Well some days were not to be and Sunday was probably one of them. It was pretty cold with a wind, the snow was hard packed or icy, when we convened at Bois de Liesse.That is everyone except Sharon Z who decided that all the maps and directions in the world would not get her to go to the correct starting point, only phone directions succeeded. Oh and yes Ron , “I walk alone” Mc who we only see at the end of our walks. We should have taken the hint when 4 other walkers returned to the chalet after only a few minutes of walking, but the Beaver Tails tend to be slow on the uptake, so we did set off. It soon became clear that the walking was unpleasant and not wishing to sustain any serious injuries we aborted the trail for cleared sidewalks and a stroll round the houses.
Well how to salvage the day? The new Timmy’s on Sources was proposed, it claims to have a fire place. Well TH should leave fireplaces to Starbucks, our dream of a roaring fire was crushed by an artificial propane fuelled thing stuck on a wall in a corner. Well some days were not to be and this was one of them, thank goodness for the good company.
Nearly forgot, for the bean counter, 11 hardy souls, -8C with wind chill, and a 4.5km walk

In keeping with our tradition of making things easy for our members who partook of the Christmas Party the night before, we designated Mount Royal as the destination for the weekly outing.  There was no traffic and it took no time at all to get downtown.  At 9:45 am, 19 members assembled at the Beaver Lake Chalet.  It had to be noted that 8 of the 19 had not been at the party.  So that meant that only 11 of the 30 party participants made it out the next morning.  Hmm, maybe we did not make things easy enough!  More likely, many of them understandably had holiday preparations to address that morning.
In any case, it was a good turnout for a Sunday walk.  We presented the proposed route and off we went.  It was 0 C and overcast.  The first part of the route was a detour around the Beaver Lake construction site.  For those of you who have not been up on the mountain since last winter, it turns out that Beaver Lake is being replaced Continue reading →

3C and bright sunshine , so it was a bit of a disappointment to find only one car at St Adolphe when we arrived, then one more car arrived so at the last count we were 6. We also found that the chalet was closed, so hurrah no fees, however the big down side, no toilets. As we pondered our plans not least of which was bladder issues another car arrived, then

another, so at the last count we were ten. Sadly one car had a very expensive journey having been caught in one of the numerous radar traps on the road. Suddenly text mission control Joanna C burst into action and it was determined that an unknown number of club members were stuck in traffic and would be late. So a devious plan was set in motion,
Linda H would wait Continue reading →

Not a promising start to the day we thought as we drove through a quite heavy shower on our way to Rigaud, still onward we went with confidence all would be well. Sadly Christine D in another car did not share our confidence and turned back at Ste Anne’s, too bad Christine.
Arriving at the Sucrerie we quickly assembled a group of 16 other people who had nothing better to do than walk in what was likely to be a showery day. Actually the group was 17 with the very late arrival of Ron M, a man who walks alone. For the weather buffs, it was not raining although the temperature was hovering around zero ,with a slight breeze, brass monkey weather indeed.
We split into two groups, Al L with two others Continue reading →

It definitely felt like winter was in the offing on Sunday morning.  Many of us saw a few light flakes falling as we looked out our bedroom windows.  But buoyed by an extra hour of sleep, thanks to the end of Daylight Saving Time during the night, 21 of us made the trip up north to Val David.
This park has gone through a few name changes over the last decade as the adjacent communities of Val David and Val Morin worked to transfer the land containing the trail network located between them from private to public hands.  It is now officially called  Continue reading →

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 →

We had 13 hikers turn out at Oka on this beautiful Thanksgiving weekend.  And there was much for which to be thankful.  The temperature was was a cool 6 C, but the sun was shining brightly and was accentuating the already vibrant colours of the foliage.  Plus, as has been a Thanksgiving tradition the last few years at Oka, there were free apples, chocolate and Oka cheese awaiting people at the summit.  So we had an objective!

Most visitors to the Continue reading →