tent. I'm not saying it's a bad location, simply that it didn't look to me like a spot for a tent.

We set-up our tent near the area where a yellow tarp is shown in their pictures. This seemed to be the largest & flattest area on the campsite. It actually took a while before I could find a suitable orientation to fit our MEC Wanderer 2 Tent between the roots, rocks and trees.

If a second tent had to be set-up, the space shown on the left of the picture above would have been my choice. A third tent would have ended up as shown in the picture of a tent on the park's web pages or down by the beach on the west side of the point.

The path to the thunderbox is behind to the left of the tent shown in picture above. It's a bit of a climb but otherwise well located. If you keep walking past the facilities, you reach the top of a rock face on the west side of the island. Could be an interesting viewpoint when the sun sets.

One of the great features of this site is the great views to the east....

and to the west, next to a beautiful campfire...

As no site can be perfect, one of the slight disadvantages is the fact that fishermen seem to think there are a lot of fish in the area and many of them converge around the point. I have news for them, after watching them for 3 days, not a single fish was caught in the area...

2010-07-05T20:36:00.017-04:00

Poisson Blanc Regional Park

Located less than 2 hours north-east of Ottawa/Gatineau, the Poisson Blanc reservoir has long been a popular camping destination for canoeist, kayakers, fishermen and boaters.

In May 2009, a regional park was inaugurated to preserve and enhance this natural habitat and turn it into a first-class destination for outdoor activities.

Starting with a professionally designed web site (available mostly in french and partially in english at the moment), an overview of the park, the main activities, the camping and contact information is provided. If you don't understand french but would like more details than what is provided on the english pages, you can try Google Translate's version here, particularly the camping details for full descriptions with pictures of 10 of the reservable camping sites.

Probably the best way to get good overview of what the park has to offer with it's 20+ mile length and 80+ islands is by looking at the detailed map available on their web site. You will see there are four types of campsites:

Reservable (for a fee): 13 sites
1 to 2 tents, Unrestricted Access (free): 13 sites (plus one more as we later found out)
3+ tents, Unrestricted Access (free): 7 sites
External to the park: 16 sites on the reservoir and another 21 sites if portaging is an option

While there are numerous put-in options on the reservoir, some public and many private, you might find it worthwhile to drive up to the park's own parking & launch site just off the road leading to the Notre-Dame du Laus village. Directions from Ottawa are available from Google here. As you arrive, you will see a generous parking lot to your left and and what appears to be an overflow area to your right

You will be greeted by friendly and informative park employees near the equipment shelter at the back of the parking lot, next to the rack of rental canoes and kayaks.

With our camping site reservation, we were provided a full color map, a blue recycling bag and and a matchbook. A large back containing enough firewood for two nights was also delivered to our site in the afternoon, by two other park employees doing the rounds and making sure everything was to our liking when we got to our campsite. They dropped by again the second day to see if we needed anything else such as extra firewood and to ask again if everything was to our liking. For those trusting their luck to find room on one of the free campsites, you can purchase the bag of wood for $8 or have it delivered to your site for $10.

The main launch area consists of a dock at the end of a trail near the back of the main parking lot. While this options may be quite suitable for canoes, it's not ideal for kayaks due to the slightly rugged shoreline.

Across the road the smaller parking lot was closed due to construction activities. We did get a special permission to launch our kayaks from the sandy beach accessible on this side (sorry no pictures to share).

The reservoir offers plenty of destination options, with tons of bays, islands, cliffs and lookouts to explore.

Given the size of the reservoir, large waves can easily develop when the wind picks up. Luckily, the numerous islands can give you some relief from the wind in certain areas.

As with any great outdoor destination, word quickly gets around and what was once a secret gem has now become a very popular destination. That means that boating & fishing activities can seem a bit overwhelming during weekends. For that reason, I would aim to go back on weekdays next time if possible. Regardless of when you go, it's still a great destination.

In my next post, I'll provide more details on our campsite and the areas we visited during this 3-day and 2-night trip.

2010-07-04T21:12:00.005-04:00

Poisson Blanc (White Fish) Reservoir Regional Park - Notre Dame du Laus QC

Details to follow...come back in a day or so!

2010-07-04T21:01:00.004-04:00

Meech Lake - Gatineau Park

Pictures from an earlier paddle out on Meech Lake in early June.

We've often wondered about the history of the church/chapel on the lake.

Perhaps our local experts at Guide Gatineau can shed some light on this?

2010-02-05T20:06:00.004-05:00

Recent Snowshoe Trail Condition Reports - Gatineau Park

Here are links to recent snowshoe trail condition reports that I've posted on the Guide Gatineau partner blog

Feb 5th: Update on Trail #60 & 61

Feb 3rd: Trail #70 (P15 to Healy & Herridge Shelters)

Feb 2nd: Trail #60 & 61

2010-02-05T20:06:00.001-05:00

Recent Snowshoe Trail Condition Reports

2010-01-30T22:45:00.008-05:00

Trip Reports on Canadian Canoe Routes

In collaboration with Canadian Canoe Routes, my trip reports have been added to their already impressive inventory.

Thanks to Allan Jacobs for his efforts in getting this done!

Georgian Bay

Chikanishing; Killarney, Philip Edward Island area
Chikanishing; Philip Edward Island circumnavigation
Dillon`s Cove; McCoy Islands, Mink Islands and Franklin Island

British Columbia Coastal Routes

Broken Group Islands

Quebec Routes

Saguenay River
Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie
Blue Sea Lake
Grant Lake
Gatineau River
Meech Lake
Thirty-One Mile Lake
Lac la Pêche

For an index of previous trip reports on my blog, see the following post.

2010-01-24T09:13:00.006-05:00

Additional Snowshoe Trail Reports

In collaboration with GuideGatineau, I've been contributing to their Gatineau Park Snowshoe Reports blog.

Here are samples of reports that I've recently submitted for trails in the Gatineau Park

Trail #74 Jan 24
Trail #72 Jan 23rd
Trail #70 Jan 20th (including trail map)
Trails #60-61 Jan 19th
Trail #62 Jan 13th (including pictures)
Trail #74 Jan 9th (including trail map)

2010-01-21T21:54:00.019-05:00

Liguori Shelter - Sentier des Caps

The infamous Sentier des Caps trail is part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (more details here) in the beautiful area of Charlevoix.

This trail 40-km (25-mile) was voted in 2001 as the "#1 snowshoeing destination in Quebec" and the "2nd prettiest winter destination in Quebec" according to the trail's web site. Click here to see a map of the entire trail.

We drove up to the Massif sector of the trail (click here for map of this sector only), near the stunningly beautiful Massif ski resort. It took a bit more than 1 hour from Quebec City to get there.

We chose to snowshoe on trail #A since it's 3kms (2 miles) long and leads to a nice shelter called Liguori that offers an incredible view. I'll show you the view now (click on picture to see full size) expecting that you'll be interested in knowing more about this trail afterward.

From the parking lot next to the visitor center, a combined trail soon splits into two trails, one for cross-country skiers and the other one (Trail A) is reserved for snowshoeing.

Signage is extensive on this trail and the height of some of the marker is a good indication of how much snow typically falls at Petite Riviere St-Francois and Saint-Tite des Caps area (337 cms or 133 inches per year). In general, this year's snow accumulation has been lower than usual, however Le Massif is reporting a surprising accumulation so far of 325 cms.

