Highlands Nordic, Duntroon, ON

After a fun day last Sunday snowshoeing with Trakkers (my friend, Trish has been a member for a few years and we went as her guests), Gord and I joined the club this week.

Trakkers is a volunteer, non-profit, recreational ski club dedicated to the support and enjoyment of cross-country skiing and has been providing Sunday ski trips in luxury highway coaches to southern Ontario ski resorts for over 30 years. 

Trakkers welcomes members of all ages and all skill levels, from novice to the expert. Trakkers is the club for you if you want to learn to ski or improve your skills.

Today's trip was to Highlands Nordic in Duntroon, about two hours northwest of Toronto.  We caught one of two buses at 9am and were back in Toronto about 6pm.  We were glad we weren't doing the driving because the roads were snowy and icy.

When we got to Highlands Nordic, I checked the temperature ... brrrr!

Gord and I got ready and headed off to the snowshoe trails.

Gord

Me all bundled up!

We decided to do the Skyway Trail (yellow - 2.5 km) and then hook onto the Log Roll Trail (orange - 1km) and then hook back onto the Skyway Trail.  We were gone for two hours and, according to my activity tracker, I went 4.5km.

It was really cold starting off but as we got into the trail, we warmed up ... we were taking layers off.  When we started climbing uphill on the Log Roll Trail, we were more open and it got really cold again ... so we put layers back on.  The trails were fun because they weren't groomed.  There was a lot of snow and it was heavy ... it was snowing at times.

Hardwood Ski and Bike, Oro-Medonte, ON

My friend, Trish, has been a member of Trakkers for a few years.

Trakkers is a volunteer, non-profit, recreational ski club dedicated to the support and enjoyment of cross-country skiing and has been providing Sunday ski trips in luxury highway coaches to southern Ontario ski resorts for over 30 years. 

Trakkers welcomes members of all ages and all skill levels, from novice to the expert. Trakkers is the club for you if you want to learn to ski or improve your skills.

Trish invited Gord and I to be her guests on today's trip to Hardwood Ski and Bike, just outside of Barrie (about an hour and a half north of Toronto).  We caught the bus at 9am and were back in Toronto about 5:30pm.

Hardwood Ski and Bike has over 40 km of beautiful, rolling trails through hardwood and pine forests for cross-country skiing. The trail network consists of 8 different loops ranging from 3 km to 22 km. There is a trail for every level of ability, from beginner to elite racer on terrain that ranges from gently rolling to challenging.

Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat biking are all offered at the resort; therefore, the whole family can enjoy the outdoor winter playground. With a café serving healthy, delicious meals and snacks, a service shop for your entire rental, waxing and repair needs, as well as a retail shop equipped with cross country ski gear galore, we promise you’ll have an amazing, full-service experience at Hardwood Ski and Bike.

Trish is a skier and Gord and I are snowshoers so we went to our respective trails when we arrived.

Gord and I started on the Lookout Trail (this trail takes you to the Lookout where on a clear day you can see Barrie and Lake Simcoe), then hooked onto the Fox Trail (this trail makes its way to Janet’s Gateway at the top of the property before coming back downhill to the chalet) when the Lookout Trail ended and then took the Lynx Trail (starts at the main chalet and takes you on a great loop through some old hardwood forest) back to the chalet.

The snowshoe trails are the dotted lines

It was a gorgeous day to be outside ... sunny and 0C/32F.  We were snowshoeing for about 2.5 hours and did about 6km.  The trails meander through the woods and varied between being flat and hilly ... some the hills are tough (but fun).  There was about a foot of snow.  At times, the ski and snowshoe trails ran parallel to each other and we sometimes had to cross over the ski trails to stay on the snowshoe trails.

Snowshoeing on Mont Tremblant. QC

Gord and I headed up the mountain after lunch with our snowshoes

This is the base of Mont Tremblant.

We got in line to go up on the gondola ... it was less than a five minute wait.

One time tickets are $20

The temperature at the top of the mountain was -24C/-11.2F ... there was definitely a windchill but I don't know what it was.

I was prepared for the cold this year and brought hand warmers for my mittens.  I'm glad I did because it was freakin' cold!

Snowshoeing on Mont Tremblant, QC

Gord and I brought our snowshoes with us and we headed up to the summit of Mont Tremblant about noon.

The temperature this morning was -15C in the pedestrian village and another five degrees colder at the 875 meter (2870 ft) summit of the mountain. With the wind chill, it was between -25C and -30C.  It was so cold that my camera broke ... the lens won't go in now :(  So I borrowed some of Gord's pictures of our day.

When we got there, there were quite a few people.  It was quite hazy and visibility was low.

It was really cold and windy so I bought some hand warmers in the store.  They helped a lot.

This is looking down at the village ... people were skiing and boarding down.

East Humber Bay Park, Etobicoke, ON

Gord and I went to East Humber Bay Park this afternoon and walked around for a couple hours. We hadn't been there since we went snowshoeing in January.

It was a gorgeous day for a walk and there were lots of people and dogs in the park.

Just as we got to this inlet, some dogs arrived.

"Throw the ball ... throw the ball ... throw the ball!"

I walked into the water and it wasn't too cold.

We got back on the path.

There was a regatta happening.

There were people playing on the beach ... and even a couple guys swimming!

The first set of condos were built in this area in the 1970s. In recent years, old houses and motels have been bought and demolished to make way for condos. It would be a great spot to live!

I really like this park and, alas, don't go there as often as I'd like.

Snowshoeing on the Toronto Islands

Gord and I decided to go snowshoeing on the Toronto Islands this afternoon.

To get there, you have to take a ferry to Wards Island (the eastern end of Centre Island). During the summer, the ferry goes to three points (Wards Island, Centre Island and Hanlan's Point) ... in the winter, it just goes to Wards Island. Here's comes the ferry!

Much of the harbour is frozen and the ferry has to plow through the ice. You can hear the ice being crushed and even feel a jolt at times. Lots of fun!

Here are me and Gord on the ferry ... it was cold and windy on the water.

Here's the path of where we'd come.

We're heading into the ferry dock on Wards Island.

We've arrived on Wards Island.

There are about 260 homes on the eastern end of Wards Island.

This looking across the harbour at downtown Toronto.

Some kids were playing hockey on one of the lagoons.

We walked along the wooden boardwalk on the south end of the island for a while. The waves were awesome!

The boardwalk ended and the snow got deeper so we put our snowshoes on and continued to follow the water.

We are getting closer to the pier.

Here's Gord showing where we were just before we got to the pier ... we had started on the left hand side (the furthest ferry on the left).

We took our snowshoes off when we got to the pier and hung out there for a while. It was windy and cold ... invigorating!

No one is swimming there today!
And then we headed back.

We walked back along the road and then hooked onto the boardwalk.

We stopped at the Rectory Café, which is about five minutes from the ferry.

We had a glass of wine and split a delicious Roasted Chicken Club Sandwich (Roasted Chicken with Garlic Aioli, Bacon, Romaine & Tomatoes on Toasted Multigrain) and mixed greens salad.

The Rectory Café has an awesome patio ... we'll be back to check it out when it's patio weather!

Time to head back home. This picture was taken on the ferry as we were heading back to the city ... keep in mind that the ferry had just gone through here about 10 minutes earlier and it was freezing up already!

We walked/snowshoed/walked about 5km ... a very fun way to spend the afternoon!