This may have been the best day of the winter so far! 'Bent and I went to the
Kolapore Wilderness Trails near the Beaver Valley. Snow conditions were excellent, the temperature was just below zero, and it was sunny all day. We couldn't stop smiling.
'Bent has a history with the Kolapore trails. He belonged to the University of Toronto Outing Club, which played a major role in building and maintaining the 50 km trail network. Many club members stayed involved long after graduation. For a few years around the time we met, 'Bent was the Cabin Officer for the UTOC cabin near Metcalfe Rock where club members would stay for weekends. 'Bent and his friends spent a lot of time working on the trails in the off-season. After we started dating, I spent a couple of weekends doing trail maintenance too. We still have an annual Christmas potluck with his UTOC friends from 30+ years ago.
If you go, a map is essential. (Ravenna Country Market has them.) Most of the signage directs you to the next numbered trail junction without any words of explanation. This sign is more helpful than most.
Somehow it has been years since we last skied at Kolapore. It's just far enough from home that we couldn't leave the dogs that long. (Tree Hugger ABC has solved that problem.) The trails are narrow, rocky and ungroomed so the snow conditions need to be just right. We can't always predict the good snow days when we're in Palgrave. Anyway, this was so wonderful that I'm sure it won't be long until our next visit.
Except for our "lunch" stop and a side visit to a friend's house, I just let my GPS watch run as we skied, took photos, rewaxed, de-iced, changed layers, etc. Aside from meeting a large group of snowshoers who walked past the "No Snowshoes" sign to trample the ski trail because "the Bruce Trail is too difficult for beginners", this was a perfect day!