Scott's Adir...I mean Frontenac hike

Plan for November 29th : Adirondack hike with Scott. We are ready for a fun scenic day. Scott is in Ottawa for work and has planned to join us on our Saturday outing to the mountains.

Email1, November 28 th:
Scott wrote:

I am an idiot- I forgot my passport at home! Can I still cross the border?

Sorry!

Scott

Reply:
Murielle wrote:

Turkey! (Mark asked me to call you like that)

You wouldn't happen to have your birth certificate or certificate of
indian status with you?
If not, you'll at least come down for diner. I have a roasted chicken on
the menu...a big boy  :) 

See you later
Murielle

Reply:
Scott wrote:

I don't have my birth certificate or certificate of indian status with me. I think I could provide a certificate of 'idiot status' thought.

Could we go for a hike in Ontario? Perhaps Frontenac? I could head home after the hike on Saturday. I think it would be a great day and, better yet, a slightly later start.

I hope you guys are still up for a walk.

Scott

And this is how our Adirondack hike was traded in for a gorgeous day in Frontenac Park.

Full size slideshow

Very short hike and boring pictures

Mark took the day off Friday to go for our weekly hike. We planned to say hello to mount Ester and White face as they are neighboring peaks but ended up skipping White face. The forecast was for light flurries which is not ideal for good view but not bad for good hikes. The weather turned to aggravate to become miserable wet snow. We are hiking for fun and not to be cold, wet and grumpy .

As if the crappy weather wasn't annoying enough the trees were extremely aggressive. They kept stealing my hat, poking my head and whipping my face...boy was I ever grumpy. A good husband sure knows when it's time to turn around and head to subway.

We ended up doing 11km, our shortest Adirondack hike ever. I don't know what was in the air, seems like the mountains just didn't want us there that day. Even Marley got particularly joyful when we turned around.

Up, up and down, down. The Giant and Rocky Peak climb

A little bit more sun shine would of been welcome, but still, what a gorgeous day was last Sunday.
We left home just before 5 am. We usually try to make a bit of a hike day schedule, just as if we had to catch a tide or race a storm when sailing. For hiking mountains we are just making the best of the limited day light available. This weekend we were only going for a 14 km hike and time wouldn't of been much of an issue if I hadn't been hoping for a bit of shopping time in Lake Placid, so the plan was to be on the trail by 9am and back to the car by 3pm.
We arrived in Keen Valley quite early and since circumstances (full bladders) lead us to a nice little breakfast spot on the side of the road we opted to stop for a tasty, greasy plate... our conscience could afford it.
What a mistake. From our first steps on the trail up to Giant mountain we regretted this so delicious and decadent meal. Our struggling, still sleepy legs had to fight with our so busy digesting stomach for a little bit of blood flow. Never again...now on, we will keep heavy breakfast and hikes for separate occasions.
Anyway, we survived this difficult start and quickly poked out of the taller forest to enter the more mountain like landscape. The trail climbs at a steep rate and we started getting nice views within the first half mile.

Bien qu'un petit peu plus de soleil aurait ete bienvenu Dimanche dernier était une journée splendide.

Nous avons quitte la maison juste avant 5 heure AM. Comme si en mer on avait une marée a attraper ou une tempête a courser, on essaie généralement de se fixer un horaire les jours de randonnée. Pour nos balades en montagne il s'agit de profiter le plus possible de la clarete du jour. Cette fin de semaine on avait que 14km de prévue et le temps n'aurait pas ete un problème si je n'avais pas espère aller faire quelques courses a Lake Placid. Le plan était donc d'être sur le sentier a 9 heure am et de retour a 3 heure pm.

On est arrive a Keen Valley relativement tot dimanche matin et vue que les circonstances (des vessies pleines) nous ont amener dans un agréable petit café sur le bord de la route, nous avons décide de nous arrêter pour un bon déjeuner graisseux....notre conscience pouvait se le permettre.

