March Skiing

Tuesday March 11 -  Robin Maughan, Pete MacLoghlin, Barry Diceman, Peter Hamley, Arndt Kruger & Dale Standen met for a ski on a gorgeous spring-like day. Robin skied up & down Trillium by himself . We skied up Trillium where we met Robin at Kenner then continued on Trillium to Kawartha for a ski down to Wolf where Pete, Barry & Dale skied across Wolf to Trillium & down to Beaver while Arndt & Peter continued to ski south on Kawartha. Conditions were good, the skis were gliding nicely. After the ski we had lunch in the chalet  

Peter, Barry, Dale & Arndt @Trillium & Beaver

Thursday March 13 - Barry, Arndt & myself enjoyed an afternoon ski. Barry & Arndt skied the Tanney loop. I skied with them across Wolf to Kawartha then headed back to Trillium, to Rabbit then down to Olympic & a ski to the Jam downhill for a return to the chalet. Trails were still snow covered & track set. I spoke with a skier that skied all of Kenner & said it was OK!

 Friday March 14 - Barry skied today & said the conditions were still very good

Thursday March 20 - trails closed for the season

Arndt sent this article from the Globe & Mail archives about Finnish resistance skiers. Reminds me of photos I have seen from the Canadian Ski Marathon minus the white ponchos & rifles!

this is the text to the photo:

MOSCOW PEACE TREATY ENDS FOUR MONTHS OF FIERCE FIGHTING

    The Globe and Mail (Ontario Edition)13 Mar 2025JOE FRIESEN, 2015

THREE LIONS/GETTY IMAGES

Finnish troops wear gas masks during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1940.

The Moscow peace treaty marked the end of four months of fierce Finnish resistance to the Soviet Red Army. Faced with overwhelming numerical superiority, the Finns had used guerrilla tactics and their knowledge of the wintry local terrain to confound their enemy. Dressed in white camouflage, and often on skis, the Finnish units moved faster than the ponderous Soviets, who had been decimated in leadership by Stalin’s purges. To counter Soviet tanks, the Finns developed an enduring weapon they called the Molotov cocktail, named for the Soviet foreign minister. Failure to secure a rapid victory was humiliating to the Soviets, but they eventually got the upper hand. Attempts at reinforcement by Britain and France were thwarted, and Finland agreed to a peace that ceded roughly one-tenth of its territory and one-third of its industrial might to the Soviets.

2025 Ski photos (left click to enlarge)

As the photos show we had ideal conditions 

Feb 18 - Blake & Dave in front of the Laderach cabin

Feb 18 - Group photo @ Kawartha & Wolf

Feb 4 - Barry on Adam Scott skiing in powder snow

Feb 11 ski - Blake Bill Dave Peter Barry Dale Gord (a friend of Peter's) on Trillium after skiing Red Fox

Feb 11 - Blake & Dave on North Kawartha

Feb 4 - Beaver @ High Rd

Wolf - January 28 ski

January 21 ski - photo by Dale Standen

Dec 27 - Dave Messervey on Wolf

                           Jan 14 - Bill, Arndt, Dale, Dave & Peter - Beaver & Kawartha

                              Jan 7 - Dale, Peter, Dave & Arndt - Trillium & Wolf

Dec 27/24 - Barry & Pete on Wolf

 

Thursday Dec 19 - Closing Event

We met at The 100 Acres Brewery on Ashburnham Dr for an informal get together to close out the cycling/hiking year, The brewery offered a selection of their tasty craft beers & wood fired pizzas baked in a large pizza oven. Dave Messervey gave an interesting talk about the restoration of the Hope Mill that we tour each year. Dave sold copies of the booklet The Hope Mill Challenge that he updated for the years from 2006-2023. 

Dec 19 - John Earle Chase Memorial Park hike

Pete Gardner, his brother Tim, George Post & Pete MacLoghlin met Thursday morning for a hike on the Red Trail in J E Chase Memorial Park a magnificent 400 acre KLT property at Gannon's Narrows. The trail was safe for walking with firm footing & the weather was ideal, -4 C, sunshine under clear blue skies.   

                                                   Pete Mac on the Red trail

                        view of Gannon's Narrows bridge between Buckhorn & Pigeon Lakes

Tim, George, & Pete facing Gannon Narrows

 

Thursday Dec 5 2024 - Warsaw Caves Hike

 After a 15 cm snowfall 5 intrepid hikers met at Warsaw caves for a 6 km slog in powder snow on  the Caves & Scenic Lookout trail to the Lookout over the Indian R gorge that we reach from Rock Rd on our Warsaw ride. From the entrance take the road on your left past the flagpole to the big parking lot, not the road to the boat launch & campsites. The trail starts in the SE corner of the parking lot & was a bit challenging with deep snow covering the uneven terrain, 1st photo, takes you down to the bridge where the river goes underground, 4th photo. From there we had difficulty finding the unmarked trail, head a bit right & follow a narrow path that widens as you approach Cooper Rd. After a 1 km walk you reach a side-trail, K, that takes you to a lower lookout. From there marked L it is another 2 km walk up to the Lookout where we took a break before retracing our steps.  

                                      Caves & Scenic Lookout trail - a winter wonderland!

                                                      Indian R gorge view from the Lookout

  Blake Frazer, Bill Ingram, Dave Messervey, Barry Diceman at the Lookout

Indian R from the bridge

Wed Nov 27 Hike

 On cold but sunny day we met at Harold Town Park for a 3 km hike up the Meade Creek drumlin. From the parking lot we walked east on a level path where we had to walk around a  muddy stretch before starting the climb where there was a difficult detour over wet rocks. From there the trails were dry as we walked up to the "summit" then taking a trail down the east side of the drumlin to the cars after an hours hike. We decided to do a 2nd hike of 4 km in the Robert Johnston Eco Forest Trails on the Douro 5th Line, off County Rd 8 between Hwy 28 & Douro, for an hours walk starting on the Lowland  Trail over a large wetland on a boardwalk to the Birdwatching Trail which takes you to the Wildlife Trail & a hike up to a lookout. This is a "hidden gem" that is well worth the effort to explore

Harold Town hike - from the left, Gordon Powell, Alan Ingram, Bill Robertson, Dave Meservey George Post, Garry Koteles, Frank Marret

                                                   Harold Town - view to the east

                                                     Robert Johnston lookout

                                                 Robert Johnston Wildlife Trail at the lookout

Wednesday Nov 6 - Jeffrey-Cowan hike

On another gorgeous fall day we met in the KLT parking lot on Fire Rd 10 off Northey's Bay Rd. During the walk Bill Hardwick noticed a bracket fungus which Garry Kotelse said was a Turkey Tail mushroom & as we continued Garry was able to identify several other types of mushrooms, plants & trees. This is a rolling walk thru the woods to a hilltop overlooking Stony Lake & the surrounding area including KNSC followed by a long walk down to the Stony Lk shoreline. After a break beside the lake we hiked on a bush road on the recently acquired Jeffrey-Cowan extension property which includes 300 feet of shoreline on Northey's Bay. After the hike we had lunch at Honey's 

                                                 Garry identifying a mushroom

                                         hilltop water pump used in the past for irrigation

                                               Garry & Dave - KLT shoreline

Bill & Gordon Boschink Narrows 

Jeffrey-Cowan dock with the KLT owned island behind