Author: Keith R

The last time we walked at Les Cedres in 2011, was in fact our first time walking there, and there was little snow on the ground with trails frozen. Not this time, we were about to embark on what can only be called a “boot camp”. The terrain around the Base de Plein Aire Les Cedres is sandy and the main trails very sandy, like walking on a beach at the sea shore but without the sea. So thirteen of us, yes that dreaded number again, as it happened there were fourteen of us but we did not know it until later. Anyhow back to the walk, it was a mild dry day may be in the teens temperature wise and we were fortunate to have our local Les Cedres expert Christine BM so all Continue reading “2012 10 28 Boot Camp Les Cedres style”

Well the weather did not look too good but the local radar gave a possible 2hrs so Linda and went to Cap St Jacques expecting no one to be there and we could have an early coffee. But no, there were two people patiently waiting and suddenly four more arrived, so the dye was cast we had to go. I was just setting up my gps to measure the walk when Ron M said we do not need a gps I know Cap St Jacques like the back of my hand. I pointed out that the ski tracks were absent in summer but Ron was undaunted Continue reading “A local walk, but beware biker gangs”

One opportunity closes another opens, and so instead of Mont St Anne we held a weekend at Tremblant, something we have wanted to do for a long time. So 30 + club members, it would appear from his tweet that even the bean counter was not sure how many were there, whatever happened to accuracy of data. Never mind the majority went up Friday, and some even skied or snow shoed during the day, so our info on conditions were good. Friday supper was on your own so we finished up in St Jovite, just down the road where we had a good meal, rumour has it that the Pres and Nancy A went snow shoeing across a frozen lake before their supper or was it a frozen swimming pool in someone’s rear yard, no one really knows. Saturday came with temperatures hovering close to zero, so with the majority opting to go to Lac Monroe, it was felt that an early-ish start would be good, so we were soon on the road passing a long line up of cars wishing to turn into Tremblant village downhill parking lots. Soon we were at the park, amongst the first in the parking lot, and the groups busied themselves for skiing. Unfortunately I could not ski due to sore Achilles tendon, I told my mother it was not a good idea to hold me by the ankle whilst dipping me in the River Styx, parents never listen do they. I was offered so many books to read while I waited, including the complete works of Shakespeare and the contents of Pte Claire Library. Finally I was left in peace, but only for a moment. Suddenly Continue reading “Tremblant Weekend or “What is this soft white stuff?””

Sometimes our plans and the club plans do not gel. The first real dumping of snow was followed by a winter blast, terribly bad for brass monkeys. Fortunately my make up does not contain brass but a fair amount of self preservation, so Saturday a plan was hatched to ski local, Bois de Liesse, knowing full well that we could scurry home quickly if my alloy composition started to change. As it turned out it was cold but bearable at least for the youngsters in the group, and given they had the car keys there was no retreat available. So we tootled around the trails along with a fair number of non primates including Continue reading “Cold Weekend”

It would appear that I seem to get my official numbers of walkers wrong, or so the official bean counter says, well I am sorry butI refuse to take off my boots and socks to help me count soif we have more than 10 walkers out, I make an estimate. So my estimate for Cap St Jacques is 18, if you have a different number feel free to add it here ().
So Sunday at Cap St Jacques was a bright sunny blue sky kind of day but a trifle cold. Standing around was O.K. for a minute or two but then although the wind was light the cold started creeping into our bones. We had a short delay whilst season tickets were bought and a few late comers arrived then we hit the red rabbit trail. No give in the ground today, everything was frozen solid, which probably accounts for the fact that apart from ourselves there were very few walkers. Naturally we set off with the typical “Beaver Dash” for the first couple of kilometres, thank goodness we are a non competitive club or I would not be able to keep up. At last common sense prevailed and we dropped to a more appropriate “Beaver Trot”. You do not know what a “Beaver Trot” is, Continue reading “Cap St Jacques 2011 12 18”

Unlike the West Island there was a good covering of snow at Les Cedres, not enough to ski but definitely sufficient to get talk of which wax to use. Anyhow 14 walkers gathered on what was our first on foot visit to Les Cedres, of course many of us are familiar with the xcountry trails being one of our better local centres. We were also lucky to once again have a local, Christine BM to show us some of the off piste trails, normally the preserve of snow shoe’ers and horses. No the horse do not use snow shoes if that’s what you were thinking. So the starting gate was dropped and out we galloped, down some pretty trails and across several duck boarded areas. I had often seen school kids going down these trails and being a snob had dismissed them as nothing special , but I was wrong they were fun. Of course Al L planned to do his own thing and keeping to the xcountry ski trails to complete a loop. So our happy band minus Al L went up and down dales around tight bends, slipped nearly into cold looking streams and Continue reading “Les Cedres 201 12 11 or “Anybody seen Al””

“We never need parking for twenty cars on our walks” I said to Linda H
“Well we will today”
“No we won’t”
“Yes we will”
And so it went on all the way to the parking lot at Ile Bizard, and low and behold ours was the only car.
“See I told you”
“Not so fast’
Then they all started rolling in, a trickle at first, then a rush, finally the last few stragglers had to search for a parking spot. Like Fairview on Christmas Eve.
I think we solved Montreal’s Budget deficit in one day!
Thirty nine, yes that is no typo error, 39 walkers had turned out on what was a very nice day in December. Now what do you do with 39 walkers on Ile Bizard, the park itself is not very big but with interesting feature like a boardwalk over the large marsh, and many birds. To be honest with 39 chattering walkers the chance of even seeing a sparrow is pretty remote. We had thought that with a little bit of out and back we could manage a 9 kms walk So after a Hollywood style group photo we set off from the Pointe de Carrières crossing the long boardwalk, with pretty views over the marsh. Soon we were at the heart of the park, where if you has studied the map, which never happens in our group,you would have noticed that there is a central circular path and three spurs, to the 1. secteur de L’Église, the 2. secteur Les rapides and Continue reading “Ile Bizard 2011 Dec 04”