Parc de Doncaster Detour

It was our first time of 2011 snowshoeing up in the Laurentians.  Biggest challenge of the day?  Convincing the staff at tiny Parc de Doncaster that we would be o.k. leaving the park boundary without their official trail map, and not to arrange a search party if our car was still in the parking lot after 5pm.  We ended up doing a 13.5km loop around and across five lakes, taking some healthy breaks in pleasant spots and enjoying the sun.  Joining the trip today was our new friend, author Monique Polak.  You can read her account of the day on Monique’s Blog.  Snow conditions were hard-packed, and will hopefully improve following tomorrow’s expected dump of 10cm.

Our route started and finished in the lower right - merci Google Earth

Snapping a picture along the Rivière Doncaster

Just a bunch of tourists, following the trail

Of course it is not 'fermé', how can a trail be closed?

30 minutes later (and having crossed some sketchy ice spots) we pick up the famous Jackrabbit Johannsen trail

We branch off of the Johannsen trail to visit our first lake, Lac Beaudria

Our third lake, Lac Quevillon

We were four people, crossing Lac Purvis

A group shot on Lac Long, our final lake of the day

Beaver swamp

The moon rising over Lac Long

Montagne Noire

875 metre Montagne Noire lies in the Saint-Donat region of the Laurentians.  A 13km round-trip hike would take you via a pleasant (but wet on our outing) trail from the parking lot to the crash site of the Liberator Harry B-24 bomber, and a small symbolic cemetery for the 20 people who lost their lives in the crash.  We took the trail up, past picturesque Lac Lézard, to the crash site where we ate lunch before continuing to the summit.  This is where things took a turn for the, not necessarily worse, but adventurous.

Everytime I set out on a hike, I think to myself that there is a 1% chance that I end up spending the night outside, against my will, unable to make it to my destination.  Around 3/4 of the way through this hike, the percentage was up to 50%.  Instead of taking the wet trail back down the way we came up, we decided to pick up an old hiking trail, then aimed for an old snowshoe ‘trail’ and found nothing but bush on a 4-hour whack down the mountain.  Now a vetran bushwhacker this proved of little concern.  Problematic however, were the three streams we had to cross on the way back to civilisation; the first of which was manageable, the second of which was deep and scary (see photo below), and the third was insurmountable (simply too deep and fast moving to ford).  45 minutes of walking through a marsh to avoid this third stream put us back at the car well after dark, cold, wet and dirty, but happy to arrive in time for the kitchen’s last call at the Restaurant del Popolo in Saint-Agathe!

The Route. The dedicated trail is the rightmost track

Jessica and Thomas in front of Lac Lézard

Habituated Grey Jays

Liberator crash site

We nearly joined the crew in the cemetery this day!

Wing of the Liberator

The situation becomes desperate at the second crossing

Nuit Noire – Mont Loup-Garou

The original idea was to return to, and snowshoe up Mont Loup Garou (Werewolf en Français) on the night of the full moon.  We happened to mistake the timing, so in fact this night was the new moon – the darkest night of the cycle, and the best time to avoid werewolf encounters.  We took the quick way up, following the official snowshoe trail, then enjoyed a beverage and snacks on top while observing the electric mountains of Saint-Sauveur, Olympia, Habitant and Ski Morin Heights.  On our way down, we bushwhacked a bit, and walked across two frozen lakes and a swamp on our loop back to the car.

Our route - Mont Loup Garou summit on far left

Virtual view from Loup Garou

Getting ready in the parking lot

Starting across the first lake, Lac Matley

Our official logo

Jessica, Jessica, Jason and Ian heading uphill, still a way from the top

Watching the stars from Lac Richer after going over the summit

Still relaxing, happy at having avoided a werewolf attack

Mont Loup Garou

Another day snowshoeing up in the Laurentides served as a much needed break from my computer and the overhauling of my website.  An approaching warm front meant temperatures rising to around 0 celcius by the day’s end.  The first half of the distance covered was via an apparently ‘private’ snowshoe trail which parallels two well-used cross country ski trails.  The second half of the day was spent off trail through generally open forest, making our way over a few more hills, a frozen lake, and back to the car.

Fairly official looking marker for a 'private' trail

Sign in foreground warns snowshoers not to walk in the cross-country ski tracks

.. and this is what happens when you don't heed the warning!

View from the summit of Mont Loup Garou

A feeling of impending disaster..

ooops.

Crossing frozen Lake Renaud near the end of the day

Mont Saint-Sauveur at night on the way back to Montreal

Laurentian Snowshoe Traverse

A beautiful day for a map and compass traverse of the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal, from Prévost to Sainte-Adele.  We parked our car at the P’tit Train du Nord station in Prévost, and arrived at the station in Sainte-Adele 5 hours and 4 minutes, and 13.37 km later.  Our route decisions were made possible by map maker Francis Falardeau’s detailed orienteering map, which indicated many littled-used backcountry snowshoe trails.  Many thanks to the kind couple from Sainte-Adele who gave us a ride back to our car at the end of the day!

Average snowfall for the season so far

Jessica and Thomas admire an unnamed lake

Checking the map

Jessica considers real estate in the area; odd place for an advertisement!

We tried to avoid the power lines as much as possible, but they are occasionally inevitable