Contents
- - Heather & Sara Get Engaged
- - Ice Skating Starts
- – - Kathryn in Thunder Bay
- - Hike on Trails 51 & 53 in Gatineau Park
- - Hike to Shilly Shally in Gatineau Park
- - Vesper's Haulout
- - Sailing Season Ends
- - Hike to the Ramparts Lookout in Gatineau Park
- - 4,000 km of Biking
- - Another Hike in Gatineau Park
- - Hiking in Gatineau Park
- - Tennis
- - Hike to Meech Lake with Heather
- - New Bike for Adam
- - Crew on Vesper
- - Laser Sailing
- - Biking to the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park
- – - Overnight on Vesper
- - Wildlife
- - Sailing Again
- - Biking the New Western Greenbelt Pathway
- - Biking the Osgoode Pathway
- - First Sail of the Year
- - Vesper's Early Launch
- - Hiking In Gatineau Park
- - Biking Season Starts
- - Snowshoeing Around Lac Philippe
- - Snowshoeing to Healey Cabin
- - Skiing P9 to the Champlain Lookout
- - Skiing P7 to the Stone Bridge
- - Skiing the Gatineau Parkway
- - Skiing Trail 55 at the North End
- - Skiing to the Champlain Lookout in a Snowstorm
- - Trail 53 in Gatineau Park
- - First Ski in Gatineau Park
- - More Skating on the Rideau Canal
- - Skating on the Rideau Canal
- - Skiing Pine Grove from P19
- - Skiing Pine Grove
- - Skiing Dolman Ridge
- - Greenbelt Snowshoeing
- - XC Skiing Starts
- - Kathryn's Sewing Projects
- - Ice Skating
- - The COVID-19 Pandemic Continues
- - Winter Arrives
Click to enlarge photos, hover for caption
Heather & Sara Get Engaged
Heather and Sara got engaged on New Year's Eve, while in Ottawa.
Ice Skating Starts
Winter has been slowly creeping in this week and the outdoor, artificially-cooled ice rinks are starting to open up for skating. I got out for a skate today and had the whole rink to myself for the first 15 minutes.
Kathryn in Thunder Bay
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Kathryn spent a week in Thunder Bay and got to spend some time with grandson Leo.
Hike on Trails 51 & 53 in Gatineau Park
We did a 7.5 km hike from P19 around the trail 53 and 51 loop on a day with a high of +14°C.
Hike to Shilly Shally in Gatineau Park
We did a 9 km hike from P7 to Shilly Shally on a fall day with a high of +9°C and no wind.
Vesper's Haulout
Vesper was lifted out of the water today by dock crane for the upcoming winter.
Sailing Season Ends
Despite our sailing season being interrupted by COVID-19 measures that cost us much of spring sailing, we completed 41 voyages and 99.1 hours of sailing on Vesper.
Hike to the Ramparts Lookout in Gatineau Park
We did a 10 km hike from P10 to the Ramparts Lookout on a beautiful, if rather windy day.
4,000 km of Biking
We have had a fantastic biking season this year, reaching 4,000 km today and 4,137 km by the time biking was over on .
Another Hike in Gatineau Park
We did a 12 km hike from P20 at Lac Philippe around Trail 55 on a gorgeous fall day.
Hiking in Gatineau Park
We did a 10 km hike from P7 to Lac Fortune and back. There were signs warning about bears, but all we saw were chipmunks.
Tennis
This was the summer that we decided to take up tennis, making use of the free city courts around town.
Hike to Meech Lake with Heather
With Heather visiting, we decided to do a hike to Meech Lake on a beautiful late summer day.
New Bike for Adam
Adam last bought a bike in 1986. It was a mountain bike which he rode everywhere since. After 35 years of riding, the steel frame broke at a weld and the bike was beyond repair. So today Adam got a new bike, an aluminum framed touring bike, with many modern new features, like an 11 x 1 drive train, integral lighting, a 40 kg capacity rack and disc brakes.
Crew on Vesper
With the pandemic restrictions reduced somewhat we were able to take Jessica and Alexis sailing on Vesper, the first time we have had anyone else on board in the past two years.
A few weeks later were were able to take Carolyn and Debbie out and Heather during a visit.
Laser Sailing
While visiting friends we got to sail a Laser on Mississipi Lake. Alexis shot a video of us bringing the boat back into the rocky beach, downwind.
Biking to the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park
Today we biked to the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park and had lunch at the outdoor Cafe Pat there. This was a ride of 67 km round trip, with some hills as well.
Overnight on Vesper
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We did an overnight onboard Vesper on a really lovely evening in Crystal Bay. The next morning we had great winds and sailed to Aylmer Island and back.
Wildlife
We see quite a bit of wildlife around the city and I try to get photos, whenever possible.
Sailing Again
We sailed today, only our third sail of the year and our first since . We were grounded due to COVID-19 restrictions (marinas closed) for five weeks and then one week of uncooperative weather.
