Training Log Archive: BashIn the 31 days ending Mar 31, 2019:
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| Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday Mar 31, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 10:00 [1]
slept:6.5
Foothab basics while thinking about the runners remaining in the woods at the Barkley Marathons.
It's a winter wonderland today! But the snow is *really* wet so it's not great ski weather.
It's a winter wonderland today! But the snow is *really* wet so it's not great ski weather.
Saturday Mar 30, 2019 #
9 AM
Running 3:06:58 [3] 17.01 km (11:00 / km) +566m 9:25 / km
slept:6.5
'Bent and Tarno ran at Pretty River so I caught a ride to Pretty River Road and planned to run back to the condo, mostly on the Bruce Trail. Jacquie accompanied me to the high point of the Bruce Trail, then she headed down to the car while I continued. The weather was crazy - wet snow falling with occasional ice pellets. For most of my route, I was breaking trail in ankle deep (or much deeper), wet snow with some surprise postholing or near-sprained ankles when I broke through to rocks. Definitely not a day for speed!
In several long sections, I had to guess where the trail went since it didn't look much different from the rest of the forest, and the white blazes were hidden by snow. The trail is ahead of me in this photo, for example.
It was super fun though! Days like this make me so happy that I found adventure racing and orienteering.
When I saw the Orchard Chair wasn't running at Blue Mountain, I thought I would try to follow mountain bike trails down but it wasn't as easy as I'd imagined. Really, I should have had snowshoes. Sometimes I bushwhacked since I didn't want to go onto ski runs or travel over big wooden mountain bike "features". Given that I was alone in nasty weather in ankle turning conditions on untravelled trails, this part might have been a little too adventurous.
I'd promised myself a Beaver Tail in Blue Mountain Village but first I stopped to watch the Red Bull "skiing into water" event - whatever it's called. After that, I was soaking wet and chilled so I bought my Beaver Tail before leaving for my 5-6K run home on the flats - and then 'Bent texted and offered to pick me up. He didn't have to ask twice. It had been a fun, tough run but the last part would just be road and rail trail - a "make work" project.
In several long sections, I had to guess where the trail went since it didn't look much different from the rest of the forest, and the white blazes were hidden by snow. The trail is ahead of me in this photo, for example.
It was super fun though! Days like this make me so happy that I found adventure racing and orienteering.
When I saw the Orchard Chair wasn't running at Blue Mountain, I thought I would try to follow mountain bike trails down but it wasn't as easy as I'd imagined. Really, I should have had snowshoes. Sometimes I bushwhacked since I didn't want to go onto ski runs or travel over big wooden mountain bike "features". Given that I was alone in nasty weather in ankle turning conditions on untravelled trails, this part might have been a little too adventurous.
I'd promised myself a Beaver Tail in Blue Mountain Village but first I stopped to watch the Red Bull "skiing into water" event - whatever it's called. After that, I was soaking wet and chilled so I bought my Beaver Tail before leaving for my 5-6K run home on the flats - and then 'Bent texted and offered to pick me up. He didn't have to ask twice. It had been a fun, tough run but the last part would just be road and rail trail - a "make work" project.
Friday Mar 29, 2019 #
1 PM
Running (Trail) 2:20:08 [2] 11.53 km (12:09 / km) +487m 10:02 / km
slept:8.0 shoes: Salomon Snowcross1 2nd pair
Mix of hiking and gentle running on a bluebird day at Pretty River with 'Bent, Dee and Mrs. Gally. Lots of climbing, lots of ice, lots of chatting - so nice!
Thursday Mar 28, 2019 #
Note
slept:6.75
Quote from my arborist as we walked around the forest on our property to plan his work: "I'm really impressed at the way you charge bush!"
Aw, shucks. :)
(That's a new expression for me. I don't think I'll get a T-shirt made.)
Aw, shucks. :)
(That's a new expression for me. I don't think I'll get a T-shirt made.)
10 PM
Strength & Mobility 15:00 [3]
Upper body weights
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019 #
9 PM
Strength & Mobility 15:00
slept:4.75
Another day hanging out with Mom, who is doing much better after the big scare. She'll be in hospital for another week so I taught her some new Sudoku tricks.
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility (Foothab) 10:00 [1]
slept:6.75
High hopes for today but taxes won out over running. Boo.
