Huron Cabin and Beyond

Gatineau Park is a gem for xc skiing with a cluster of cabins in the woods for skiers to stop for a lunch break. They're  however, not very accessible to beginners except maybe Renaud cabin. There is always a tough climb to reach ridge road (also known as trail #1). The same climb can be a dangerous steep long descent.

With that being said, the lure of a cabin stop for lunch and social time is real. Quite a few of us started at P10 and P9 on Sunday March 8 and climbed Fortune parkway. We were lucky that many of us were able to find a parking spot at p10 since it is extremely popular. The connection between P9 and P10 is rated black and is not liked by many.

Fortune climb

I've climbed this stretch of parkway numerous times and it is never easy. The trick is to pace oneself and let body have a chance to warm up. Once we got up to the top, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Fortune lake. A few skiers were actually skiing on the lake, no doubt taking advantage of a rare cluster skiing opportunity.

I caught up with the group at the intersection of #1 and parkway, which has a bench for people to rest. It's the busiest intersection in the park because ridge road (#1) and Fortune parkway are the two major arteries of the skiing network. It is so important that it's got a name of its own: gossip corner. The park has many unofficial names for routes and features. For example, the steep climb on #1 past Shilly Shally cabin is called Khyber pass, named after the real one in Afghanistan. The stretch between P8 and P9 is called doldrums since it's flat and thus boring. 

Photo credit: Su

We chatted a bit at gossip corner before skiing towards the lookout. Just as we were about take a group picture at the lookout, we were joined by another skier who skied from Camp Fortune. It's always a nice surprise to bump into another skier. I make it a habit of mine to greet skiers I meet on trails. They're my kindred spirits as Anne of Green Gables would say.

We explored different parts of the park after our group picture at Champlain lookout. I skied to the 2nd intersection of #24 and #1 before heading back to Huron cabin for lunch. Other skiers visited Western cabin, braving the steep descent at the bottom. Eventually we all met at Huron cabin where we were joined by two more skiers. 

Photo credit: Jeffrey

After lunch, it took us very little time to get back to P10. Half way down the descent of Fortune parkway, we bumped into another skier working her way up. Bumping into a friend seems to be theme of the day. We exchanged greetings and went our separate ways. For me, it was the end of another fabulous skiing day.

Sunday March 8 Trip to Huron Cabin

Sunday March 8, 9am

So it's decided we'll ski to Huron cabin for lunch, starting at either p10 or p9 depending on availability. P10 fills up quickly so we likely will have to start at p9, which adds more climbing. Fortune parkway is not steep but long. You have to be able to handle long descent to join this trip.

We'll again have fast and slow group. The fast group will ski past Huron on #1 to as far as want. The slow group will at least visit Champlain Lookout,  Meet at Huron cabin at 12pm for social time. 

Bring tinfoil wrapped lunch to be heated on wood stove, enough water, and possibly sunscreen. March sun could be strong.

Day pass is $20. Bring cash to the attendant.

Let me know if you will join me. 

Refer to this for map and more detailed description:  

http://xcskiing.ca/p10-keogan/

Waiver of responsibility

I acknowledge that, by participating in activities with the xcSkiOttawa group, I may be exposing myself and any minor in my care to some degree of risk. I accept full responsibility for the welfare and safekeeping of myself and any minor in my care on the above activity. I also acknowledge that neither the activity leader(s) nor any of the other participants bear any liability to me or my family for any event or misfortune that might occur during the activity, and absolve the group and its members from any such liability.

我的新爱好-越野滑雪 XC skiing

我喜欢技术含量比较大的体育，比如像游泳和羽毛球之类的。但有时候要么受场地或时间的限制，还有就是自我身体条件的限制我也慢慢地放弃了。
很多年前在一个朋友家做客，遇见了一个在渥太华大有名气的越野滑雪爱好者。他的津津有味的乐道，白雪啊， 冰湖啊，日出啊, 朝阳啊, 他的雄辩的调侃却只能让我想起了马拉松。
是啊，XC Skiing 与长距离的马拉松有什么区别啊，一步一个脚印，10公里，20公里 and so on。我会不会无聊得至死。人都快死了，我还会在意眼前的美景吗! 我倒是为他而高兴。只要别人热爱的东西我就会为他们而高兴。至于我吗，只不过又是他一个装着有兴趣的一个听众。是啊，我们有时候真的会误认为别人会一样热爱自己热爱的东西。其实不然。我也是出于礼貌，甚至眼睛都没有离开，盯着他， 听他讲完他滑雪辉煌历史。的确让我感叹。

一个偶然的机会我认识了Jack. 他问我滑雪吗？我记得只回答他我曾买过一付雪具。从他那里我知道还有一种skating skiing. 以后的几天我上了YouTube 视频真正点亮了我的眼睛。后来的事实证明了我这一次是认真的。

我第一次向别人表白自己兴趣的是向我的夫人。但我满腔的热情却迊来了一盆冷水。“梁苏你又是三分钟热度。两天后你就会晒网了！“ 后来的事实证明她错了！
后面的三个星期。我每天从家里要开35分钟的单程去Mooney’s bay练习滑雪，而且几乎天天去。四天路程就是一趟多伦多。我当时答应Jack一起去Gatineau park滑雪. 我说给我三个星期。我一定学会classic skiing. 通过Youtube视频我真的完成了那一次滑雪。而且感觉非常好。虽然羡慕其它小伙伴能够skating skiing. 但我觉得明年我也会会的。也就此我太太再也没说过我”二天晒网"的事情了。所以人只有热爱一样东西他（她）们才会执着。

