Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #51, #53, Glide Wax: Cold powder over Dibloc Blue LF and graphite, Grip Wax: Start Green over green klister base

Another case where imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I decide to follow Paul's route of yesterday - the 51/53 loop:
P17 => #53 => #51 => P19 => #53.
I haven't done the complete loop for a number of years. It's a very attractive trail that provides an enjoyable change of pace - it's a pleasant rolling terrain without any grunt climbs or any death-defying downhills - just easy gliding. The scenery is quite nice. The part of #53 between P19 and #51 is especially attractive with a mix of open fields and conifer woods - it follows the Lapeche river and goes by the former farms of the pioneer families of the Trowses, Kennedys and the Browns.

There is new tracksetting which is as good as could be expected but the tracks are hard and fast but not quite icy. The P19 to #51 section of #53 still has a lot of debris in the wooded areas - I had to stop twice to pry bark off the base of my skis. #52 has also been trackset.

Demsis has restarted a less-than-desirable practice - using the ski trails (#51 and #53) to deliver water and propane to Brown cabin via snowmobile. With the hardness of the trails today the snowmobile that passed me was not affecting the quality of the tracks; however, with softer conditions a snowmobile pulling a maintenance sled would trash the tracks of a narrow classic trail. It's not necessary: it's possible to get within 1 km of Brown cabin, via truck, using Brown Lake Road - from there, it's a matter of going, over snow, by snowmobile or ATV via the access road to the cabin.

Yesterday, Paul met only one skier. Today I kept meeting thundering hordes of burdened marathoners in-training using the #53 loop to put in the kliks.

It was a pleasant day. The sun is starting to get that February feel to it.













Gatineau park map


Gatineau Park is ski paradise! The network of ski trails offer machine groomed skate skiing and classic skiing as well as little groomed backcountry trails. Multiple access points allow skiers to access a variety of terrain and scenery. The NCC offers season or daily pay rates.

Gatineau park map

For suggestions on where to ski, excellent trail descriptions, photos and maps checkout Michael McGoldrick`s website about recreational xc-skiing in Canada`s National Capital Region (with an emphasis on the Gatineau Park).

Gatineau park map