The trail wanders through gently rolling terrain and through tightly knit forest of young and not so young trees, including a surprisingly large sample of birch trees. Along the way to the shelter, there are a number of places where you can get a good view of the surrounding area.

There are two tables inside, each with a view by the windows and large enough to sit 12 comfortably next to a fire stove. The 2nd story is meant for overnight campers only.

Trail conditions were good and it took us about 3 hours to complete the return trip (not including time to rest and eat in the shelter).

While about twice as far from Quebec City than the Sentier des Moulins, this area offers greater snow accumulation and a more stunning views. I would recommend both destinations to anyone in this area.

2010-01-13T21:54:00.005-05:00

Trail #62 - Wolf Trail

You can access trail #62 from P13 near Blanchet beach on Meech Lake.

Conditions were OK tonight on Trail #62 (Wolf Trail) from the parking lot to the beaver dam and back. I hesitate to state that conditions were good simply because the snow was packed for the full width of the trail (and not simply two snowshoes wide).

The picture below was taken at the first bridge along the trail (before the trail splits into the Blanchet/Wolf loop). It clearly shows the width of the packed snow.

Below you may recognize the pond behind the beaver dam.

An finally, the trail as we turned back at the beaver dam.

This part of the trail provides a good challenge on the way up, thanks to the difference in elevation. All stream crossings were easy to negotiate. Coming back down was obviously easier and quicker. While it takes a bit longer to drive out to trail #62 you can start snowshoeing as soon as you exit your vehicle. The drive to get to trails #60 and #61 is shorter, but you have to walk a good 10 minutes between the parking lot and the trail head. Timing wise, it's a bit of a toss-up. At least this portion of trail #62 provides a good alternative to trails #60 and #61 if you are looking for some variety in your snowshoeing expeditions.

There was minimal trail damage from the last freezing rain episode, with the exception of one large tree that's fallen across the trail. There is an easy path around it and is nothing to worry about.

Total time to cover this section of Wolf's Trail: 60 minutes.

2010-01-11T20:29:00.003-05:00

Gatineau Park Snowshoeing Condition Report - Trails #60 and #61

Quick post to let you know that late afternoon/early evening conditions were good on trails #60 and #61. Snow was just a bit sticky due to warmer than usual air temperatures (-2 deg C).

It sure beats being in Jacksonville Florida where they're forecasting the same temperature there tonight (and down to -4 deg C last night)!

2010-01-09T20:55:00.012-05:00

New Snowshoeing Trail #74 in Gatineau Park

As mentioned in an earlier post, the NCC has opened up some new snowshoeing trails in the Gatineau Park this year. Today was our first opportunity to try Trail #74 in the Lac Philippe area, near Sainte-Cécile de Masham, just west of Wakefield.

Looking at the map of the Gatineau Park, it's not obvious where the trail starts, but you can tell that it's not quite connected to the main parking lot (P19).

If you keep your eyes open (we didn't) when you get to P19, you'll see a blue and white sign indicating that Trail #74 is to the right. If you follow the road leading up to the first-aid center, you'll find a rather large parking lot at the trail-head. There you will see another blue and white sign (we saw this one) showing you the way.

It felt really good to be on this trail. Let me say that again in case you missed it: it felt really good to be on this trail. In the wilderness, among the trees, through the valleys and over the hilltops, under a crisp blue sky with barely any wind. The NCC has really given us a gem with this new trail. The scenery was very nice along the entire trail.

The distance from P19 to the Renaud shelter is about 3-1/2 km (2 miles). About 200 meters (200 yards) before you reach the shelter, you come to a trail intersection. From there, the Philippe cabin is 300 meters away (300 yards) along an unnumbered trail that leads to Trail #73.

As you (carefully) cross over cross-country trail #55, your met with a great view to your right.

Within a minute or so, you reach the Renaud shelter equipped with a half-dozen large pine tables and benches, a counter top for food preparation and a wood stove to dry your clothing and to warm up your food. The shelter is also equipped with an emergency radio.

It took us about 2-1/2 hours to get to the shelter and to return to P19. Snow conditions were semi-packed, with plenty of powder for anyone venturing off the trail. Signage was exceptionally good from start to finish.

I won't hesitate to come back to this trail again this winter and I highly recommend it to others.

Rideau Canal About To Open To Skaters

2010-01-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

The NCC has begun clearing the snow covering the ice on the Rideau Canal.

A sure sign that the canal is about to be opened to skaters!

Care to guess what date it will open???

2010-01-06T21:20:00.010-05:00

First Outing on New Snowshoe Trail #63 in Gatineau Park

For the 2009-2010 season, the National Capital Commission has opened new trail #63 in the Kingsmere area. The trail-head is at parking lot P6, next to the MacKenzie King estate. During the winter season, access is via Chelsea to Kingsmere, then along Swamp and Barnes roads. The last part (along Barnes Rd) is rather narrow and caution is required when meeting oncoming vehicles.

There are two ways of reaching the trail from P6. We left the parking lot from the North-West corner and veered right to follow the park road past a few gates and a number of buildings before finally reaching the start of the trail. While one or two people had been on the trail before us, we enjoyed rather pristine conditions.

Signage isn't always obvious. At one point we had to cross a park road and veer left quite a bit before finding the trail again on the other side of the road. Despite a large number of signs, there were a number of other locations along the trail where it wasn't obvious where to go next.

We were evidently outnumbered by the deer and hare in the area based on the quantity of fresh prints (and other deposits) in the snow.

We were surprised by the extent of ice deposits still left on the trees since the ice storm on Boxing Day.

A fair number of trees and branches were down (or leaning heavily) but there were very few obstructing the trail.

This tree came particularly close to damaging one of the ruins on the estate.

Roughly one third of the trail is dedicated to snowshoeing, the other two thirds are shared with hikers as part of the Waterfall trail (shown as a solid light-orange line on the map). That meant we had a mixture of snow, starting with lots of light powder, ending with plenty of hard-packed conditions. The trail exit brought us directly to the South-West corner of P6.

Overall, a rather short and easy trail near the downtown core, but with only a small portion reserved for snowshoeing. The mixture of ice on the branches and the light from our headlamps made this a rather scenic outing.

2010-01-05T20:43:00.005-05:00

Pictures From Tonight's Outing on Snowshoe Trails #60 and #61

What's great about these trails is that they're a 12 minute drive from home and take about 1 hour to complete. Requiring a total of only 1-1/2 hours, it's easy to fit this into an evening after work.

Conditions were similar to last night, except the snow was a bit stickier. Some freezing drizzle in the area may have been a contributing factor.

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight's outing.

2010-01-04T20:46:00.002-05:00

Snowshoe Trail Report - Trails #60 & 61

Tonight the conditions on these trails were better than in my previous post. There's been a fairly constant sprinkling of fresh powder on (and off) the trails making things more pleasant. Some trees and branches are lying a bit lower than usual, thanks to a coating of ice from the recent episode of freezing rain in the area. This added to the novelty of tonight's outing, without causing any major inconveniences (some small & easy detours around one of two spots). While the reflection off the clouds provided some illumination thanks to the Camp Fortune ski trails, a headlamp was useful to avoid small branches at eye-level.

