Lower Duchesnay Creek

Today was a beautiful day for a hike.  -1 and no wind.  Probably too warm, but a great opportunity to try out John's new snow shoes.  He received a gift certificate from Sharon's cousin Don Nichol for Christmas, and decided to buy a pair of 21" Little Bear Snow Shoes.  Perfect.

The day before Christmas we had headed down to Restoule Provincial Park to scout out the Stormy Lake look out.  It was a fun day, and I'll describe it in detail later--when we go back.  The bottom line was we needed snowshoes.  So, armed with the right gear, we headed to the lower end of Duchesnay Creek.  We were there yesterday and had a good hike.  Today, with the snow shoes on we decided to explore further.

The "A" on the topo map shows our starting point.  With permission, we parked at the convenience store across the highway.  The day before we went down the trail and headed south-east towards Lake Nipissing.  It was really cool to walk beneath the bridges and check-out the engineering that went into putting these structures up.

It was a short hike, but very scenic and there was a sense of adventure as we walked beneath the bridges to the lake.

Today we checked-out a satelite photo of the area and noticed another bridge farther up the creek.  So the goal today was to explore the creek in the other direction and check-out the other bridge.  You can see it in the north-west corner of the satelite photo.

The snow was about 1/2 metre deep and powdery.  I have a 30" pair so I led initially, but once we got down from the highway to the level of the creek John led the way.  Open water was flowing in some spots and the sound was sweet to hear.

The trail along the creek was level with a few logs to climb over.  Eventually we came across a beaver lodge and a "sink hole" foreshadowing things to come.

A creak here and there as we walked reminded us of how far the level of the water has fallen since freeze-up.  As we rounded the beaver lodge, the ice gave way and John fell through.  It happed so quick that he had no time to be afraid.  He was laughing as he hauled himself up.  The water was flowing beneath his feet.

We continued our trek with me leading.  As we approached a small water fall we noticed a huge pile of discoloured snow sitting on the ice.  I can't explain it--see the photo.

To be safe near the fast moving water we decided to head-up a steep section of terrain.  It was hard going.  Steep and slippery.  Fortunately our snowshoes have deep sharp cleets that help prevent sliding.  Up and across we went.  We spotted a beaver dam that we considered crossing, but decided to keep going across at a steep angle.

Just after the dam, with me leading we headed down to water level.  I crashed through into knee deep fast-flowing water.  Too cool--literally and figuritively.  John was laughing.

I wasn't sure how the cold water in my boots was going to affect my enjoyment of the rest of the hike so to be safe, we back-tracked to the trail head.  We'll head back another day to check out the other bridge and the rest of the trail.

This is a great trail only 6 minutes from home.

Christopher Luke Zweerman

I've been putting off writing this post because I'm still shaken and I'm not sure it belongs in the categorie of "Bernie's Weekly Adventures."  However, upon reflection, this blog is about where I go, what I do, and how I think and feel about it--so this fits.

My good friend Bernie Zweerman (along with is wife Gabe and son Brandon) lost his first boy to a tragic accident.  I can barely type those words.  I travelled to New Market on Friday to visit and attend a celebration. The funeral would be the next day.  I travelled with Patty Ann Dennis.  She's in her 70's and was the chaplain at Regina Pacis where Bernie Z and I taught together.  She said a prayer in the car for a safe journey and for comfort for Bernie and his family.  She packed a lunch for me with my own water bottle and my own bag of cashews.  You might call her a detail person, but anyone who knows her would say that's just the way she is--thoughtful.  We hadn't seen much of each other for 15 years;  the conversation rarely stopped on the way down.

Friday night was spent listening to friends and family describe CLZ.  I won't get into the details here.  He was a special person whose life--though full, ended early at 26.  A first year medical student in Australia, running for student council.  Accidents happen.  The funeral the next day was difficult for me.  Major pause.  Losing a child--too tragic to contemplate.

The point of my story is the ride home.  Patty Ann is knitting and singing Christmas carols.  She's stuffing sandwiches into me.  "Eat another Bernie."  There would be no waste--CLZ would not tolerate waste. "Eat this one--it's different."  I ate 13 sandwiches.  I commented on how extraordinary CLZ was.  For ex: in grade 8 he would summarize his study notes and sell them to other students--and give the money to charity.  At university, although he was an honours student--he won the volunteer award.  Patty Ann said, "... it's the simple things he did..."  He loved his family.  He cared about others.  He volunteered.  He donated to charity.

I can do that.

Mapping Software

Bill Silver, a cool guy who knows everything--well he knows enough about enough stuff to be in the category of a guy who knows everything.  How's that.

He passed along the tip of the mapping software called mapper.acme.com.

This software acts just like google maps with the added feature of being able to print topo maps.  Plus you can link photos to it from flickr and easily pick-up gps coordinates.  How about being able to generate a url of your map and emailing it to someone.  That's cool.

Discover...

I'm sitting at the table researching an adventure for tomorrow and I found this inspiring video for the Discovery Channel.

Canadore Trails - Solo Hike

The weekend was winding down and adventures planned earlier didn't work out.  The first was to create an access door into my attic.  Doesn't sound like an adventure--but I'm not yet a handyman--so it was an adventure.  It was until I realized I need a carpenter.  So I'll sub-contract that adventure out.  The second attempt was a trip with John to look at a sailboat.  Bad weather moved in and our trip south was cut short at Sundridge.  Finally, with the Christmas lights up and dinner time closing in I suggested a trip to Canadore.  John headed over to grandma's to help with her tree so I headed out solo at about 4:15.

The trails are only 8 minutes from the house so I knew this would be a hike that I could squeeze in before dinner.  The temp was about -7 and the snow was falling and the wind was brisk.

 This is a hike I've done many times but never alone and never with dark approaching.  It was a peaceful walk and I really enjoyed the different scenes.  From the high-tech looking campus to the snow covered forest.

The Old Cabin 17T 0615400, 5133108

The snow was fresh but I still scrunched as I walked along.  No one else was on the trail and I found myself hearing every little sound.  The trees creaked as the wind moved them around.  A large area of deadfall seemed eerie in the approaching darkness.

The Lookout.  17T 0615194, 5132946

As I walked back from the lookoout I noticed a faint pink (dusty rose as the famous teacher Gary Meehan used to say) glow through the trees.  The distant lights from the campus were reflecting off of the falling snow.

By the time I had returned home, the Christmas lights on the house were beautiful to see.

The hike was a great way to end the weekend and to take time to reflect on how fortunate I am.