Quelle erreur. Des nos premiers pas sur le sentier du mont Giant nous avons regrette ce repas délicieux mais décadent. Nos pauvres jambes, toujours engourdis devaient maintenant se battre avec notre estomac pour un petit peu de flot sanguin. Plus jamais....Désormais nous garderons les déjeuners graisseux et le randonnées pour des occasions separees.

Neanmoins, nous avons survecu ce depart difficile et atteint rapidement un terrain de montagne apres avoir parcourrus le premier kilometre en foret. Le sentier du mont Giant a pic des le debut et on commence a avoir de belles vues tres vite.

I say nice views but the truth is that Sunday was rather overcast and the visibility limited, yet a few sun rays did break threw the clouds and add a bit of magic to the sight.
The air was warm (it's all relative) and humid causing favorable conditions for some heavy frost on the vegetation. As we went up, the frost became a crust of ice and the trees eventually started disappearing to become some crystal sculptures. The walk pace started slowing down as with the changing light and the glowing trees, it was just impossible for me to put my camera away.

Je mentionne de belles vues mais la verite c'est que dimanche etait plutot couvert et la visibilite limitee. Les nuages on quand meme laisse passer quelques rayons de soleil pour ajouter un peu de magie aux paysages. L'air chaud (tout est relatif) et l'humidite on permi des conditions favorables pour une gelee sur la vegetation. Avec l'altitude la petite gelee est devenue une croute de glace et eventuellement les arbres ont commence a disparaitre pour laisser la place a des sculptures de crystal. Le rythme de notre marche a ralentit avec le changement de lumiere et les arbre luisants au soleil, c'etait juste trop difficile pour moi de ramasser l'appareil photo.

After an hour of an exposed walk on the ridge we got back into some forest which the ice didn't spare. I sometimes feel bad to find so pretty the harshness of weather on the nature. Isn't it like if someone gained some pleasure from my misery? Never less, I click away.

Apres une heure de marche sur la crete nous sommes entres de nouveau dans une foret que la glace n'avait toutefois pas epargne. Je me sens parfois coupable de touver si jolie cette durete du climat sur la nature. N'est-ce pas comme si quelqu'un prenait plaisir de ma misere? Quoi qu'il en soit, je prends des potos.

At 3500ft, the trees become small again, but are now completely covered with frosty snow. To my food oriented mind it looks like everything has been smeared with a thick sugar glaze.

A 3500pi d'altitude, les arbre redevenaient petits, mais completement couverts de neige givree.

We past the split of the trail to go to Giants summit before coming back to head over to Rocky Peak.

Nous avons passe l'intersection des sentiers pour continuer jusqu'au sommet de Giant avant de retourner sur nos pas et prendre le chemin vers Rocky Peak.

I guess there is no need to say that with our head in the clouds there was absolutely no view to be seen, only a thick white nothing. Wrapped in that silent world of white, I couldn't decide if it was peaceful or wild... it certainly felt somewhat awkward (and cold).

Je suppose que je n'ai pas besoin de preciser qu'avec notre tete dans les nuages il n'y avait pas de vue du sommet, seulement un rien blanc et epais. Englioutis dans un monde de silence blanc, je ne pouvais decider si je me sentais paisible ou angoissee....etrange, pour sur (et froid, certainement)

We didn't stay long at Giants top and quickly left that strange dream world to go for a quick visit to Rocky Peak. That meant going down 800 ft the other side of giant and up 600ft to Rocky's summit. Of course, we then had to back track down 600ft and up 800ft. I really wonder what drives humans to push themselves through such effort...certainly not the views last weekend.

Nous ne sommes pas restes longtemps au sommet de Giant et avons quitte ce monde bizarre pour aller faire coucou au sommet de Rocky Peak. Pour se faire, il nous fallait descendre 800ft (en altitude) de l'autre cote de Giant pour remonter 600 ft vers le sommet de Rocky. Bien sur, pour le retour, ca voulais dire redescendre le 600 ft et remonter le 800ft. Je me demande parfois ce qui ammene les humains a se pousser comme ca ...certainemement pas les vues la semaine derniere.