2010-01-03T16:53:00.017-05:00

Sentiers des moulins (Mill Trail)

This location offers a good network of cross-country and snowshoe trails in the Lac Beauport area near Quebec City. Looking at their trail map I decided to snowshoe up to the Lac Beauport and Stoneham (ski resort) lookouts, followed by a quick stop at the Tourbillon cabin.

In general the trails were well marked. As you can tell by the elevation curves on the map, this was a good physical challenge. To avoid any doubt, the picture below proves that I made it up to the top, as shown by the "you are here" ("vous êtes içi") indication in the picture below.

The trails were really nice, with a great combination of lookouts, dense forest, good snow coverage and varied terrain.

Unfortunately, the trail map doesn't show all of the roads and snowmobile trails, which led to some confusion as to my progress around this loop (despite my navigation skills and having a compass with me). In the end it all worked out, but I would have preferred having a all of the details on the trail map.

I may be spoiled by the quality of the shelters in the Gatineau Park, but I found the Tourbillon cabin to be somewhat disappointing. Thankfully, I had no need to stay there for more than a few minutes and was on my way after taking a few quick pictures. Their web site shows many other cabin/shelter options, some look quite nice and comfortable.

All in all, despite a few opportunities for improvements, I really enjoyed snowshoeing in this area and would not hesitate to recommend it to others. I look forward to going back their myself.

2010-01-03T16:53:00.016-05:00

Parc national Jacques Cartier

This national park is operated by the SEPAQ. A popular canoeing and camping location in the summer time, it offers an 35 miles (55km) of cross-country trails along with a network of 5 snowshoe trails totaling about 12-1/2 miles (20km). It's located about 40 minutes north of Quebec City, along highway 175.

Immediately after paying for the park entry fees, there is a small parking lot. If you keep driving a bit further, you may be lucky to find room at the secondary parking lot closer to the trail-head.

While the trail C is considered a "must see" because of it's spectacular mountain side views, we opted for the less challenging loops A and B, with a short stop at the Relais cabin for lunch in a comfortable and heated cabin.

The best viewpoints in my opinion are on the river, as long as you pick a frozen section and not one where the current prevents the ice from forming.

There is a campground about 3km from the park entrance. As you can see, the accumulation of snow is reasonably good given the limited number of snowstorms that we've had this year (and the rain & freezing rain only a few days before this outing).

Below are pictures of two of the cabins in the park: Grand Kernan and Moyen Kernan. These cabins are available year round (reservations required).

The trails were well marked and the free trail map was reasonably detailed. There were only a couple of times that we strayed off the intended path on this outing, without ever losing sight of our location and intended direction. The scenic beauty of this park and the great snow conditions make this a snowshoeing destination worth considering.

2010-01-03T16:52:00.007-05:00

Chalets Mats des équerres

During the holiday period, we had the pleasure of renting the Le Sous-Bois cabin at les chalets Mats des équerres

It's located about 30 minutes from Quebec City, north of St-Gabriel-de-Valcartier. Our two room cabin easily accommodated four people.

Despite a significant rain & freezing rain event the previous day, I ventured out on my snowshoes to cover some of the hiking trails on the 169 acres ancestral estate. An icy crust made the outing more challenging than expected, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

We really enjoyed our stay at this location. The service was friendly and professional, the cabin was spotless and the area was near the city but still provided us with the remote wilderness we wanted.

2009-12-20T07:54:00.011-05:00

Snowshoe Trail Report - Gatineau Park 19-Dec-09

With only one significant snowfall event this year, I was sceptical about the snowshoe trail conditions in the park. The closest trails (near Chelsea) are in hilly terrain where rocks and roots abound.

I'm pleased to report that the conditions were actually quite good! Snow depth and coverage was good. Some rock tops are visible here and there, most were easy to see & avoid. I saw roots only once on a very steep portion of a trail. All streams were easy to cross, almost completely frozen, although the ice was thin in some areas. Best of all, no mud!

Below is a trail-by-trail report with pictures and small snippets of the NCC's free Winter Trail map available online here. It's been a while now since the last snowfall, and you will notice that the snow on the trails was packed in most areas.

Trail #60

From the new visitor's center on Scott Road in Chelsea, walk across the wooden bridge over the stream towards the old visitor's centre on Meech Road. In winter, this is considered a walking trail, don't bother putting on your snowshoes just yet unless there is fresh snow. Cross the street to cross country trail Black-#1. Not far from the road you'll see the entrance to trail #60 to your right.

A short trail by Gatineau Park standards (roughly 1 km loop), this is an intermediate level trail that provides a good mixture of terrain that will please most people.

Trail #61

Assuming you went counter-clockwise around trail #60, about three quarters the way around the loop, you will see signs pointing you towards trail #61. You will need to walk across the cross-country trail Black #1 (look both ways for skiers before crossing!) before you reach loop #61.

The signs recommend a counter-clockwise direction around the loop and I would second those recommendations. Otherwise, you'll have a tricky descent down a steep slope instead of a much more controlled climb. This trail is a bit shorter but more challenging than trail #60 due to the steeper terrain.

The reward at the top is better viewpoints of the surrounding areas.

Trail #62

From P13 near the end of Meech Lake, you're on Blanchet Trail and when you turn right at the fork you're on Wolf Trail. Blanchet isn't too rugged of a trail in summer time and I wasn't that surprised to see it well covered in snow. Wolf trail however can be very rugged in areas and has it's fair share of boulders, roots and streams to add to the challenge.

I was really surprised by the quality of the snow cover. Yes there are rocks still showing but the trail is still quite enjoyable.

I made it up to the beaver dam before heading back as the sun was setting.

Free Winter Trail Map

2009-11-28T17:30:00.003-05:00

Free Copy of 2009-2010 Winter Trail Map for Gatineau Park

Click on the following link for free download.
This version shows the new snowshoe trails described in my earlier post.

2009-11-14T17:08:00.005-05:00

Details of New Snowshoe Trails in Gatineau Park

Based on discussions with Gatineau Park representatives, here are details of the new snowshoe trails shown on this year's 2009-10 Winter Trail map (now available):

Lac Phillippe

New trail #74 begins at P19, crosses trail #51 and reaches Renaud sheleter at Lac Renaud. It then forks back to the Phillipe and Des Pins cabins, crosses trail #50 to connect to existing trail #73 at the Breton pay phone.

Lacs Brown-Carman-des Sources

Trail #71 now extends past the rest area and reaches Lac Carman before looping back to P15. The portion from the rest area to Lac Carman already existed but was no longer operational until being re-opened for this year. The portion back to P15 is new. A short (~500m) interconnection now links trail #71 with existing trail #72

MacKenzie King

Trail #63 is a short (~1km) loop between P6 and the Champlain parkway.

If I've missed any other changes to the snowshoe trails, please let me know.

2009-11-14T11:45:00.002-05:00

New Winter Trail Map - Gatineau Park

FYI - The new winter trail map is now on sale at the Gatineau Park Vistor's Centre in Chelsea. It shows the new snowshoeing trails opening up this year. I'll post additional details later this weekend.

Also, had some interesting discussions with representatives from the Gatineau Park at their open house today. Stay tuned for details!

2009-11-11T17:44:00.012-05:00

Trail Restoration Report - Wolf/Blanchet Loop (Gatineau Park)

The National Capital Commission has recently completed restoration of part of the Wolf/Blanchet loop, one of the most popular hiking and snowshoeing trail in the Gatineau Park.

