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.

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.

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!

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.