That would be giants back side and hidden top from the valley between it and Rocky Peak. The problems with mountains, is all that walking up and down, it's a lot of work...don't they have some hiking video game out yet?

Voila l'arrier de Giant et son sommet cache par les nuages vu de la vallee entre celui-ci et Rocky Peak. Le probleme avec les montagnes, c'est toutes les montee et descentes, c'est beaucoup d'effort....n'y a t il pas encore un jeu video de randonneur?

Well we did make it up to Rocky Peak's summit. Mark and Marley poked there noses up and went strait back into the trees, calling me crazy for standing in the wind to take a few shots of the very white world. I call crazy going threw all that effort to get somewhere and not spend a minute to enjoy being.

So no summit view, but no complain. I feel lucky I get to see some of the hidden world, and more so, I get to do it with my best friends.

Bon, on est arrive au sommet de Rocky Peak. Mark et Marley y ont pointes leurs nes et sont redescendus dans les arbres, me prenant pour une folle de rester dans le vents pour y prendre quelques photos d'un monde trop blanc. Moi je prends pour un fou celui qui fait l'effort d'aller quelque part et n'y reste pas plus d'une minute.

Finalement, pas de grandes vues, mais rien pour me plaindre. Je me sens privilegiee d'acceder aux mondes caches de la nature, et encore mieux, j'y vais avec mais meilleurs amis.

Dial Mountain second attempt,successful hike

This time we knew our way from Noonmark to BearDen. On our first attempt to reach Dial without entering the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (dogs are not allowed threw) we had lost to much energy and time struggling the bushwhack. With a lot elevation change and trail breaking this 15 km pushed us to a healthy limit.
The weather was good with a mix of flurries and clearing, nothing to complain about, except that blue skies really make nicer pictures.

By sliding the mouse over the slide show a menu appears if you click on the second icon, capitations will show. You can also find the photos here


Cette fois-ci on connaissait notre chemin entre le mont Noonmark et BearDen. Pour notre premier essai pour atteindre le mont Dial sans traverser la Adirondack mountain reserve (les chien y sont interdits) on avait perdu trop de temps et energie and chercher notre chemin dans les bois. Avec beacoup de changement de denivellation et des sentiers vierges les 15 km de marche nous ont pousses a une saine limite.
Avec un melange de neige legere et d'eclaircies on a pas eu a nous plaindre de la meteo, sauf qu'un peu de ciel bleu fait quand meme de plus belles photos.

En glissant le curseur sur le diaporama un menu apparait, en cliquant sur le deuxieme icon, les descriptifs apparaissent. Les photos se trouvent aussi ici.

Winter Frontenac Park hike - Randonnee d'hiver au park Frontenac

Sunday was a sunny and cold day. We decided not to go too far from home for a hike. We haven't yet been in Frontenac park in the winter, so it sounded like a good idea. We did about 13 km which felt like 20... the snow coverage was just enough to hide the ground but not enough to smooth it out, making the walk tiring. It was still a nice day and we have the satisfaction of being outside.

Surprise of the week, our new hens started laying...after a couple month of store bought eggs we have eaten our last factory eggs for the next few years. For our pre-hike breakfast we both had a home grown egg and a store egg, can you tell which is which?

Photo album

Urban Hike, Randonnee citadine

The planed hike was Giant Mountain, perfect hike for an exposed route, it would of been great pictures. Would of, because plans are always subject to change. Sunday morning we woke up to the alarm as usually on hike days, at 0430am. Barely woke up. My motivation felt pretty low at the time...or was it high? but concentrated on some more passive activity, like sleeping. Never less, an angel voice came from my side and moaned: what would you think of an urban hike instead? Do you mean sleeping in followed by easy walk on pavement with no pack sac and the possible crossing of a coffee shop? Voice, you have my vote. Two minutes later the alarm was only a bad souvenir, and we were back in our dreams.