For almost any trail the causes of erosion are varied, but oftentimes drainage issues and steep slopes are contributing factors.

In the example below (click on any picture to enlarge), proximity to a beaver dam leads to drainage issues and frequent muddy conditions.

The side effect of this problem is that many hikers walk around the mud, effectively widening the trail and increasing erosion in the area as shown below.

An example where the slope is a contributing factor is shown below. The soil that initially covered the root system of this tree was likely loosened by footsteps and surface water from rain/snow gradually exposed the root system.

Clearly this is a popular trail as can be seen in the pictures above. Restricting access (as a means of controlling erosion) isn't a reasonable solution and would go against the mandate of the NCC to "promote such public activities and events in the National Capital Region".

Instead, trail restoration offers a means of dealing with drainage and erosion problems. Bridges and steps can be built over sensitive areas. Drainage channels (or pipes under trails) can alleviate muddy conditions. Trails can be built-up with a stone base in humid areas.

The downside of these interventions is that the trail loses it's natural ruggedness and beauty. Seeing an ABS pipe under a trail or a smooth stone-based trail surface seems out of place in the middle of nature reserve such as the Gatineau Park.

The challenge in all of this is striking the right balance. Regardless of the approach taken, it is impossible to please everyone & to address all concerns.

The pictures below show the results of the NCC's efforts on this trail. The pictures were taken on the way down from the Tawadina lookout to Parking #13 by Meech Lake. Most of the restoration efforts are between the lookout and Trail #1. The remainder is from Trail #1 part-way towards Trail #38. Don't be misled by the appearance of the trail in these pictures. You're not seeing stone-dust, gravel or cement on the trails! Instead, the leaves covering the ground have been stepped on enough times by muddy soles that they've taken on a dull grey colour. You can see the same effect on some of the wooden bridges also.

The last picture shows what I mean by a stone-based trail restoration. You may notice an ABS pipe under the trail to allow water to flow from one side of the trail to the other.

As a result of these restoration efforts, the Tawadina lookout is now more accessible than ever to the general public. More people will get to see the breathtaking view and at the same time there will be fewer opportunities to have lookout all to yourself.

For those longing for the "untouched" natural beauty of this trail, the good news is that western half of the loop remains as rugged and challenging as always.

2009-11-10T07:54:00.002-05:00

Preview of New Snowshoeing Trails in Gatineau Park

As mentioned in an earlier post, the Gatineau Park is opening (a?) new snowshoe trail(s?) this year. I'm told the new Winter Trails map won't be available until early December.

If you're interested in getting a preview, there will be a "Come and meet with our team!" event this weekend (click on link for details) in the Gatineau Park. Visitors are encouraged to " Take advantage of this opportunity to ....get information regarding upcoming features including: ... new snowshoe trails ..."

The event will take place on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 from 10 am to 4:00 pm at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre, located on 33 Scott Rd. Chelsea, Quebec.

2009-11-05T13:53:00.014-05:00

Index of Individual Trip Reports

In collaboration with Canadian Canoe Routes, I've created an index of individual trip reports, sorted alphabetically first by province then by location. Later I'll post the reciprocal links back to Canadian Canoe Routes once their site has been updated with links to my trip reports.

I hope you find this index useful. Let me know if you have any suggested improvements!

British Columbia

Broken Group Islands Aug 2009

Ontario

Georgian Bay

Mink and McCoy Islands Sept 2008

Philip Edwards Island Circumavigation July 2008

Philip Edwards Island Area

Etches Island July 2009
North-East Hawk Island July 2009
Martins Island July 2009
West Fox Island July 2009
Ottawa River

Canada Day Paddle July 2009

First Outing of the Year April 2007

Quebec

Blue Sea Lake

Spectacular Sunset July 2009

Creek to Grant Lake July 2009

Fall Colours Mont Morisette Lookout October 2008

St. George's Chapel by the Lake July 7 2009
Gatineau River

Paugan Dam to Lac Ste-Marie (partial route) May 2007
Lac Ste-Marie to Paugan Dam (partial route) July 2007
Hautes-Gorges de la Malbaie

Camping L'Equerre Aug 2007
Acropole des Draveurs Hiking/Lookout Aug 2007

Lac Lapèche (Gatineau Park)

Day Trip May 2007

Overnight CampingAug 2007
Meech Lake (Gatineau Park)
Meech Lake Oct 2009

Saguenay Fjord

Guided Multi-Day Trip Aug 2007

Thirty-One Mile Lake

South Half (Point Confort) Sept 2007

Perfect Conditions - North Half (Ste-Thérèse) Oct 2007

Day Trip Sept. 2008

2009-11-01T19:24:00.002-05:00

New Snowshoeing Trails in Gatineau Park

According to a reliable source, new snowshoeing trails will be added to the existing network in the Gatineau Park. The existing winter map currently shows only 5 snowshoe trails (totaling 20 kilometers or approximately 12.5 miles):

#60/61 (near Gatineau Park Visitor's Centre in Chelsea)
#62 also known as Blanchet & Wolf's Trails (from Parking #13 near Meech Lake)
#70/71 (from Parking #15 on Cross Loop road)
#72 (from Parking #17 near Wakefield)
#73 (from Parking #19 near Lac Philippe)

The additional trails will be a welcomed given the exploding popularity of snowshoeing.

The new winter map showing the new trails should be available in early December.

Stay tuned for details!

2009-10-17T18:40:00.010-04:00

Wolf Trail (Sentier des loups) - Gatineau Park (Meech Lake area)

As mentioned in my previous post, from P13 near Blanchet beach you can hike (or snowshoe) up trail #62, also know as Wolf Trail (or Sentier des loups in french). Of all the years I've done this trail, I haven't seen a wolf yet! Maybe this winter, as we start our first real season of snowshoeing.

Somewhat more rugged than your typical trail in the park, it is still accessible to most hikers who don't have problems with inclines or uneven terrain. The reason that I find this trail interesting, other than a good workout, is the pleasant sound and sight of a stream along a good portion of the trail. While this can contribute to some soggy/muddy conditions along certain section of the trail, there is usually an easy & dry option to get by in most (but not all) cases.

Along the way, as you cross the stream, you walk over a rock the looks and sounds empty. The water enters one end of the rock and comes out the other end. The following video doesn't quite capture the hollow-sound the water makes as it passes through this rock, but you'll see what I mean.

This is the view looking upstream from the empty-rock.

After about 1 hour of walking, you come across a log-bridge. This option isn't for everybody as it can be slippery and the height of the fall would be enough to hurt most people. There are widely-spaced rocks that can be used a dozen feet downstream from the log. Again, this is a tricky crossing but at least you won't fall as far if you slip.

Another 15 minutes or so and you reach a swamp with a beaver dam at the head of the stream. Further up, the trail gets steeper and mudier, this is where we turned around to head back.

Time to hike up to the beaver dam and back: about 2 hours at a reasonable pace.

2009-10-12T17:32:00.018-04:00

Meech Lake - Gatineau Park

Spectacular fall colors in the Gatineau Park today for a kayak trip around Meech Lake (site of the infamous Meech Lake Accord). For directions, refer to the Summer Map for the Gatineau park.

