Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I went to Highlands Nordic and skied in brilliant sunshine. There is less base at Highlands than at Scenic Caves but the trails were in great shape. I did two laps of the longest trail loop that was open - about half the system. We ran into Tarno, Martin Rydlo, Al Magi and Ralph Lindzon. We all know it will melt but it sure has been amazing to have some legit winter in mid-November.

From the Pretty River Valley, Jackie Tarno and I snowshoed with Koko (their dog) to the high point of the Bruce Trail, where we ran into 'Bent, Tarno, AdventureDog and BazingaDog. We all came down together. It was a fantastic winter day, and our snowshoes were surprisingly useful for November - especially off-trail.





We'd intended to go skiing later but were too slow getting other things done. Tomorrow still looks good though!

Last year 'Bent and I made a rule that whenever we skied at Scenic Caves Nordic Centre, we had to skate ski for a minimum of 30 minutes before we did anything else. We're much more comfortable with classic skiing and we wanted to force ourselves to skate ski regularly and get more comfortable with it.

Our strategy worked so we decided to keep enforcing the rule this year. We bought our season's pass and headed out in very snowy conditions on November 15 - yay! The trails had some icy spots, leaves and twigs but conditions were pretty good and the forest was beautiful.



The base was 25 cm yesterday and 20 cm today, which is amazing for mid-November. Blue Mountain opened for downhill skiing today on the earliest date in its 79-year history.

Part 2 was a classic ski. We hardly saw anyone. It was like having our own private ski trail system.

AdventureDog and I went for a ski around Palgrave West. It was just below freezing so most of the snow was still around but it was warm enough for the snow to compress and expose wet, yellow leaves below. It was usually OK as long as I broke trail and didn't try to ski on my own tracks when I was doing an out-and-back.

About 8-10 trees have fallen across the trails since my last time there. Only a couple of them were ash trees but it's terrifying to look around at all the dying/dead trees infested with emerald ash borer, knowing that they'll start falling down soon. The Palgrave West private land is the best place to ski and snowshoe around here but we'll have to stop going there soon, and it will be years before it's safe to go back. :( There are already big "No Trespassing" and "Hazard" signs.

It's absolutely amazing to have this much snow in mid-November! I didn't have much time but I squeezed in a short ski at dusk before meeting a friend for dinner. The Palgrave forest is at its best in winter, I think. It was lovely. :)

It was a busy day but it was so sunny and snowy and gorgeous outside that I had to take a quick forest hike with AdventureDog and his canine friend Buster. I know it's not winter yet but it was soooo nice! :) 'Bent skied to work today - one of his earliest ski commutes yet. It's too cold for the stupid ticks to be out, which is also really nice.

Snowstorm!