Biking the New Western Greenbelt Pathway
We are still under a stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are allowed to get out for exercise, so today we biked the new Western Greenbelt Pathway, including a visit to the Black's Rapids Lock Station. The completed section of the western pathway is 4.3 km and runs from Black's Rapids to Woodroffe Avenue.
Biking the Osgoode Pathway
Even with the stay-at-home order in effect we are allowed exercise, so we biked the 53 km to Osgoode and back today. This is one of our favourite trips.
On the way we shot a video:
First Sail of the Year
With continuing unseasonably warm weather we did our first sail of the year today.
Vesper's Early Launch
Spring was early this year and, despite the COVID situation, we were allowed to launch Vesper today. We were the third boat in the water.
Hiking In Gatineau Park
Skiing was officially ended in Gatineau Park a week ago and the recent melt has left the trails with some snow, some ice, some mud and gravel. We did about 9 km round trip to Lusk Cabin and back. The cabin is closed for day use due to COVID-19, so we sat on the porch, overlooking the lake and had a picnic lunch there. The park was very quiet, with only a few people around.
Biking Season Starts
With unseasonably warm weather for March of 13°C and the skating rinks melted, we headed out to start biking early this year.
Snowshoeing Around Lac Philippe
With a big melt on the way for this week we ventured to the north part of Gatineau Park and completed a circumnavigation of Lac Philippe. It was about 10 km of snowshoeing and took us 3.5 hours. We also shot a video of our trip.
Snowshoeing to Healey Cabin
With fresh snow on the ground and a warmer day, we snowshoed the 8 km from P15 to Healey cabin and back with Jane.
Skiing P9 to the Champlain Lookout
My seventh ski in Gatineau Park was 13 km from P9 to the Champlain Lookout on a really clear, calm and sunny day.
With warmer weather and rain on the way, this was our last ski for this winter.
First ski |
Last ski |
Days skied |
Total distance |
16 |
123 km |
Skiing the Gatineau Parkway
Our sixth ski in Gatineau Park was 10 km from P7, up past the Wattsford Lookout on Trail 30 and then Trail 1 to the stone bridge.
Skiing the Gatineau Parkway
Our fifth ski in Gatineau Park was 9 km from P9 to P8 and beyond, on a day that was above zero and with conditions that were quite fast and slippery.
Skiing Trail 55 at the North End
Our fourth ski in Gatineau Park was 9 km from the new start point this year at P20, around the Trail 55 loop.
Skiing to the Champlain Lookout in a Snowstorm
Our third ski in Gatineau Park was a 12 km trek from P10 to the Champlain Lookout and back, during a snowstorm.
Trail 53 in Gatineau Park
Our second day of skiing in Gatineau Park took us to the very north end and the 8 km Trail 51 & 53 loop from P19.
First Ski in Gatineau Park
With our COVID-19 level now reduced from "white" to "orange" we can, at last, go and ski in Gatineau Park, so we headed out to do a 10 km ski from P9 up the Eardley Escarpment. Temperature was -9°C, but with sunshine and almost no wind.
More Skating on the Rideau Canal
The ice conditions on the Rideau Canal have been so good that we got out skating again this week, with our friend Jane.
Skating on the Rideau Canal
We didn't get skating on the Rideau Canal at all last winter just due to the poor ice and weather conditions. This year the canal opened very late, but today it was rated as "good" almost end-to-end so we got out and skated.
Skiing Pine Grove from P19
We did a 7 km ski today in Pine Grove from parking lot P19 on Trail 45. This was a new part of the greenbelt that neither of us had skied before.
Skiing Pine Grove
We did a 7 km ski today in Pine Grove to the Ramsayville Cemetery and back.
Skiing Dolman Ridge
Continuing to skiing in the Ottawa Greenbelt due to COVID-19 restrictions, we did a 7 km ski today at Dolman Ridge. We even made it to "L" and back.
Greenbelt Snowshoeing
We did our fist snowshoe of the winter on the Eastern Greenbelt Pathaway with our friend Jane.
XC Skiing Starts
This has been a very slow year for skiing so far. We have had only small amounts of snow until yesterday when 15 cm fell. All levels of government have been telling us not to go skiing in Gatineau Park due to the pandemic restrictions, even though we bought season's passes, so our first ski was in the Ottawa greenbelt instead.
Kathryn's Sewing Projects
These are Kathryn's completed sewing and knitting projects for .
Ice Skating
After the holidays, when the crowds had thinned out a bit, we got back to ice skating. Winter sports are pretty limited right now, as there is very little snow to ski on and only the four outdoor, artificially-cooled ice rinks in the city are open for skating.
We made a video of skating on a local park's rink, too:
The COVID-19 Pandemic Continues
The pandemic started for us in and in I started a gallery of photos. As dawned, the pandemic was not only not over, but in fact was hitting record numbers, post Christmas, so I decided to continue with another gallery of photos for this year.
Winter Arrives
We have had very little snow since this winter began, but today we got 8 cm. We did a walk along the Ottawa River and saw our friend Jamil there, with his new snow trike, trying it out on the new snow.