Monday Mar 25, 2019 #
11 PM
Strength & Mobility (Foothab) 10:00 [1]
slept:6.5
Long day of driving out of town, hanging out with Mom in hospital, driving to her apartment to collect a few items, chatting with doctors, etc. She's doing much better but her unscheduled "vacation" will continue for awhile longer.
Note
I've just sent a request to drop to a lower distance at the Whiskey Basin Trail Runs. It was a dubious idea to try to run 88K mostly on ski and snowshoe training, although that strategy worked OK at Transgrancanaria. I really needed to translate my snow sports fitness to running in the final six weeks pre-race but between my cold and Mom's health, that hasn't happened and it's too late now.
So look out, 'Bent - I'm going to be racing you in the 60K!
So look out, 'Bent - I'm going to be racing you in the 60K!
Sunday Mar 24, 2019 #
2 PM
Running (Country Road & Trail) 3:12:52 [3] 26.08 km (7:24 / km) +374m 6:54 / km
ahr:136 max:166 slept:9.5 shoes: Salomon SpikeCross - 2nd pair
Long run on a mix of gravel roads and shoulders, rail trail and park roads. I'm getting ready for a warm weather race so I wanted to avoid ice as much as possible today. This route was better for that than the forest trails but there were some really icy sections in Albion Hills, on the closed section of Duffy's Lane, and in a few places on the rail trail, which was pretty muddy elsewhere. I've been skiing and snowshoeing regularly but this was my first long run in awhile. We'll see what hurts tomorrow. :)
Saturday Mar 23, 2019 #
Note
slept:0.0
Midnight phone call from doctor meant an immediate evacuation of Tree Hugger ABC, a long drive to see Mom in hospital, and a night without sleep. She is improving.
10 PM
Strength & Mobility 10:00 [1]
slept:2.75
'Bent and I got a short nap around noon. I've had no blank days on AP in 2019 so I had to do foothab basics before collapsing into bed for a real sleep.
Friday Mar 22, 2019 #
4 PM
Strength & Mobility 45:00 [3]
slept:7.0
Gym workout at Tree Hugger ABC. Warmed up with 2 km of rowing.
Thursday Mar 21, 2019 #
Note
The last 24 hours had a few “highlights”: a nasty drive in the dark in snow-rain, a night in a mediocre motel, learning at 6 am that Mom didn’t need me there to give her a ride after all, moving her computer a few inches and somehow causing the power switch to stop working, finding a tech repair shop and taking it there - phew. It was great to get back home - until I found three puddles of stinky dog vomit. On our duvet.
But the day finished off fun when ‘Bent and I went to a live show by Youtuber Randy Rainbow. Warning: might offend people who don't like certain body parts mentioned in a song and will definitely offend Trump supporters.
But the day finished off fun when ‘Bent and I went to a live show by Youtuber Randy Rainbow. Warning: might offend people who don't like certain body parts mentioned in a song and will definitely offend Trump supporters.
4 PM
Strength & Mobility 10:00 [1]
Wednesday Mar 20, 2019 #
Note
"Literary Historians Uncover Collection Of Breezy, Upbeat Edgar Allan Poe Writings Penned After Author Took Up Jogging" :)
https://www.theonion.com/literary-historians-uncov...
https://www.theonion.com/literary-historians-uncov...
9 AM
Running (Trail) 55:56 6.93 km (8:05 / km) +200m 7:04 / km
ahr:144 max:163 slept:6.0 shoes: Salomon Snowcross1 2nd pair
Another ice run in Kahtoolas, this time at Glen Haffy with Erin Heuts (Squirt when she was on AP). Lots of very icy hills where we had to move cautiously, even in spikes.
We'd never run together before but now that Grandma is watching Grace occasionally, we're going to try to get out once in awhile. Erin is faster but my "slightly too fast" pace is her "comfortable" pace so while she's getting back into shape, we should be OK together. It was another beautiful, sunny day and it was great to have someone to chat with!
We'd never run together before but now that Grandma is watching Grace occasionally, we're going to try to get out once in awhile. Erin is faster but my "slightly too fast" pace is her "comfortable" pace so while she's getting back into shape, we should be OK together. It was another beautiful, sunny day and it was great to have someone to chat with!