Marley may not like it as much but she can greatly benefit from a urban walk on a leash. So we went for a nice walk threw Ottawa. We parked on Bank street, walked up to the Parliament Hill and over to the market, where we stopped for shawarma. Our route back followed the canal down to Pretoria bridge, close to Emily's parents condo. We went in for a short visit. I had forgotten how quiet the city was on Sundays, the snippy cold probably made it even more still and a non-eventful day.

First of the year 2008: Hike to Mtn Wright

We are done with Christmas and New Years and can now get back in our normal routine, including a weekly hike. I can feel the weight of hollydays in my legs and belly and wasn't up to too serious of a trip. Twelve kilometers to Wright and back seemed just perfect. Short trip, snow packed trail, scenic summit and a bit of excitement at the top ....exactly what we needed to get back in the groove.

Fini Noel et le Nouvel An, on peut retourner a notre routine, dont nos randonnees hebdomadaires. Je peux sentir le poids du temps des fetes dans mes jambes et mon ventre, je n'etait donc pas en forme pour une expedition trop serieuse. Douze kilometres aller et retour pour le mont Wright m'a semble parfait. Randonnee courte, sentier de neige compacte, sommet ouvert et un peu d'aventure....exactement ce dont j'avais besoin pour me remettre dans le bain.

We all gear up. Marley's snow problems have been previously exposed, so here's how we have equipped her rough four wheel drive for much smother travel in winter conditions. She wears booties on her rear paws and gets Vaseline spread between her toes on the front ones, this reduces snow ball issues and keeps natural traction at the front (which she needs on rock and ice).

On se prepare tout les trois. J'ai deja mentionne les problemes de Marley avec les boules de neiges, alors voila comment on a equipe son quatre roues motrices pour les conditions hivernales. Elle porte des bottines sur les pattes arrieres et on lui beurre les pattes avant de vaseline entre les doigts. On arrive comme ca a reduire la formation de boules de neiges dans ses pattes tout en lui permettant de conserver un traction normale a l'avant (essentiel sur la glace et le rochers).

Just before the tree line. Two innocent hikers barely aware of what is awaiting them. It's a warm day, the walk over has been sweaty and the warning from the nice ladies coming down hasn't hit home. They appeared at a bend of the trail, all skin covered: "Are you going up? It's windy up there, really windy..."

Juste avant d'atteindre la zone alpine. Deux innocents randonneurs a peine conscients de ce qui les attends. C'etait une journee chaude (tout est relatif), jusque la on avait plus sue que grelotte et on a pas trop fait cas de l'avertissement des gentilles dames qui descendaient. Elles sont apparues a un virage du sentier, pas un millimetre carre de peau a decouvert: "Vous montez? Il y a du vent, beaucoup de vent..."

We got out of the trees soon enough after crossing the three nice women. Wright has a very alpine looking top with beautiful views, exactly what I needed for my new camera's first hike.

On est sortit des arbres assez rapidement apres avoir croise les trois dames. Wright un sommet tres alpin et des vues manifiques, exactement ce dont j'avais besoin pour la premier ballade de mon nouvel appareil photo.

...but as we were told, it was windy...really windy. Windy enough that I got thrown off my feet a few times. Wind chill made it for a serious temperature change. I couldn't be sure how hard it was blowing up there, Mark estimates some of the gusts were reaching 50 knots. What I am sure about is that with those winds the blowing snow on my face were a good reminder of sandblasting.

...mais comme on nous avait prevenu, il y avait du vent....beaucoup de vent. Suffisement de vent pour me balancer au sol a quelques reprises. Le refroidissement eolien etait considerable. Je ne pourrait pas etre certaine a quelle vitesse ca soufflait la haut, Mark estime que les coups de vents pouvaient atteindre 50 noeuds. Ce dont je suis certaine c'est qu'avec ces vents la neige qui frappait mon visage me rappelle franchement le sablage du bateau.

I unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, don't find the pictures show our true visibility up there without proper eye protection, the camera didn't seem bothered by the cold, strong winds, and blowing snow, but heres a slightly altered photo that show how I could really see. Next time I'm bringing goggles.