滑雪和很多冰雪运动都是加拿大得天独厚的运动。这种优越的地理条件是加拿大人冒着刺骨的寒风换来的。忍受着漫长的冬季. 很多人羡慕我们加拿大人能有这么多滑雪圣地，但他们一定也不会愿意用温暖的冬天来换取这里的冰天雪地。所以我觉得上帝是公平的。 既然这样，那么我们为何不尽情享受大自然赐予我们的冬季运动去弥补寒冷的冬天给我们带来的不便。 更客观地说严冬不仅给我们带来了许多冰雪运动的圣地，
同时也给了我们机会锻练我们毅志和韧力。我看了刘凌（Edward）发的北欧滑雪赛事Loppet贴子。对北欧人（Scandinavian））的耐力和顽强所震撼。这也不奇怪。这些北欧小国虽然国土不大
人口不多。但却很难被别国征服。运动员们冲向终点的那-瞬间的喜悦需要一段很长时间的痛苦忍耐。vasaloppet 90公里的距离需要很长时间的痛苦历程才能到达终点。

行程万里始于足下！一切都只能从零开始.滑雪的技能和体能锻炼都是一步一步地练就出来的。有时候真的十分枯燥乏味和无聊寂寞。我想出一个好方法就是用音乐来减轻自己的这种痛苦过程。喜欢这项运动，真的可以喜欢到零下二十几度坚持，Mooney’s bay宽敞的操场有时就剩我一个人孤零零地站在那里。我这时候总会自嘲一下，Ottawa可能没有比我更执着的人了。可后来知道，我傻， 这么冷的天，雪板根本滑不动。

我看过一段视频，那段讲述挪威家住森林边的女孩滑雪的视频，让我真正地感受到了冰天雪地的（splendid）灿烂真的会让人美到窒息。英文不是有一个词叫breadth-taken吗？
这时候我才真的感觉得滑雪不只是在雪地里奔“走”，以前我甚至都不会称之为雪地里奔“跑”，WOW，她简直是在飞翔啊！

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4lCHCA8pxY)

也可能是年龄的关系。我没有想过有朝一日能参加什么比赛。滑雪只是为了锻炼身体而以。但是我还是想有朝一日能像那个女孩子一样在广阔的白色世界里飞翔。
我的确有时候会多了一点点完美主义的色彩。或许像我这样年龄的人都不该有这种梦想，毕竟正像那个女孩子说的她打会走路起就会滑雪了。
梦想和奇迹从来都是一双孪生兄弟。有时只有那些有梦想的人才会创造奇迹！ 或许吧! 一个人肯定一生中会有很多后悔的事情。但在这个世界上你是买不到后悔药吃的。唯一能做到的事情就是加倍去补偿我们己经失去的东西（时间）。

在Mooney’s bay操场上的苦苦操练实际上就是为了能和我的那些群友们一起去山里滑雪。但是一想到爬坡又总会让我却步。而且每每都是一下停车场，面对的就是山坡。当年那些创停车场的人怎么就不可怜可怜我们这些初学者， 把停车场建在高处。因为思想上有了准备。知道我的挑战就是uphill battle，所以使得我的上星期的GP滑雪经历要比想象中的好。所以我们每一个人都要放对自己有个正确的期望值。无论做什么都要。否则等待你的可能就是失望。

每年秋天枫叶泛红的时候我就会有一丝丝的惆怅（Blue）。美丽动人的秋色又在预示着严酷的冬天又离我们不远了。现在已经三月份了，春天离我们不远了，我倒是
对白雪更多了一份留恋。希望在今后的日子里， 让我的skating skiing画上一个满意的句号。
好了，让我用一段音乐来结束吧：
（https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbRjCDXvMj4）

Visiting Renaud Cabin

With lots of new snow and a sunny day in the forecast, it was quite easy to round up a very large group of skiers to go visit Renaud cabin. Actually, I was surprised at my own persuasive power and was unsure how to handle such a large group. I planned to divide the whole group into several subgroups and have one or two experienced skiers lead a group. So that was the arrangement we had before leaving P19.

Renaud sort of sits in a central location from which you can go to Taylor Lake, Lusk Lake, or the very end of Philippe Lake. The fast group decided to visit Lusk Lake via #54 and then Taylor Lake while the rest of us aimed to get to Taylor Lake. This way we get to ski together a little at the beginning and when the fast group catches up with the rose-smelling group.

Gatineau Park was really in very good conditions. Snow sitting on tree branches makes trees and the whole park amazingly beautiful. We took out phones often to take pictures and felt lucky to be able to ski in such a wonderland.

Photo credit: 飞

I skied with some new and old friends. Quite a few of them were first time visitors of the park in winter. It was fun watching them applying their skills in an actual cross country setting.  Reminds me of my own learning days.

We reached Taylor Lake, which is even more beautiful than the rest of park. We did again our tourist duty by taking more pictures. The fast group soon caught up with us  and I was told the trail to Lusk cabin was in less pristine conditions but it's also very pretty.

Photo credit: Guoqiang

Shortly after, we reached Renaud cabin to have lunch but it was quite difficult to seat a large group of us. We managed to have seats here and there but were not able to sit together. Regrettably we didn't even have a group photo. I got to know some more new friends and introduced as many people to one another as possible. I always thought the best way to get people to ski is for them to have lots of ski buddies.

Me and one of my buddies. Photo credit: Grace

After lunch we continued our fast group slow group formation. Some skiers skied towards Herridge cabin along Lake Philippe before heading back. Everybody was accounted for at the parking lot and we went our merry way home after a satisfying skiing day.