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019 #
4 PM
Running (Trail) 1:02:37 8.16 km (7:40 / km) +164m 6:58 / km
ahr:138 max:167 slept:8.0 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Another Kahtoola run around Palgrave West with AdventureDog. Today's conditions were more of a mixed bag. There was some glare ice, often with water flowing over it, but I ran through more slush, soft snow and deep, frigid puddles hiding under thin, breakable ice. At first I was disappointed that my legs felt so heavy after yesterday's run felt so good. Then I decided I could officially blame the conditions - too much sinking into slush with nothing to push off against. Even so, it was another beautiful, sunny day in the woods. I'll take slush over ticks any day! (Although the temperature has been in the right range for ticks this week too. Boo.)
Monday Mar 18, 2019 #
2 PM
Running (Trail) 1:24:29 11.29 km (7:29 / km) +234m 6:47 / km
ahr:135 max:159 slept:6.5 shoes: Salomon S-Lab Wings 8
Kahtoola run around the glaciers of Palgrave East and West. My cold is fading nicely so we'll see if this kicks it back into gear. Hopefully not - I felt pretty good out there.
It was my first run with a heart rate monitor in a long, long time. In our early days of AR, I got into HR training for a couple of years but I was able to estimate my HR pretty accurately after awhile so it didn't seem worth measuring it anymore. I'm only guessing at my current max heart rate but based on when I started to go anaerobic, I think my estimate is pretty close (HRmax around 165-ish). Today wasn't a good day to push the limits.
This is 'Bent's photo from his commute today on the same trails.
It was my first run with a heart rate monitor in a long, long time. In our early days of AR, I got into HR training for a couple of years but I was able to estimate my HR pretty accurately after awhile so it didn't seem worth measuring it anymore. I'm only guessing at my current max heart rate but based on when I started to go anaerobic, I think my estimate is pretty close (HRmax around 165-ish). Today wasn't a good day to push the limits.
This is 'Bent's photo from his commute today on the same trails.
Sunday Mar 17, 2019 #
4 PM
Strength & Mobility 20:00 [1]
slept:7.5 (sick)
Cold is improving. Maybe I can run tomorrow.
Saturday Mar 16, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 15:00 [1]
slept:6.0 (sick)
Still trying to shake this chest cold. Fortunately, foothab doesn't raise the heart rate much so it's OK.
Friday Mar 15, 2019 #
Note
Do a plank for RBG! :)
https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/this-is-why-peop...
“RBG planks day in and day out so that SHE. CAN. KEEP. DISSENTING. I mean, come on, what would we do without her?!”
https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/this-is-why-peop...
“RBG planks day in and day out so that SHE. CAN. KEEP. DISSENTING. I mean, come on, what would we do without her?!”
9 AM
Strength & Mobility 15:00 [1]
slept:8.0 (sick)
Foothab. Cold is pretty bad now. Ugh. I really need a long run this weekend with my race just 4 weeks away but it may not happen.
Thursday Mar 14, 2019 #
Note
Interesting letter from Subaru about my 2013 Outback: an urgent air bag recall. When I read about the potential problem - an explosion hurling shrapnel into the vehicle's occupants - I figured I would get it fixed soon. Then I read the letter in more detail. They don't actually have a fix yet so in the meantime, I'm not supposed to let anyone ride in the passenger seat. Wow. This applies to several Subaru models (Legacy, Outback, Forester) in the 2010-2014 model years - and some other vehicle brands too.
http://fortune.com/2019/02/08/takata-airbag-recall...
http://fortune.com/2019/02/08/takata-airbag-recall...
9 AM
Strength & Mobility 15:00 [1]
Foothab
12 PM
Trekking (Trail and Off-Trail) 28:03 [1] 2.05 km (13:41 / km) +36m 12:35 / km
ahr:97 max:112 slept:6.5 (sick)
My cold is worse so I googled the latest science on whether I should do today's scheduled 10K run. It sounded like a hike might be beneficial to my immune system but a run would delay my recovery and possibly cause cardiovascular issues. So I used the opportunity to pair the HR monitor with the Suunto Ambit 3 I bought awhile ago; it's about time I did some HR training again. (That's the main reason I'm logging this.) I have no idea what my max HR is anymore so I'll have to do some informal testing. I took BazingaDog, which I can't do when I'm running because he is so powerful. With Kahtoola Microspikes, I was able to keep him in check. It was raining lightly the entire time. Tonight we're supposed to get severe thunderstorms. I'm not quite ready to let go of winter but this might do it for me.
