Papineau-Labelle Ski Tour

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A group of seven of us had planned a week long ski tour in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. Unfortunately lack of snow ended that dream and we had to cancel. As a last minute decision we decided to give Papineau-Labelle a try. It is a funny park, close to home with hut-to-hut skiing. None of the huts are far from the access point, so everything in the park can be skied in one day. The huts are nice, the outhouses not so nice. The trails are mostly also used by snow mobiles so are not too great for skiing on, although there is loads of nice routes off the designated ones. Trail marking is incredibly poor, so bring a good set of maps, a compass and do some exploring (whether you want to or not!). With a little bit of trail maintenance to open up many of the abandonned ski trails and old logging roads, and reduction of the snow machine routes, this place could be a really nice ski area.



January 26, 2014 - De l'Hote

Katharina, Pat, Marc, Debbie, Ivan, Andy, and I met at my house in the morning and drove up to Papineau-Labelle. It was a beautiful sunny day and we skied along the easy trail in some of the best snow conditions we have had all year. Met quite a few families skiing out, and all asked us if we were staying at the De l'Hote Hut. After about two and a half hours we arrived at the hut, and what a palace it was. Two massive wood stoves and a fantastic kitchen with both a propane stove and a ginormous wood burning oven. Six of us headed back out for a ski across the lake. Arrived back at the hut just as darkness was falling, where we spent the evening eating and relaxing on the reclining couches. It was also Andy's birthday so we celebrated with some brownies and whiskey.

Arriving at De l'Hote. This is no hut, it is a palace!


Happy birthday Andy!


January 27, 2014 - Heron

We got up at a relaxed time and after a slow and hearty breakfast we hit the trail around 09:30. We took a narrow trail, north along the shore of the lake in some nice fresh powder that fell overnight. This was some really nice skiing. We decided to make our own route today so we followed some old logging roads down to a large lake system. We had a bit of navigational trouble finding the first road due to some map printing errors, but no problems other than a five minute detour. A short bushwhack got us onto the lake and we suited into an extra layer as the wind was picking up. The snow was fairly deep, so we took turns breaking trail as we navigated through some bays, and a chain of islands. Finally we got to the north end and thought we would have another short bushwhack to pick up another logging road, but a fishing access gave us a nice ramp to ski up. We now had to climb a ways through a low pass and had a lovely descent all the way down to Lac Ernest. The snow was so deep we could not get up much speed, but it was still fun plunging through the powder. We decided to go to Doucet hut for lunch and we spent some time skiing along the snow mobile trail until we could find a way down to the lake. A short steep bushwhack descent finally got us onto the ice where we could ski over to the hut on the far side. The fire was not going so it was cold, but at least out of the wind. After a long break, we quickly skied over to Heron and started a fire to warm up. Most of us went out for a short ski around the lake in the late afternoon before supper, after which we spent many hours huddling around the wood stove for the evening.

Leaving on a snowy morning along a nice lake side trail.


Exploring an old logging road.


Onto the lakes in the fog.


Arriving at Heron hut.


January 28, 2014 - Fascinant

We awoke to a brilliant day, but a cold one at about -23 C. We decided to explore an abandonned trail which led north from the hut, which provided some entertainment as there was a fair amount of blowdown. Some parts were tricky to follow so some short bushwhacks ensued until we got back on track. After a while we popped out onto a logging road which was unfortunately plowed. There was enough snow cover that we could ski along the side of it, which brought us back to the official trail which was a skidoo track alongside the same plowed logging road. We moved quickly along here and as we approached the hut, five teams of dog sleds came at us head-on and we had to give up the trail to let them pass. The lead driver stopped to chat a bit, which caused a great racket of barking until they finally moved on. Now the skidoo track was full of dog shit and we spent the last couple of kilometers dodging turds to prevent getting our skis waxed with universal brown. We arrived at the hut, two hours into our day and had a break for half an hour enjoying the warmth of the wood stove. This one is more hut like than the last two nights, with bunks for sleeping and a small main room, for cooking, eating, and hanging out in. We set out back into the cold planning to ski a 13 km loop of abandonned trail. It started out on dog sled tracks, which without the skidoos, was actually nice to ski on. We then went around a large round lake on a narrow winding old skidoo track where we made a navigational error. We turned off onto an old overgrown logging road which made for some fun skiing over lots of obstacles, but after about 45 minutes of this we realized that we should have stayed on the old skidoo track as we had now gone off course by over a kilometer. After dropping down to the lake and spending some time re-orienting ourselves with the compass, we skied off across the lake, and then a short swamp whack brought us back onto our original track, just before the place where we went wrong. Suddenly the trail got a lot easier after turning the correct way and we began a long climb which later provided a fantastic descent where we could make some turns in the wind slabbed powder. It never warmed up, so we took very short breaks and kept skiing to keep warm. We arrived back at dog shit alley (now full of frozen turds), where Andy, Kat, and I found a bushwhack onto Fascinant Lake, while the others skied directly back to the hut. The day ended 7.5 hours after departure, and the small hut quickly became a welcome sauna with the stove burning. We were all pretty tired after today, so the sacks were hit early after supper.