The usual put-in (during the summer ) is half-way up the lake, next to a large parking lot (P12 on the map). If you're not there to kayak, walking on trail #40 along the stream full of rapids is worthwhile (if you don't mind medium-grade slopes along the way)

Another off-season (i.e. not summer) option is the Blanchet beach when it is closed to swimmers. Parking #13 is nearby, after having unloaded your kayak next to the change-rooms. From the parking lot, the Wolf Trail (#62) is even more impressive if you have time to hike it, albeit it's more rugged than trail #40.

Here's a sample of pictures showing the color of the leaves (click on any picture to see full-size):

As you can see, lots of Canada geese still in the neighborhood before the first snowfall (due this Friday).

And what may very well be the largest beaver lodge in the whole park, take a look at these pictures!

The crowds were out in full force on the Thanksgiving Day long-weekend. While there may have been limited space for motorized vehicles, there was lots of room for self-propelled boats :-)

Photo credits: Sylvie Desrochers (all pictures in this post)

2009-08-24T21:45:00.010-04:00

Kayaking in the Broken Group Islands
(British Columbia, Canada)

Just got back from a wonderful week on Chesterman Beach in Tofino BC, north of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve . Below is a picture of a sunset on the beach (click to see full size).

Thanks to Majestic Ocean Kayaking we toured the Broken Group Islands for a day. This cluster of over 100 islands forms the central unit of the national park reserve, south of the Long Beach unit and north of the West Coast Trail unit.

Having a waterproof camera makes it so much easier to take lots of great pictures while kayaking. That's if you manage to keep you lens clean. This hasn't been a problem in the past but this time it was. I'm guessing the salt in the seawater leave deposits on the lens after the water evaporates. Whatever the reason, I have lots of pictures that aren't worth posting because of that :-(

I hope to have a GPS route that I can post soon to show where we paddled on this trip. In the meantime, here are some of the few pictures worth showing (click on any to enlarge to full size).

On the way back, we were treated to an absolutely fantastic display of humpback whales breaching the water. Without a telephoto lens, it was rather challenging to get some good pictures. Here are a few short clips from hi-speed low-resolution photo sequences.

2009-07-20T22:33:00.001-04:00

Spectacular Sunset on Blue Sea Lake

Click on picture to see full-size!

2009-07-20T21:56:00.005-04:00

Georgian Bay - West Fox Island

We headed out to West Fox Island for what turned out to be our last night on this expedition.

From the Hawk Island group, West Fox seemed to be a relatively flat island. As you get closer to it, your realize the top might be flat but the sides are at quite an angle, making it more difficult to unload our kayaks.

Luckily, we found two large pressure ridges in the bay on the east side of the island. The bay offered shelter from the prevailing winds also. Had we not seen these two ridges, I'm not sure if/where there would have been another option for us. If you click on the picture below to enlarge it, you'll see our two kayaks on the far left side.

Once on the island we were pleased to find a very flat camping spot with a great view along with hundreds of pressure ridges that give the island quite a spectacular look. It was a bit of a hike (and a maze along the numerous pressure ridges) to carry our stuff between the campsite and the kayaks but all-in-all it was very much worth the effort.

Towards the eastern point of the island, there are a few other flat camping spots, but with less or no shelter from the prevailing winds. From there the view is outstanding.

We hiked around the southern side of the island as far as we could and got to see the rougher edges along the coastline exposed to the prevailing winds.

This island probably has more pressure ridges than most other islands in the area. Here are a few pictures taken late in the afternoon.

2009-07-20T21:43:00.007-04:00

Georgian Bay - Martins Island

On the way back from the Northeast Hawk to the West Fox island, we stopped at Martins Island for a well deserved and needed break.

It has a beautiful bay on the south-east side with turquoise water and contrasting rock colours.

2009-07-20T21:42:00.004-04:00

Georgian Bay - Northeast Hawk Island

After stopping on Blockbuster Island for a break and to climb up to get a great view of the islands, we headed out in medium wind/waves to Northeast Hawk Island.

We saw three bays on the North East Hawk island:

On the NW side: We couldn't land there because of the waves and large boulders everywhere. Later, we spotted two campsites up the hill from there.

On the SE side: very exposed to the winds-waves, didn't bother trying to stop there

On the NE side: large bay including small sandy beach.

We landed at the northern most tip of the islands. From here we had access to only one fairly slanted campsite on the point, or the option of walking around the island to reach the 2 sites accessible from the NW bay.

One look at following picture will tell you which campsite we chose. Needless to say, we didn't sleep very well that night!

Impressive pressure ridges could be found in many areas on this island, as can be seen in these pictures.

Georgian Bay sunsets provide incredible picture taking opportunities. Judge for yourself...

2009-07-19T18:11:00.010-04:00

Georgian Bay - Etches Island

Our first stop on our expedition, after driving 7+ hours and loading up both kayaks. We didn't want to camp on Rattle island again, but we didn't have much sunlight to afford paddling too far. Etches is circled in red on the following map (click on map to see full-size).

We were able to unload relatively easy on the east side, there's a small bay protected by a relatively small rock island. From there we had reasonably good access to a good campsite. If room for a 2nd tent would have been required, we're not sure where we would have put it.

The island includes enough vegetation and elevation to make it worthwhile to climb and to look around at the view.

2009-07-19T18:00:00.007-04:00

Georgian Bay - Philip Edward Island (The Sequel)

We finally made it back to Georgian Bay again!!! Last year we circumnavigated PEI, this year we set out for the more remote islands in this area.

We stopped at the Park Office to pay for parking ($52 for 4 nights) before loading up both kayaks at the put-in on Chikanishing river.

The element of surprise from discovering a region for the first time wasn't there this year. Neither was the dynamics of participating in an organized tour. Instead, it was more of a relaxing paddle in a strikingly beautiful area (at least that part hasn't changed).

We camped on Etches, Northeast Hawk and South Fox islands this time around. Click on map below for details.

I'll create a separate post for each one along with pictures, see postings above (sorry but it's going to seem to be out of order, from bottom up instead of top down).

We cut our expedition short by one day due to the certainty of rain. If it had been on any other day than our last one, we would have put up with it as we have in the past.

Low on gas, we stopped at Killarney Outfitters to fill up then headed into Killarney village for some world famous Fish & Chips before heading back home.

Now that we've statisfied our urge to go back to the bay, we're now thinking of Les Bergeronnes, north of Tadoussac on the Saguenay fjord for our next expedition.

2009-07-19T17:55:00.005-04:00

Paddling from Blue Sea Lake to Grant Lake

In the bay right next to the chapel on Blue Sea Lake is a small creek that leads to Grant Lake. Once you're in the creek there isn't much room to turn around and come back, you're better off paddling until you get to Grant Lake before turning around.

Along the way, you'll have to negotiate a large concrete culvert under the bicycle path (what used to be a railway line), under a small wooden building then under a wooden culvert under the road that leads from Blue Sea to Messine.

Grant Lake is fairly quiet with nice cottages on both sides and untouched wilderness at both ends.

2009-07-19T17:48:00.005-04:00

St. George's Chapel on Blue Sea Lake

While paddling along the West side of the lake, from Blue Sea to Messine, you'll come across a small lake-side chapel, complete with a dock for boater access.

According to the sign, it was established in 1911, almost a century ago!

The shingles on the roof were recently replaced, evidence that it's still being maintained.

2009-07-19T17:28:00.009-04:00

Canada Day on the Ottawa River

Paddling got off to a slow start this year for us. The weather hasn't exactly been too inviting lately and we've had to focus on other priorities for a while.

