All the posts from this blog have been relocated to the main GuideGatineau.ca website.
GuideGatineau
Gatineau Park News was a companion site to GuideGatineau the site for people who love Gatineau Park. Postings in future will appear there.
Gatineau Park Ski Grooming Has Started
According to Jo-Ann at Musician on Skis
Classic ski conditions were improved from yesterday with an initial grooming pass! Yay!
There are classic tracks right to the Champlain Lookout but some thin spots to watch out for if skating there.
Ridge was skiable where the rocks were removed this Summer – from Gossip to top of Khyber Pass.
Lowdown Trail Coverage
The Low Down to Hull & Back News print edition gave coverage to the “bring back the trail names” campaign this week. See a PDF of the article here.
Though the article implies that Charles Hodgson (that’s me) wants to ditch the trail numbering system, I think that’s unlikely and what I really want is just that the names be reinstated; presumably they can coexist with the numbers (they already do in some cases).
The petition count at the time of the LowDown article was 189 but here’s an up to date count:
Click here to get to the petition.
Value of Outdoors Clubs
Dave Brown in the Ottawa Citizen has written a piece on the value of membership in outdoor clubs, listing a number along with their contact information.
He mentions advantages such as discounts at retailers and knowledgeable guides on outings, but one thing he didn’t note was influence.
By joining one or more clubs you make your Continue reading
Edmonton Learns a Little about Gatineau Park
An article in the independent Edmonton news & entertainment publication Vue Weekly gives readers a view of skiing in Gatineau Park.
Pink Lake Restoration a Parks Canada Case Study
Although Pink Lake was closed to swimming and restoration measures undertaken more than two decades ago, the Parks Canada website has recently posted a case study on the restoration effort.
Park Users as Stewards
Two items caught my eye recently and apply to user activities in Gatineau Park.
The first was a comment by a Park user concerned with potential restrictions to unofficial trails. He said:
“In the spirit of conservation by users, I wonder if the fiscal reality that unofficial trail users have much greater capacity to monitor what is actually going on in the Conservation Zones than Gatineau Park staff is another valid and useful point.”
This matches my way of thinking; that the Park is best protected by fostering a sense of responsibility among Park users, and that “power users” are in the best positions not only to be “on the ground” where good or bad user behaviour can be influenced, but these power users are also most likely to have the dedication to understand contextually what is good or bad behaviour.
The second item actually dates from almost 80 years ago, before Gatineau Park officially existed. In January 28th 1931the Ottawa Ski Club newsletter demonstrated the same concept among Gatineau hills wilderness users in a membership and fund-raising drive:
“One hundred Life Memberships would enable us to buy a few more hundred acres of magnificent bush land traversed by our trails around Camp Fortune, and that will soon be laid low by the woodman’s axe if nothing is done to save them.”
User Suggestion
The petition to bring back old ski trail names (now at 240 names) includes a space for people to leave comments. Here’s an interesting one from Louis Helbig:
…My suggestion would be some kind of contest to name trails which could result in a mix of old and new, French and English names. Might this be something useful for NCC to organize, to engage with skiers and users of the park, say with little kiosks at a few junctions where people could make name suggestions or vote for a selection of names? Would such a renaming scheme provide NCC an opportunity to engage and interact with users in a positive and constructive manner, to make a break from the bad old days of unilateral decision making?!
I’ll be sure to highlight this to NCC staff.
Snow Conditions in Gatineau Park
From TriRudy care of www.xczone.com
Full coverage 5cm on Ridge Road.
5cm Snow
As reported by the NCC website there was 5cm of snow in Gatineau Park last night as measured at P8. Skiing isn’t yet recommended by the NCC website (but I betcha there are a few ski tracks accumulating out there anyway).