Cross-Country Skiing

My favourite winter activity in retirement became cross-country skiing.  There's nothing like gliding quickly along the trails, the swish of the skiis in the snow providing music to my ears.  And here in Grey County we have excellent groomed ski trails in all directions.  My favourite was always the Glenelg trails, just west of Markdale.  Well maintained by a committed club, they roamed through 400 acres of hardwood forest, as well as assorted habitats on adjoining private land.  As a club member you could access it all.

The easiest trails, running partly through hardwoods and partly through planted conifers, was mostly flat and I really enjoyed it.  This is where I usually skiid when I was skiing alone.

After you went a mile or so you came out to the edge of an open field, just after crossing a snowmobile trail.  I loved this row of old maples.

At the farthest point I turned back and sought out the 'Long Piney Woods' trail.  There were three different trails you could take back, but this one gave me a long straight stretch to enjoy.

This was a very narrow trail, but it let you build up a good speed.

Flat at first, it eventually came to a short uphill stretch, hiding the end of the trail ahead.

Over that little hill and you were in the last stretch.  You couldn't afford to go too fast here as the trail comes to an abrupt end when you emerged from the trees.  And it's hard to turn quickly in cross-country skiis if you run into snow 8" deep!

Then you turn right and head back to the car, passing a long row of beehives the landowner kept for honey and you're done.  A great winter outing!

To pick up on Woody's comment from yesterday, there's relatively little 'skate-skiing' around here.  I had five different groomed trails like these that i could drive to, but only one set of trails groomed for skate-skiing.  Here, skating clearly means skating on ice wearing ice skates!

Skating through the Forest

Yes you read that right.   I'm going back to some of my favourite winter memories here, and this is one of the best.  Ten years ago I joined a Bruce Trail group that headed north to the Huntsville area for a winter weekend.  It was great fun, and a group of friends I still see regularly.

There was snowshoeing right at the lodge we stayed in, but most days we headed over the Arrowhead Provincial Park for cross-country skiing.  With its varied levels of groomed trails, it's a mecca for cross-country in the area and it was only 20 minutes away.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

It was there I discovered they also had a well maintained skate trail.  So the next year I took my skates and insisted to my companions that I wanted time to skate this trail.  They all sat in the warm car while I went for my skate - it was bitterly cold.

They created the trail by laying down ice on one of the winding campground roads, and they actually had a zamboni to maintain the ice.  It was amazing skating, and one of the first such trails in Ontario.

I often went skating in the big arena at the university when I worked there, and even took lessons when I was 40 or older, so I could at least stand up on my skates, and I really enjoyed this winter adventure.

Dry Stone Fence

I'm dipping back into the past for awhile until we have something new and interesting to share around here.  This is a remarkable old stone fencerow that is actually a dry stone wall. It was located on the farm beside our previous home, and I walked here with our dog for several years.  The stones are all piled to create vertical walls, and it stretched from nearly at the barn almost to the back of the farm.

At first glance you might not notice anything special about this line of stones, but once you look more closely you notice how unique this is.

It's a little hard to illustrate with photos because in the summer it's covered with green and in the winter with white.  A skiff of snow like this is ideal.

As you can see, it's a long farm lane that went straight back down the middle of the farm.

By getting closer I think you can see the vertical sides better.

This was probably built 120 years ago, but is still stable today.  You could climb up and walk along the top; it's about five feet thick.

I expect we will lose many features of the cultural landscape like this, just because they don't fit well with modern farming methods.  This is undoubtedly the most interesting old fence I've found since we moved up to the valley.

A Peaceful 'Normal' Winter?

 Looking out the window this morning I was struck by how 'normal' a winter this appeared.  A foot of snow, gentle snow falling easily, and no wind.  And to beat that it was beginning to look like we might get some sun today!    And we did!

It was simply a gorgeous winter's day!

You could almost picture sitting our there in the sun!

Yesterday wasn't at all so nice!

And for those who were asking, our snowstick is in find shape, with a nice winter blanket.

The Snowstick Returns!

 I've been wondering where our good old snowstick went, the copper crane that we use to measure the snow depth.  But as the snow melted almost away to nothing last week, there it was, fallen over under the weight of one of those December snowfalls.  Luckily we were able to rescue it and stand him up again to continue his work

On Dec. 30th it was standing back up and ready to go, just a little snow around its feet.

The next day virtually all the snow was gone.

On New Year's Day we had a light dusting of snow.

And then winter returned, about a foot of snow, coming down very gently.

Jan. 5th added a couple of inches and we're back to deep snow after our big meltdown.  That's winter for you!

Winter Comes, Winter Goes, Then it Comes Again!

We're in the middle of a continuing roller coaster of winter.  On Christmas Day it was still snowy, but then the big thaw began, taking us almost all the way to green grass.  Today it is snowing like mad again and winter is back.

Christmas Day

Just four days later.

Dec. 30 - it looks like spring!

A light snowfall that was gone within hours.

Jan. 2 - a nice gentle snowfall, about 4" deep.

Note our snowstick in the lower left.

Yesterday morning - about a foot now, and lots of blowing snow today!

Happy New Year!

The new year has arrived, I can't believe it!  Time moves so fast as you get older.  Just yesterday it was summer and I was riding downtown to the library or for coffee.  Now it's winter, though a mixed up -  warm then cold then repeat, snow then melt then snow again.

So with our fixation on the weather and on holidays, you might not have noticed, but yesterday I published my 3000th blog post!  I can't believe how much it's helped concentrate my mind over 15 years!  And that's not all, because I've also received just over 40,000 comments and over 1,7 million visits!  That's the real reason I celebrate.

Your dedicated commitment to reading and making comments means a great deal to me, particularly over the past five years while I've been paralyzed.   So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And why do I blog?  First because I enjoy reading blogs, so I figure it's a fair trade.  But second because I find it engages the mind like little else.  Having to take pictures, think of a theme to post those pictures around, and actually writing the blog, gives my brain a small routine challenge every day if nothing else.  

So thank you, and best wishes for a great new year!