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 30:00
slept:6.5
Half foothab and half TRX - just a short test of a temporary location for it in our workout room. There was a little too much furniture near the doorway in the bedroom to make it work there. (I know Cristina wants to be kept in the loop!) There's a better area in the workout room if we install a ceiling hanger. For now, I've "borrowed" the hanger for one of 'Bent's pull-up handles so he'll be limited to one-armed pull-ups over the next while.
Running (Treadmill) 1:00:00 [3] 8.25 km (7:16 / km)
(sick)
I wasn't feeling great so it seemed wise to stay home in case I had to bail. I got through the run but it definitely didn't make me feel better. AdventureDog is afraid of the treadmill so he wasn't happy either.
Tuesday Mar 12, 2019 #
3 PM
Running (Trail) 1:18:01 [3] 10.19 km (7:39 / km) +199m 6:59 / km
slept:7.5 shoes: Salomon S-Lab Wings 8
Kahtoola Microspike run around Palgrave East on ice (mostly), soft snow and slush. The first kilometre on our dirt road was goopy mud so I stuck to trails for the rest. Beautiful sunshine!
Today is my 14-year Attackpoint-iversary! In honour of the occasion, here is my first AP log entry. It says I had my "best race ever" that day. After all this time and all the races I've done since then, I still think it was my best.
https://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/pe...
Today is my 14-year Attackpoint-iversary! In honour of the occasion, here is my first AP log entry. It says I had my "best race ever" that day. After all this time and all the races I've done since then, I still think it was my best.
https://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/pe...
Monday Mar 11, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 15:00 [1]
slept:8.5
Foothab and balance
Most of today's fitness-related efforts involved vacuuming, treadmill moving and bike trainer set-up. I'm trying to figure out where I will use my new TRX kit. There isn't a great place in our overcrowded workout room.
The most important training I did today was an extra long sleep. Mmm.
Most of today's fitness-related efforts involved vacuuming, treadmill moving and bike trainer set-up. I'm trying to figure out where I will use my new TRX kit. There isn't a great place in our overcrowded workout room.
The most important training I did today was an extra long sleep. Mmm.
Sunday Mar 10, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 20:00
slept:5.0
A combination of snow and ice shovelling after finding water in our basement, dragging an old couch a few hundred meters across the snow for garbage day, plus some foothab.
Saturday Mar 9, 2019 #
11 AM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 20:00 [1] 2.59 km (7.8 kph) +46m
slept:7.0
With freezing rain, rain and warm temperatures in tonight's forecast, this could be the last day of true winter skiing for the season. Timato, Mrs. Tiny and Teeny Tiny are visiting for the weekend to kick off March Break, and we headed over to Highlands Nordic to enjoy the amazing ski conditions. It was awesome.
As we were getting ready to go skiing, Teeny sighed and said, "I feel like I'm the only one who's trying to look good around here." She was right.
This track was the first couple of loops with Mrs. and Teeny. Elapsed time was about 55 minutes. Teeny Tiny showed off the skills she's been learning in her lessons.
As we were getting ready to go skiing, Teeny sighed and said, "I feel like I'm the only one who's trying to look good around here." She was right.
This track was the first couple of loops with Mrs. and Teeny. Elapsed time was about 55 minutes. Teeny Tiny showed off the skills she's been learning in her lessons.
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 1:10:21 11.48 km (9.8 kph) +218m
Then I went for a loop on my own. It warmed up and I had great glide with very little grip, which meant extra upper body exercise. It was spectacular.
1 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 20:26 2.07 km (6.1 kph) +36m
I switched to waxless skis for a final short loop. Halfway around, I met 'Bent, Timato and Teeny Tiny so I skied back with them and took a few photos.
Friday Mar 8, 2019 #
3 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 1:25:00 [3] 13.4 km (9.5 kph) +220m
slept:7.5
Skied around Scenic Caves on a bluebird day. Goose, Coach LD and 'Bent were skate skiing so we crossed paths occasionally. At this time of year, it's so nice to have excellent winter conditions. It would have been great to have them in January too but we'll take what we can get! Thanks to Coach LD for making us a yummy dinner afterward. :)
Forgot my GPS due to the excitement of slicing the palm of my hand open in a household accident shortly before we went skiing. Looks like I'm going to live.