Getting lost on the abandonned trail north of Heron.


Moving aside for the dog sleds.


If you can believe it, this fantastic ski trail is abandonned.


Approaching the hut at the end of the day.


January 29, 2014 - Ernest

Today we planned a route through an abandonned ski trail, some old logging roads, and a western chain of lakes. We crossed Lac Fascinant on another freaking cold day and found a bushwhack down to the river. Fortunately it was frozen here and we carefully crossed without mishap. A nasty bushwhack along the far bank brought us to the abandonned trail which was fairly clear, but with enough obstacles to keep things interesting. Where we were supposed to turn off onto an old logging road, there was a massive pile of blowdown, such that we never found the old road, so instead we skied out to the main trail. We found another old abandonned trail marked with bird signs, so we decided to follow it. This took us down into the swamp and was completely overgrown. As we whacked through here, we kept finding bird markers, so we knew we were on track to wherever this trail was going. In the end we just made a generally southern progress until we got onto Lac Ernest. Now we had to battle the brutally cold headwind for a few km down the lake until we found the hut, or at least where the hut was supposed to be. On the jut of land where the map marks two huts, we found three. None of them were called "Ernest". We spent the next half hour skiing around the property to no avail and finally decided that the one labelled "Chalet du Gardien" must be the one, so we set up in here. This park is kind of funny that way. How freaking hard is it to label the huts (or maps) correctly? We had some hot soup and then split into two groups to go out for an afternoon ski. Andy, Pat, Marc, and I decided to do a 12 km loop which turned out to be very nice with some winding trails in great snow. After a really fun descent we hit a road to loop back, but it was plowed, so we had to walk along here for a kilometer, dodging logging trucks until we got back to the ski trails. Rather than following skidoo tracks, we decided to bushwhack for a while to find the Ouest trail, which required us to climb over a steep ridge carrying our skis. This was worth it though, because the trail, once gained, was really nice, and the untracked snow a hoot to descend in. Arrived back at the hut, just as it was starting to get dark.

Leaving the hut by crossing the lake.


This trail, really is for the birds.


Skiing Lac Ernest on a cold day.


This hut actully is Ernest, despite the sign.


Warming up.


January 30, 2014 - Moby Dick Lookout

We packed up for the final time and skied out the Ouest trail. This was nice with lots of rolling hills and a narrow track. It was also a bit warmer today at only -18, so a little more pleasant to stand around in while taking a break. The lack of signs at junctions forced us to keep our navigational wits about us, and when we finally found a trail junction sign, the labels on it made very little sense. Nevertheless, we arrived back at the parking lot, without taking any wrong turns, had a quick lunch, dropped some gear, and head out to ski a loop to Moby Dick lookout. This started out nice, but someone had driven a skidoo up to the summit (on the trail marked no snowmobiles) which had ruined the snow. Nevertheless, it was a good view from the top, followed by a fun and fast descent back down. We returned via another trail that was not driven over by snow machines, so we had a nice powder descent on the last stretch on the way back. After packing up, we stopped for pizza and beers in a local town prior to the drive home. A great trip!

The beautiful Ouest trail.


Katharina and I on the summit of Moby Dick.


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