It’s always tough to decide where the club should go skiing when the conditions are poor on the island and the reports from the off-island ski centres are decidedly mixed.  But when I saw that the trails at Gai Luron were all open and groomed (except for the single-track loops), I had a good feeling about it.  I remembered that several times in the past we have gone to Gai Luron and been surprised at how good the trails were when we had similarly poor conditions in the region. So Gai Luron it was.
I arrived a few minutes before the 10 am meeting time.  I wondered if I would be the only one there from the club.  The weather was certainly favourable.  It was sunny, no wind and -9 C, which was warmer than the forecast -12 C.  There was also a cm or so of fresh fluffy snow that had fallen overnight.  It did not look like enough to make a real difference, but with cross-country skiing every little bit helps.  All the trails had been groomed again that morning.  Gai Luron has a high-quality grooming machine

that can grind up the crusty ice to a fine-granular consistency.

It turned out we were 12 BTers, including one fellow Steve who had not been out with the club for 30 years!  We were 11 skiers and one member on snowshoes.  (I forgot to mention in the update message that snow-shoeing would be an excellent option!)  We put on blue wax and set out.  The trails showed little sign of the warm and wet weather we had last Thu.  Some of us had just been there the previous Sun, so we could compare the snow quality.  If one looked closely at the snow, one could see that it was a bit more granular this week.  That made the grip just slightly less better than the week before.  But overall the skiing was about as good, with slightly more comfortable temperatures.  The downhills had plenty of loose snow to snowplow and control your speed.
After we were done, I surveyed the members I saw and they all agreed that Gai Luron the conditions were a lot better that expected.  They had done it again — Gai Luron had delivered excellent skiing — and snowshoeing — on a day when many might have thought it was not worth going out.  Some of us celebrated the après-ski at the casse-croute across the road with their home-made pea soup.

 

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Brr, whichever way you look at it -17C is cold, but not if you are laying a nice warm bed with just your nose exposed. Yes -17C is cold, who on earth would want to go skiing. Then you notice the devious, evil character Peer Pressure had entered the room. Bugger. I know, let’s have breakfast then decide, yes, no harm in that. So up we get, trying to push Peer Pressure back in the tin can whilst holding the lid with the other hand. Breakfast improved the situation, still it was still -17C, then we noticed the can was empty Peer Pressure was out and about. Come on let’s go, if it’s too cold we can always go for a coffee. That blasted Peer Pressure at work again and so before you know it we are driving North to Gai Luron, hoping all our extremities would be protected.
Well wouldn’t you know it we were not alone at Gai Luron, other club members had also turned up, in fact quite a few. “Isn’t it great”, “not too cold”, “snow is good”, blast that Peer Pressure, it was still -15C.
Needless to say off we all went on our skis, not noticing the evil character with a grin from ear to ear, and of course we all managed to get some skiing in and all of us saying wasn’t it great, followed by warm food across the road. So, I guess Peer Pressure was right but next time I will be ready with a more solid defence.
Lots more photos on the photos page and if you are into numbers then feel free to count the heads, there is no photo with everybody on it.

Looks like New year was a good time for skiing and snow shoeing.
The local ski areas where in good condition with Bois de Liesse attracting a good turn out on New Year’s Eve.

New Year’s day , it had snowed and although the center at Cap St Jacques was closed and the trails had not tracked a number of club members managed to get out of bed to go skiing.

Come the second of Jan the conditions were even better, mild temperatures, tracked trails and as long as you went early everything was just honky dory. However later in the day the lineup for rental equipment in the chalet at CSJ resembled a Stanley cup ticket sale. Still it was all smiles.

 

I am sure other club member s managed to get out over the week end, some even had a blistering day at Orford. So good start to the year , sadly it may not last , raining today.