Forgot my GPS due to the excitement of slicing the palm of my hand open in a household accident shortly before we went skiing. Looks like I'm going to live.
Thursday Mar 7, 2019 #
Note
Target every muscle group!
Strength & Mobility (Logged @ 50%) 30:00 [2]
Major snow shovelling and ice-breaking-upping in advance of the site meeting in our back yard.
5 PM
Running intervals (Treadmill) 1:00:00 [3] 8.27 km (7:15 / km)
slept:6.25
This was a good run focusing on shorter strides but it didn't cancel out the chocolate buttertart I ate earlier to prepare myself for the latest site meeting with the Town building inspectors and the contractor team. So far this has been going on for 18 months. I haven't counted the buttertarts. It seemed like progress was made today but I don't want to get my hopes up too high. Ka-CHING! :(
Wednesday Mar 6, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 10:00
slept:6.0
Foothab + 1-legged deadlifts - all I could squeeze in after a day with Mom and an evening in an Orienteering Ontario conference call.
Tuesday Mar 5, 2019 #
3 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 1:25:26 [3] 10.07 km (7.1 kph) +206m
slept:7.5
Ski around Palgrave West in terrific conditions. For about half the distance, I was breaking trail through powder that sometimes poured over the sides of my boots. Note to self: Wear taller socks!
I saw snow squalls nearby but they missed me, unfortunately.
I saw snow squalls nearby but they missed me, unfortunately.
Monday Mar 4, 2019 #
Strength & Mobility 15:00
slept:6.5
My body is tired and happy after an active weekend so I just did a few strength exercises today, including a short test of my new TRX kit.
I saw Dr. Thumbs-of-Death this morning and told him about the invisible-lacrosse-ball-hitting-my-hip-flexors-during-lunge moment last week. I had hoped he would start nodding as I told my story, then explain what happened. In this imagined conversation, he would tell me it was completely harmless, then we'd laugh about how worried I'd been. But he was mystified too. This explains why Dr. Google didn't have much to say about it.
Dr. ToD thinks it was probably hip flexors snapping over bone causing a popping feeling, which was my most recent theory. He worked on my tight hip and found one very sore point on the sartorius tendon near its attachment point to the pelvis. But other than that minor strain, things seem normal with that hip so whatever happened, it seems to be fine now. Phew!!
I saw Dr. Thumbs-of-Death this morning and told him about the invisible-lacrosse-ball-hitting-my-hip-flexors-during-lunge moment last week. I had hoped he would start nodding as I told my story, then explain what happened. In this imagined conversation, he would tell me it was completely harmless, then we'd laugh about how worried I'd been. But he was mystified too. This explains why Dr. Google didn't have much to say about it.
Dr. ToD thinks it was probably hip flexors snapping over bone causing a popping feeling, which was my most recent theory. He worked on my tight hip and found one very sore point on the sartorius tendon near its attachment point to the pelvis. But other than that minor strain, things seem normal with that hip so whatever happened, it seems to be fine now. Phew!!
Sunday Mar 3, 2019 #
11 AM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 3:16:21 [3] 20.05 km (6.1 kph) +504m
slept:5.75
'Bent and I had such a great time at Kolapore on Friday that we made a return trip to do another big loop that only overlapped our last loop for a few short stretches totalling about 1 km. It felt completely different too - cloudy with heavy snow flurries for the second half.
It's been awhile since I've skied long, steep hills on narrow forest trails so in a few places, I was far more cautious than my younger self - the self with the pristine ankles, knees and hips who had never known anyone with a concussion. For extra fun, some of the steep downhills end at creeks with bridges, all of which are narrow to keep snowmobiles off the ski trails.
We did a counterclockwise loop from the cabin, doing Northwest Passage, the Dhaulagiri Climb, Kingsway, Wild Mouse and Paradise Highway back to the van. If the hills were a bit higher, it would have felt like B.C. So nice. :)
It's been awhile since I've skied long, steep hills on narrow forest trails so in a few places, I was far more cautious than my younger self - the self with the pristine ankles, knees and hips who had never known anyone with a concussion. For extra fun, some of the steep downhills end at creeks with bridges, all of which are narrow to keep snowmobiles off the ski trails.