This time, we put-in at the Leamy Lake beach (access to parking via Fournier Blvd), paddled out the creek at the North end into the Gatineau river. Turning right, we paddled downstream until reaching the Ottawa river. From there, we turned right (West) and paddled upstream past the Museum of Civilization until we got to Victoria Island.

Then we started paddling back towards Alexandra Bridge, just below Parliament Hill, and then waited for the airshow to begin.

As part of the 100th anniversary of aviation in Canada, the Snowbirds were joined by three special planes put together to commemorate this event: a CF-18 Century Hornet, a Snowbird Tutor repainted to the original Golden Centenial colours and the F-86 Hawk One Sabre. See http://airtour.aviation.ca/content/view/372/1/ for details.

We set out with rain coats and came back with sunburns. Cooling-off by the Rideau Falls felt really good before heading back to our put-in spot.

2009-05-21T21:49:00.005-04:00

Inspiring Adventure - 19 Year-Old Paddling 440 Miles

Here's an inspiring adventure that just got underway today: a 19 year-old paddling 440 miles solo over 3 weeks without any support in an attempt to raise $5000 for cancer research.

Here is what his trip looks like on map

To see the web page describing his challenge, see Relay for Life for more details.

You can follow his progress on his blog at A la rencontre des baleines.

Most of it is in French but he has one post in English at Paddling to Meet the Whales.

He has a Spot transmitter and you can see his progress on this dynamic map

2009-05-12T21:08:00.002-04:00

Philip Edward Island - Georgian Bay (Near Killarney)

Last summer, as we circumnavigated Philip Edward Island, we camped on Rattle Island, along (West or East) Desjardin Bay, on Hinks Island, in Mill Lake Bay then back to western edge of Philip Island (near Rattle Island). See Georgian Bay - Philip Edwards Island for more details.

We're planning on going back to this area again this summer and would like your comments, suggestions, information, photographs, etc...particularly regarding the following islands in terms of the view, geology, ease of putting in/out and the quality of campsites:

Starting 1 to 3 miles East of Rattle Island:

- Crab Island
- Le Hayes Island
- Solomon Island
- Low Island
- Blockbuster Island, with two apparently excellent viewpoints

then along a 1 to 2 miles stretch South-West:

- Fox Islands (East, Center, Sly and West)
- Martins Island
- Hawk Islands (Northeast, Middle and Southwest), with apparently interesting pressure forms in the rocks
- Green Island (not to be confused with island with same name in Mink & McCoy area)

Then about 2 miles farther west:

- Scarecrow Island

As far as I can tell, there is one, maybe two private island(s) in this area (Lowe Island and a small unnamed island directly west of it).

Any information would be greatly appreciated as we start planning this expedition. Simply add a comment to this post to provide me with your feedback.

Thanks!

2009-04-09T19:42:00.008-04:00

2009 Destinations

With the last remains of snow about to disappear in our neighbourhood, the 2009 kayak season is finally about to begin!!!

It's always great to have a choice of destinations, it just takes a bit of effort to narrow these down to short list that can fit into our sometimes unpredictable schedule and Mother Nature's less than predictable weather.

Here's my first cut at our list of destinations for 2009. For each entry, I've included:

a star rating system (five being best), based on my personal assessment
links to relevant background information for anyone curious to know a bit more.

1) ***** Georgian Bay -Philip Edward Island & Area (Multi-Day)

What can I say, I fell in love with this destination last year and it always comes to mind when I ask myself "where next?". It offers more choices than Minks & McCoys (http://marccharron.blogspot.com/2008/09/georgian-bay-mink-and-mccoy-islands.html) with more islands and fewer private properties. It's about an 8-hour drive (not including stops), meaning you can put-in and set-up camp on a nearby island before dusk if you leave early enough in the morning. Click on the following link for more details:

http://marccharron.blogspot.com/2008/07/georgian-bay-philip-edwards-island-near.html

2) ***** Broken Group Islands , British Columbia (Day-Trip)

This one is a bit of side-excursion from an otherwise relaxing week on the beaches and trails of Tofino and the Pacific Rim National Park (see http://www.tourismtofino.com/ and http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/bg/visit/index_e.asp). Depending how we like this destination, we may plan to go back for a multi-day trip in the future.

For more details, see:

http://www.oceankayaking.com/day.html#bgi and

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/bg/visit/index_e.asp

3) **** Lac des trente-et-un milles (Multi-Day)

This destination is on our list because it's less than 2 hours away and has offers great wilderness camping at no cost other than parking at the put-in (until told otherwise). For more details, see:

http://marccharron.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html and

http://marccharron.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html and

http://marccharron.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

Other Possibilities Under Consideration:

St. Lawrence Water Trail

(http://www.sentiermaritime.ca/english/index.asp)

Maine Island Trail

(http://www.mita.org/)

There will be dozens of other destinations, probably all day-trips, throughout the season.

If anyone has suggestions that I should consider (preferably within reasonable driving distance of Ottawa ON), please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

2009-04-09T11:13:00.002-04:00

New Olympus Cameras

Just noticed that Olympus has updated their line of Stylus Tough cameras with the new 8000 model.

See http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1448 for details.

It's a step up from the 1030SW model that I've been pleased to use on my kayak trips last year. The two have similar levels of "rugedness" in terms of shock, crush, water & temperatre ratings. The main differences between the 8000 and 1030SW seem to be:

$400 vs $350 (USD)
12 Megapixel resolution vs 10.1
1/2000 shutter speed vs 1/1000
Auto and High Auto ISO vs Auto only
Dual Image Stabilization vs Image Stabilization
Display Backlight Boost
24 shooting modes instead of 29
6.4 vs 6.3 oz

2008-10-05T22:26:00.009-04:00

Fall Colours at Blue Sea Lake

A few pictures from the look-out at Mont Morissette in the Blue Sea Lake area. Great new hiking trails inaugurated this year.

2008-10-05T22:15:00.004-04:00

Golf "Le Geant" at Mont-Tremblant

On a cold and cloudy day in early October, enjoyed a colourful and enjoyable golf game at Le Geant golf course in the Mont-Tremblant resourt area. Luckily, it didn't snow/rain as forecasted :-)

Below are a few pictures (click to see full-size).

2008-09-10T21:54:00.008-04:00

31-Mile Lake Revisited

This day-trek took place in early August, I'm a little late adding this post.

From Bouchette, we drove to the public ramp at the end of the Lac-des-trente-et-un-milles road. Parking was $10 for the day, a few hundred yards from the dock/ramp.

Here's a picture of Ron (fellow cottager) in his narrow & fast Current Design Extreme kayak just as he's putting into the lake and getting ready to go.

Some of the rocks reminded me of Georgian Bay (see other posts below).

I believe this is a picture of SAGE campsite #22 in the North-end of the Southern-most bay of Ile de Six Miles.

Here's a picture of my wife and I taken by Ron.

We got chased back to the starting point by a slow moving but rather intense thunderstorm.

2008-09-03T21:18:00.019-04:00

Georgian Bay - Franklin, Mink and McCoy Islands
(click on any picture to view full size)

When you discover a great place like Georgian Bay, the best thing you can do is to go back and that's exactly what we did!