Report by Jan W
We had 21.5 two-legged hikers (Ken hiked only the middle half of the trail with us…) and two happy 4-legged canine hikers covering the 13.5km trail Le Haut-Lieu, starting near the Sucrerie de la Montagne, south of Rigaud.  The temperature was a bit below the freezing point when we started, but it was sunny with little wind, comfortable hiking weather. Most of the loop has a wide trail with quite gentle hills. However there are a couple of ascents, the larger one between the 8.5 to 10.5 km marks on the southern edge of the loop, with the last part fairly steep.  Well, if it’s steep, there had better be a view somewhere at top of it (Hiker Trail Design 101), and there was, mainly towards the Saint Lawrence Lowlands to the south, so it was a good area for a rest and snack stop.  From there is was a comfortable 3.5km hike back to the parking lot.
The trails here are fairly well marked, but there are a couple of intersections in the first 2km not shown on the trail map, so care is needed to follow correctly.  The full loop hiking time was about 3 hours 40 min for the main group, with a smaller group finishing earlier. It was a nice hike, and now it’s time for the snow to fall…

Talk about getting the outing off to a good start.  Unbeknownst to us, Mont St Bruno was having an Open House / Portes Ouvertes for this one day.  It was designed to get people looking forward to the upcoming ski season with used ski sales, equipment demos, discounted ski passes, barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers.  But what we really liked was the free admission to the park!

The 20 of us posed for the obligatory group photo and set out shortly after 10 am.  It was 1 C under a mostly cloudy sky.  We usually do this hike in a counter-clockwise direction.  But this time we reversed it and started by going to Lac des Bouleaux, the northernmost of the three main lakes in the park.  We then took an irregular route south and then west to get us walking along the eastern edge of  Lac Seigneurial, the largest of the lakes.  We paused to watch a nearby deer.  A couple of our sharper-eyed hikers, spotted an owl.  The route took us past some interesting homes that were built before the park was established and have been allowed to remain.  This includes the house of Guy Laliberté, the founder of the Cirque du Soleil.
We then followed a trail that we don’t usually take.  It gave us a view of Lac du Moulin, the southernmost lake, and then across the Pont des 3 Arches, a scenic old stone-crafted bridge.  We then stopped in to take a look at the Salon de thé in Le Vieux Moulin, a carefully preserved stone structure.  At this point, five of our group bid us adieu as they paused to partake of the fine selection of hot beverages and baked goods.  The rest of us walked the remaining 2 km back to the chalet.  The stats: 10.3 km covered in 2h 22m.

It was a great group, with lots of conversation while we walked.  So much so, that I felt the need to stop the group on occasion and bring their attention to scenery!  It was also nice to see some new members join us on a hike for the first time and enjoy their experience.

All in all, a truly splendid way to spend a grayish November morning!

A fine day if still a little windy, but isn’t it always windy at St Hilaire. Arriving just before 10 we found the parking lot crowded just like at Val David. I am getting suspicious that someone is using the BTNSC schedule to organise Flash Mob events, next thing we will know will be the MSO appearing out of the woods playing Debussy or Ravel. Keeping a wary open for the piccolo players, our gang convened at the centre d’accueil. I was personally pleased to see that the Brits attending had increased by 100%, bravo, or should it be “what ho jolly good”.

Anyhow off we set, joining the hordes all looking for the MSO. Leaving the main trail as we always do, burnt hill was soon reached quickly followed by Pain de Sucre, always a crowd pleaser with the rope trick, still we did not see Kent Nagano, but there could easily have been a bassoon player lurking in the trees, no it was O.K. only a deer trying to avoid the crowds.

The breeze seemed to pick up resulting in the membership being scattered in the wind. Some went off to Dieppe, others to Rocky and the waifs and strays seemed to wander around  trying to reach Lac Hertel. Luckily the piccolo players did not attack or it would have been a massacre, even worse if the tubas had been woken up. Happily neither happened and the group managed to get in a reasonable walk.

What no mention of the super moon, well we did spend time with Steve G trying to determine the best time to photograph the moon and where it would rise, all we know is the coffee was good at T.

Please no more Flash Mobs.

Wonderful, an extra hour in bed, what to do, I know lay awake staring at the clock waiting for the time to get up. Then it was, is it cold, is it raining, what to wear for our Val David adventure. Finally we were in the car and Northbound.
Much to our surprise the parking lot was busy. How can that be, the colors were long gone and it had rained over night, yet there were all these cars and a load of young whippersnappers. Then we found out it was a young x-country ski team in training. Needless to say they left us in their dust as we climbed the first hill, even pushing our walking poles between their legs didn’t seem to deter them.