We did a counterclockwise loop from the cabin, doing Northwest Passage, the Dhaulagiri Climb, Kingsway, Wild Mouse and Paradise Highway back to the van. If the hills were a bit higher, it would have felt like B.C. So nice. :)
Saturday Mar 2, 2019 #
8 AM
Snowshoe Running 1:22:03 [3] 7.08 km (11:35 / km) +289m 9:37 / km
slept:6.0 shoes: Salomon XA Pro GTX - Black
'Bent and I met the Tarnos for a snowshoe run at Pretty River Provincial Park to start our day. The boys headed uphill with our dogs. Koko stayed with Dr. J and me for awhile but kept turning to give us indignant looks because we didn't run the uphills. The first part of Pretty River is all uphill so Koko gratefully abandoned us when we met the boys near the Bruce Trail high point. We might not have run the flats and downhills either, except that we had a tight deadline to meet 'Bent and Tarno back at the cars. Snow started falling in the last 15 minutes - beautiful. I'm not tired of winter at all.
Friday Mar 1, 2019 #
Note
Happy 8th birthday, BazingaDog! Hard to believe that our perennial puppy will now be considered a senior by the vet. He does enjoy a king bed with a duvet though.
10 AM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 3:44:20 [3] 21.28 km (5.7 kph) +400m
slept:7.0
This may have been the best day of the winter so far! 'Bent and I went to the Kolapore Wilderness Trails near the Beaver Valley. Snow conditions were excellent, the temperature was just below zero, and it was sunny all day. We couldn't stop smiling.
'Bent has a history with the Kolapore trails. He belonged to the University of Toronto Outing Club, which played a major role in building and maintaining the 50 km trail network. Many club members stayed involved long after graduation. For a few years around the time we met, 'Bent was the Cabin Officer for the UTOC cabin near Metcalfe Rock where club members would stay for weekends. 'Bent and his friends spent a lot of time working on the trails in the off-season. After we started dating, I spent a couple of weekends doing trail maintenance too. We still have an annual Christmas potluck with his UTOC friends from 30+ years ago.
If you go, a map is essential. (Ravenna Country Market has them.) Most of the signage directs you to the next numbered trail junction without any words of explanation. This sign is more helpful than most.
Somehow it has been years since we last skied at Kolapore. It's just far enough from home that we couldn't leave the dogs that long. (Tree Hugger ABC has solved that problem.) The trails are narrow, rocky and ungroomed so the snow conditions need to be just right. We can't always predict the good snow days when we're in Palgrave. Anyway, this was so wonderful that I'm sure it won't be long until our next visit.
Except for our "lunch" stop and a side visit to a friend's house, I just let my GPS watch run as we skied, took photos, rewaxed, de-iced, changed layers, etc. Aside from meeting a large group of snowshoers who walked past the "No Snowshoes" sign to trample the ski trail because "the Bruce Trail is too difficult for beginners", this was a perfect day!
'Bent has a history with the Kolapore trails. He belonged to the University of Toronto Outing Club, which played a major role in building and maintaining the 50 km trail network. Many club members stayed involved long after graduation. For a few years around the time we met, 'Bent was the Cabin Officer for the UTOC cabin near Metcalfe Rock where club members would stay for weekends. 'Bent and his friends spent a lot of time working on the trails in the off-season. After we started dating, I spent a couple of weekends doing trail maintenance too. We still have an annual Christmas potluck with his UTOC friends from 30+ years ago.
If you go, a map is essential. (Ravenna Country Market has them.) Most of the signage directs you to the next numbered trail junction without any words of explanation. This sign is more helpful than most.
Somehow it has been years since we last skied at Kolapore. It's just far enough from home that we couldn't leave the dogs that long. (Tree Hugger ABC has solved that problem.) The trails are narrow, rocky and ungroomed so the snow conditions need to be just right. We can't always predict the good snow days when we're in Palgrave. Anyway, this was so wonderful that I'm sure it won't be long until our next visit.
Except for our "lunch" stop and a side visit to a friend's house, I just let my GPS watch run as we skied, took photos, rewaxed, de-iced, changed layers, etc. Aside from meeting a large group of snowshoers who walked past the "No Snowshoes" sign to trample the ski trail because "the Bruce Trail is too difficult for beginners", this was a perfect day!