This time, we chose the Mink-McCoy islands for a relaxing, self-guided, 6-day and 5-night outing. We've done 3-day trips by ourselves a number of times already. With our recent 6-day guided trip with Détour Nature earlier this summer (see earlier post), we felt ready to take on this new challenge.

Our planning started with our usual exhaustive Internet search followed by a valuable book "Guide to Sea Kayaking Lakes Huron, Erie & Ontario - The Best Day Trips and Tours" by Sara Ohmann and Bill Newman (ISBN #0-7627-0417-9). Route #6 in the book describes the Mink and McCoy Island Group in detail and provides useful suggestions.

Topping off our documentations was Chrismar's outstanding waterproof "Adventure Map - Sea Kayaking Guide - Franklin, Minks and McCoys" (ISBN #0-929140-76-1). It provides a great map on one side and tons of useful information on the back.

After a 6+ hour drive, we arrived in Dillon's Cove to load-up and put-in our kayaks at the municipal dock. We parked at Dillon's Cove Marina for $5/day. The parking next to the dock is reserved for residents of the Township of Carling. Given the time of day and windy conditions, our objective was to camp on King Island just North-West of Franklin Island. Equipped with my new Brunton 58 Kayak Compass, I was somewhat confident that I'd find the island easily.
Well, (insert your excuse here), we tried to find King Island but didn't waste too much time & effort. Instead we picked a small (unnamed?) island directly South of Polley Island (near buoy A42 on the Shebeshekon Channel). Our tent was somewhat exposed to the wind (as you can tell from the picture) but it offered us a great place to start our kayak-camping adventure. A nice sunset topped-off the first day on the bay.

Next morning we headed North past Morlock-Chilco-Essex-Fairhead-Burgon and Edge Islands before turning towards Twin Sister Island. From there we decided to head into the sheltered bay at the South of the Shawanaga Islands. Knowing that we'd have at least 2 miles of open-water in windy conditions, we rested up a bit in the bay before heading out to Big McCoy Island.

With the windy conditions over the past 24 hours, we selected a sheltered campsite on the South-East corner of Big McCoy Island. It was a rather large site (suitable for large groups) for one tent and our two kayaks but it suited us just fine. A small sheltered bay with very gradual sloping shore made it easy to bail out, unpack the kayaks and set-up camp for the 2nd night. A small fire pit with chairs constructed with flat rocks added to our comfort level.

We continue to be amazed by the plants and flowers that we've seen in Georgian Bay.

On this trip, we didn't see any bears or snakes on the island, only a few snakes in the water. However the picture below shows there was a least one relatively large snake that shedded some skin in our corner of Big McCoy Island. It may have been a venomous Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake or the non-venomous Easter Fox Snake.

My new portable weather station (ADC Summit) gave us advance warning of a storm on it's way. Sure enough, the rain came down hard and we were surrounded by lighting & thunder.

The next day we paddles South between Twin Pine and Archer Islands, past Birnie Island, across to Garland Island then behind Elmtree-Goodkey-Wallbank-Rapier Islands to get to Green Island, the last good camping spot before reaching what are mostly private islands in the chain of Mink Islands.

With the wind that day, we decided not to risk paddling over shores to the wreck of the Seattle (November 1903) West of Rapier-Green Islands.

Despite some shelter from the trees on Green Island, I still needed about 300 lbs of rocks and some extra rope to secure the tent and prevent it from collapsing.

We were treated to an absolutely fabulous sunset that night, below is one sample picture. I believe the trees that can be seen on the horizon are from the Limestone Islands Provincial Natural Reserve about 3 to 4 miles away.

We knew the next day would be a bit different. Most of the islands are private with cottages/homes. We also had the longest open-water crossing of our trip: about 4 miles from Stalker-Virtue-Castle-Old Tower Islands to Henrietta Point on Franklin Island. As we came up to Old Tower Island, my wife saw a lighthouse "just behind the island". I knew is was an optical illusion due to the small size of the island and the huge size of the lighthouse. In the first picture below, we're about 3/4 of a mile away from the lighthouse. In the second picture, you can see the size of the lighthouse relative to a 17ft kayak.

In the next picture, we're at Henrietta Point looking back at the Red Rock lighthouse which is 3 miles away.

By now we're getting tired of eating from our campsite cafeteria and we head out to Gilly's restaurant at nearby Snug Harbour for a fresh meal and cold drinks.

Unfortunately we had to leave the kayaks at the municipal dock which is our of sight from the restaurant. That meant we ordered our food for take-out and couldn't enjoy a cold beer in this charming restaurant. We headed back to Franklin Island as the sun was setting.

Since we hadn't been delayed by weather up to this point, we had time to head-up the West side to find our final camping spot instead of rushing-up the channel on the East side to drive home that day. We paddled by Lenice-Windsor-Gaspar-Speer Islands before pulling into Wrinkler Island. While we only found a few small & not quite level camping spots, it has a protected cove and a relatively high cliff that offers a great viewpoint of the bay and the now-famous sunsets.

We had an unexpected passenger on one of our kayaks on the final day who just wouldn't get off.

Our plan was to duck behind (East) of King and Dick Islands to reach buoy A37 on the channel, about 1 mile from Dillon's Cove. Instead, (insert another excuse here), it looks like we paddled in front (West) of King-Myrtle-Polley Islands and came out near buoy A42, more than 1 mile farther than planned...not a big deal but we could have done without the detour.

No matter what I say or what pictures I post on this blog, it won't do justice to the truly outstanding beauty of this area. I highly recommend this trip to any avid flat-water kayaker who doesn't mind being on open-waters for one to two hour stretch.

This trip and our previous trip near Killarney have turned Georgian Bay into our favorite destination. Our biggest challenge now is to decide which part of the bay to explore next time!

2008-07-20T16:48:00.020-04:00

Georgian Bay - Philip Edwards Island (near Killarney)

It's hard to imagine a better place for kayak-camping than the Georgian Bay. Thousands of picturesque islands, many of them publicly owned with free camping access outside of provincial park boundaries (first-come first-served basis).

We circumnavigated Philip Edward Island on a 7-day (6-night) expedition in early July with our guides Denis and Jérome of Détour Nature (http://www.detournature.com/accueil.html). Transportation was provided to/from Montreal as was all kayaking and cooking equipment. Participants provided camping equipment and clothing.

The islands include a surprisingly diverse array of flowers.

The islands also included some spectacular wildlife. Below is the only venomous rattlesnake in Ontario, the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake:

The food in two of our kayaks was gulped down by a young black bear just as we were loading up to leave for the day. Below is a picture of Mama Bear who obviously wasn't supervising her young cub closely enough!

The scenery was breathtaking and we enjoyed this trip so much, we're already planning on going back as soon as possible.

We truly enjoyed sharing this experience with a fine group of participants, we'll cherish the memories for a long time to come.

Photo credits: first and last picture by Françis Simard, all others by author

2008-07-18T23:17:00.003-04:00

First Eskimo Roll in a Sea Kayak

After a few hours of practice in a pool this winter with a river kayak, here is my first Eskimo roll in a sea kayak last week!

2007-10-07T20:56:00.001-04:00

15th Kayak Outing - 31 Mile Lake

Perfection rarely happens, when it does you try to enjoy every minute of it while it lasts. Thankfully I took the Friday off from work and headed up to 31 Mile Lake for an overnight camping trip at the peak of the Fall colours.