The master plan was to walk some of the snow shoe trails passing a few viewpoints on the way, back in time for tea. I think I mentioned it had rained the previous day and the trails were covered in leaves so what should have been a steady walk was often slippy particularly on the steeper ascents and descents. Remembering that just off the trails was fairly steep ground,  it was therefore prudent to exercise a degree of care.

The team overall was in good spirits although there was a reluctance to take on the last viewpoint, something about aching knees, tired legs and wanting to go to some film festival so the walk was shortened but a few climbs were thrown just for fun.

Trying hard to find a musical reference for Duane, the nearest one that came to mind was “slippin and a sliding” Little Richard, kind of appropriate for the day. Open to suggestions Duane.

Finished up in a typical Val David café, no not Timmies, is the world changing?

Great at last a walk that should be fun, a walk on a Greek Island no less, could be Kefalonia or even, yes even Rhodes. Maybe meet some relatives. Odd though the journey to the Island only took 30 mins and no aircraft involved, odd that. Then it dawned, not a Greek Island but a walk on an island with a Greek…Lunch bag let down.
So a motley crew convened at the parking lot at Ile Bizard awaiting the words of wisdom from our guide, something on the lines of: “One thing I know, that I know nothing. This is the source of my wisdom.” Socrates. But no, all we got was go this way via the chalet and toilets. It was here we found out the truth, the parc was temporary closed and our Greek guide did not know. “One thing I know, that I know nothing” immediately sprang to mind, Socrates had got it right again.
Still our gallant leader opted for plan D, plans B,C being discarded as being impractical without a few boats or a golf club. That was for Monique. A devious plan was set in motion where we bypassed the huge fence which had been erected across the main path. Odd that no one noticed this huge fence although we all had driven passed it to park, must have been texting at the time. Whatever, we successfully were able to walk on most of the trails in the parc as were other walkers who managed to find a way through, maybe they were all Greeks who knows.
The walk turned out to be good exercise covering about 12kms, about 35% of a marathon, marathon get it, more Greek stuff.
Thank you Theo for rescuing us from what could have been a Greek Tragedy.
Go to photos page to see the real hike.

Let’s run through the reasons why people might have skipped the hike at Mont St Bruno on Sunday morning.
Rain — It was supposed to rain.  But the forecast was revised overnight and the system left the area before 8 am.
Traffic — As I had advised, there were no road closures affecting the routes to the Champlain Bridge.  Traffic was light, with no delays at all.
Wind — The winds were strong.  But as every experienced hiker knows, the winds are much diminished in the forest.  It was very comfortable.
Mud — Some suggested the days of heavy rain would make the trails muddy.  Not so at Parc du Mont St Bruno.  The trails are well-constructed and were mud-free.
Party — Several members were at the Club Cycliste Beaconsfield (CCB) year-end party the night before and may have stayed up past their bedtime.

It was definitely colder and more blustery on Sunday morning than in recent weeks, so that alone may have dissuaded many people.  (But hey, it *is* autumn, after all.)  Nevertheless, a very exclusive subset of BTNSC members turned out at Mont St Bruno.  (And every one in the group had been at the CCB party.)  It was cloudy and 4 C at the 10 am start.  Extra layers were donned and the small BTNSC contingent set out.

It is difficult to overstate how really lovely the walking conditions were.  The wide, smooth trails were covered with a radiant blanket of gold and yellow leaves.  The howling winds from outside the park were reduced by the trees to a gentle, swirling breeze.  Given the small size of the group, it was decided to take a more peripatetic route to explore some parts of the park we don’t usually see.  One highlight was Le Vieux Moulin, which houses a very charming and inviting salon du thé.  The group also found a trail along the edge of Lac Seigneurial on the way to Lac des Bouleaux.  At the floating dock on the latter lake, another much larger walking group was encountered.

 

 

 

 

 

It was 6 C at the finish, and the sun was coming out.  The stats: 11.1 km in 2 hr 10 min.

This was third time in four weeks that the Sunday morning weather forecast made it look doubtful for hiking.  And for the third time, the forecast was wrong and the conditions turned out to be excellent.  Perseverance pays!

This was third time in four weeks that the Sunday morning weather forecast made it look doubtful for hiking.  And for the third time, the forecast was wrong and the conditions turned out to be excellent.  Perseverance pays!