I must admit i had a really fun time on this winter camping trip , the weather was just amazing and the people as usual were a blast .Im glad i had that experience of building a quinzee becuase it is really cool . The ski was hard at times but we all pushed our selves and got through it . Every single meal was phenomenal! I loved sitting by the wood burning stove and telling stories, got to love all our great laughs and hilarious stories haha .I wish we could have stayed another night, that cabin was perfect and warm !

Winter Camping in Gatineau Park

     The winter camping trip was a great success. With just enough snow and more than enough sunshine we truly had brilliant conditions. We started out with a few concerns regarding heavy packs and uphill skiing but everyone prevailed! The location was stunning and the people really made the trip a memorable one.

    After a 3km ski we arrived at Brown cabin. The sun was glorious. Lunch was the first thing on the agenda after a challenging ski in. Once our bellies were filled we grabbed our shovels and went to work. A few distractions allowed for some needed breaks including turning Alex into a snow mermaid and plenty of snow tackles. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Once the quin-zhees were built we took a much needed break and sat by the fire enjoying some Bannock. (Thank you Gillian!) Then came the exciting part; digging out the quin-zhee.

    Each group had members take turns getting down under the snow to scrape away at the inside of the quin-zhee in an effort to create their cave-like dwelling. With a great deal of precaution and a little less fetal-position foot-kicking than some would have prefered (Dana), neither of the quin-zhees collapsed! It was a true success.

    The remainder of the evening involved getting warm and comfortable by the wood-burning stove, enjoying a lovely home-cooked meal by the men and evening meeting with storied and games.

    Bright and early in the morning we were treated to porridge and sausages. A hearty meal full of energy for the morning ski! Up the hills of Gatineau Park, we worked up a sweat and enjoyed the freedom of skiing without our packs on. After packing up, eating some delicious soup and rice, we collapsed the quin-zhees and made our way home.

  

    With great attitudes and loads of laughter the trip proved to be a great adventure into the wilderness and an excape from reality. This is truly a phenomenal group of outdoor enthusiasts.

Happy New Year

Hopefully everyone had a restful yet active Christmas break. Regardless of the lack of snow I am pleased to hear that many of you were out and about, hitting the slopes and testing out your skiing and snowboarding skills.

We (Simon, Francine the dog and I) had our own little winter adventures over the break. We ventured up to Algonquin Park for a night of winter camping. The snow up there was brilliant which made the snowshoe in to our backcountry site very enjoyable. The trees looked like they were covered with melting marchmellows. Unfortunately, we did not have time to build a quin-zhee so we camped in our three-season tent. Of course, the one season not included in those three seasons was winter; however, our -18C sleeping bags were more than adequate with the low only being -12C. Francine loved being outside bounding through the deep snow.

We are very much looking forward to all the cross-country skiing we will be doing in January and our next trip to Gatineau Park.

Welcome to Outdoor Ed

Another exciting summer has come to an end. This summer, I had the opportunity to enjoy hiking in Morocco amoungst the Atlas mountains including summiting it's highest peak named Toubkal at a height of 4167m. Although temperatures in the city of Marakesh were upwards of 45 degrees celcius up on the peak was a mere 5 degrees and VERY WINDY.

Camping at Lac Philippe in Gatineau Park

Our first Outdoor Ed trip of the year was from October 14th to 16th and was a complete success. We arrived at P19 in Gatineau Park at 4pm and hiked about 3 kilometers into our campsite. Then we set up camp in the rain. The next day we hiked into the Lusk Caves and tried our caving skills while getting a bit more wet than we had hoped. The cabins we visited along the way offered shelter from the wind and rain and even the opportunity to practice some yoga to stretch out our legs. After a long day of hiking we enjoyed a nice warm meal and evening meeting around the campfire. The sun finally came out on Saturday morning just as we were ready to come home. At least things were dry while we were packing up.