The conditions were unbelievable! In 40+ years in the area, rarely do we get conditions that are so calm (no wind, no waves, no wake) for such an extended period of time. The pictures speak for themselves, it was like kayaking on a mirror all day long. The "effort" factor was low while the "wow" factor was high, you could hardly ask for more.

Just before heading out onto the lake, one of the "locals" suggested we head out to campsite #15, apparently one of the better sites, including a sandy beach. We didn't regret that advice one bit, turned out to be an exceptionally pleasant site.

A quick paddle at the end of the day, before preparing supper & packing it in for the night. As you can see from the picture, the lake was just as calm as it was earlier in the day.

2007-09-03T21:37:00.001-04:00

14th Kayak Outing

Labour Day Weekend, weather forecasters predicting three days of solid sun with winds in the 5 to 10 km/h range. My wife and I set out to 31-Mile Lake for a short 2-day and 1-night trip. For those of you who haven't heard of this lake it's a surprisingly under-developped lake with clear water and lots of pristine shoreline. The only (mostly) paved access points are from the South (Point Comfort) and the North (Ste-Therese). There are a few other boat ramps around the lake but not necessarily near populated areas.

There are 27 sites managed by SAGE (Societe d'Amenagement et de Gestion Environmental) on the lake, most are on islands, a few are on the edges of the lake. All sites are free and available on a first-come first-served basis. That means we're taking a bit of a gamble on one of the busiest weekends of the year and paddling out on Saturday instead of Friday. They allow short-term camping on small islands but without dry toilet facilities.

As luck would have it, the winds are closer to 20km/h and blowing the wrong way (in our face) when we set out from the put-in at Camping Alie at Point Confort at the Southern end of the lake. Despite our best efforts, we're no match for the power boats full of campers heading out onto the lake. Knowing that we could be paddling for a good part of the day, we pick a pace that we can maintain for an extended period of time.

After about 2km, we come accros the first site (#28) on an island. There were already two canoes and at least one tent set-up already. We decide to press-on another 3 km to the next site. A boat and canoe with two tents were already set up on #27 on the edge of the lake. The occupants suggest we check-out a site "just around the bend". We found it but it was marked private keep out so we kept on going. Three kilometers later, we started looking for site #26. We stopped at Price island, using it to shield us from the wind as we ate lunch in our kayak. Unfortunately, this didn't provide much opportunity for relief.

According to the SAGE map with campsites (http://www.jlcgeo.com/) it looked like site #26 was near Steamboat Island but in fact it's on Ile du Pin Rouge. Turns out 4 fishermen (and 1 dog) were already set-up there so we started looking at our options. We could cross the lake to site #25 on the opposite edge or keep going North towards site #24 (with the option of going even further to site #23). We chose to keep going North. After a slight detour (map reading error) we passed Ile a la Croix on the West side to site #24. There were already 2 tents set up on the Northern tip of the island but we found that this island also has a spot for a tent on the East side, complete with fire-pit.

We were thankful to finally find ourselves a spot, after paddling between 11 and 12km during a 4 hour period. But to find such a peaceful and scenic spot was icing on the cake. After unpacking the kayaks, we found a good spot to go swimming and to rest in the sun on the Southern tip of the island. Our campfire by the mirror-smooth lake was a real treat. That night gave us an impressive display of stars and when the moon rose later on, flashights were no longer necessary. Had it not been for our "neighbors" who played music & laughed until 330AM, this might have been the most relaxing night of the summer.

The loons woke us up the next morning with a most impressive symphony of calls. The sight of the fog floating on the lake under the early morning sun rays was a memorable sight (unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice).

Two friendly SAGE volunteers came around by boat to check up on things. From what they knew, we were lucky to have found a spot the previous night, possibly it was the last spot available on the lake. According to these guys, access to the campsites may be fee-based starting next year, with reservations possible at some sites. If it allows them to maintain/expand what they've done so far, I'm all for it.

With the latest weather forecast predicting an afternoon with 20km/h winds from the South (in our face on the way back) we headed out early. It was 11AM by the time we were packed up and paddling back, just when the wind picked up. For the entire paddle back to the put-in, the winds were gusting to 30km/h and the waves were high enough to splash the decks of our kayaks. Despite modest speed against the elements, we managed to cover about 10 km in 3-1/2 hours. I cranked up the speed in the last kilometer and my shoulders made me pay for it the next day!

We definetly would like to go back, this time during the week when most of the campsites are empty rather than full.

2007-08-25T11:08:00.000-04:00

13th Kayak Outing

Three days and 2 nights of rustic kayak-camping at l'Equerre camping at the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie National Park. See post below for link to SEPAQ site describing this jewel of a park.

As impressive as the Saguenay Fjord can be (particularly with all the seals & whales), les Hautes-Gorges is in many ways more spectacular. The escarpments of les Hautes Gorges are higher & steeper and the valley is narrower. You really feel like a tiny dot floating on the 5 mile long reservoir between the dam and l'Equerre (T-Square: a 90 degree bend in the river/valley).
You can clearly see the "7" shaped river in the top left corner of the map below.

The following view with contour lines shows just how steep & narrow the valley really is.

And here is a Google Earth view from l'Equerre

Vehicles aren't usually permitted in the park, see map below (click to enlarge). You drive in (red line) leave your vehicle at Parking #6, register & a shuttle with a trailer picks up your kayaks, equipment and drives you (along green line) to the dam near the put-in.

There are three campsites in the park. Camping Le Cran is near the park entrance, Camping Pin Blanc is by the river below the dam (rapids therefore not the best place for kayaks & canoes), and Camping de l'Equerre is on the reservoir created by the dam, about as far as you can go before reaching the first set of rapids.

It's about 5 miles from the put-in (by the kayak/canoe rental cabin) to the Equerre camping. L'Equerre is a rustic campsite with two-dozen sites large enough for one tent. Only a few have direct access to the river, which means that if you're staying at one of the others sites, you have to park at the beach and hike up your stuff up to your sites. We had the left-most site on the river-side of the access road. This road is used by hikers & bikers (and parc maintenance vehicles). Otherwise everyone else paddles in.

The kayaking was great, and we really enjoyed this fabulous experience.

2007-08-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

L'Acropole des Draveurs

After 5-1/2 hours of driving, had a quick lunch then drove another hour to reach the SEPAQ's Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie National Park in the Charlevoix area of Québec.
See http://www.sepaq.com/pq/hgo/en/for details.

It's a difficult 4 to 5 hour hike from the river up a steep 3000ft escarpment. When you get to the top there are 4 summits you can climb within 1/2 mile distance.

The view was spectacular !!! Click on pictures below to enlarge to full size.

Here is a short 360 degree video from the first summit. The background noise is from the wind.

Here is a short 180 degree video showing the Malbaie river from downstream of the dam, past the dam and up the valley to the 90 degree bend (l'Equerre: T-Square). By now the wind was really howling and it's loud in this video.

I've heard this is one of the most difficult hikes in Quebec, I don't have too many doubts that's true...

2007-08-25T10:45:00.001-04:00

12th Kayak Outing

Perfect conditions: blue sky, setting sun, mirror lake :)

As I paddled by my neighbor's place and he saw me in my kayak, he said it would have made a great picture (had he had his camera with him).

Paddled around the bay at the end of the lake, had to turn on my night-lights to finish the ride after the sun had set.