Malheureusement, ou plutot heureusement, les photos ne temoigne pas de notre visibilite la haut sans protection adequate pour nos yeux, la camera ne semble pas etre derrangee par le froid, les vents forts et la neige poudreuse, mais voila une photo legerement modifier qui montre a peu pres ce qu'on y voit. La prochaine fois on emmene de lunettes.

Mark and Marley doing there last few steps to the summit. Actually, Marley has run up and back down to us a few times.

Mark et Marley font les derniers pas pour atteindre le sommet. En fait, Marley a deja courru de haut en bas entre nous et le sommet a quelques reprises.

Mark and Marley successfully summited, I , unfortunately, was to busy taking pictures and forgot to climb the last boulder...Mark will keep reminding me that, twisting the reality as if I had been to wimpy to walk the last few feet to the top.

Mark et Marley on atteints le sommet avec succes, j'ai, par contre, oublie de grimper le dernier rocher, occupee que j'etais a prendre des photos....Mark continuera de me le rappeller, tordant la verite pour dire que j'ai ete trop faible pour faire les derniers pas vers le sommet.

Just a few more pics, with no real story, just because I'm happy and there is so much beauty out there...and I have a new camera...did I mention that?

Juste quelques autres photos, sans histoire attachee, juste parce que je suis heureuse and qu'il y a tellement de beaute la bas, dehors....et j'ai un nouvel appareil photo....l'ai-je deja mentionne?

Ice forming everywhere

Mont Algonquin

Looking to the west

Weather is moving in

Wright hike's album and a few more pictures here
Mon album du mont Wright avec quelques autres photos ici

Noonmark's Bushwack

With a dog some mountains are unaccessible by the trails , as they cross the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (an exclusive boys club). We therefore had to come up with an alternative route. We have nothing against challenges, the goal of this hike was to try the crossing between the trail up to NoonMark mountain to the trail leading to Dial and Nippletop Mountains. It turned out to be a successful bushwhack. We had hoped to also reach Dial Mountain but got to wet and cold so turned back and went up NoonMark.

Avec un chien, certaines montagnes sont inaccessibles par les sentiers, parce qu'ils traversent la "Adirondack Mountain Reserve" (un club prive). Il nous faut donc une route alternative pour les atteindre. On a rien contre les defis, le but de cette randonne etait de d'essayer de traverser du le sentier qui monte au mont NoonMark vers le sentier qui mene aux montagnes Dial et Nippletop. On y est arrive. On avait espere atteindre Dial mais on s'est retrouves trop mouilles et commension a avoir froid, on est retourne vers NoonMark, fait un petit detour jusu'au sommet et sommes retourne au stationnement.

Photos

Tabletop Mountain

Tabletop Mountain is the innocent victim of hikers discrimination because of it's flat treed summit. Fortunately even the most ordinary mountain has hidden beauty. With a frozen camera and frozen hands most of it will just be memory, too cold for pictures. Ok there are a few.

La Montagne Tabletop est la victime innocente de la discrimination des randonneurs parce que sont sommet est boise et plat. Heureusement, meme la montagne la plus ordinaire a sa beautee cache. Avec un appareil photo et des mains congeles la majeur partie de cette ballades restera a l'etat de souvenirs, trop froid pour des photos. Bon il y en a quand meme quelues unes.

Photos

Porter Mountain

If winter doesn't come to you....go to winter. The amount of snow on the mountain was surprising considering I was still picking greens out of my vegetable garden.

Si l'hiver ne vient pas a vous assez vite....allez trouver l'hiver. La quantite de neige sur la montagne etait impressionnate considerant que je ramassais touours des legumes dans mon potager.

Photos

Up mount Wolfjaw to Gothics, down and around

Hike of the Great range from Lower wolf jaw (going up the slide), Upper wolf jaw, Armstrong over to Gothics and back to the trailhead.

Randonnee de la "Great range" depuis le mont Lower Wolfjaw, Upper wolf jaw, Armstrong jusqu'a Gothics et rotour au depart.

Photos

Mount Algonquin and Iroquois

We found our first ice and snow of the season.

On a trouve notre premiere glace et neige de la saison

Photos