Took my traditional spring skate to the pond/swamp between #1/#24. My route was:
P9 => Doldrums => #32 => FP => CP => #1 => spring swamp.
At the beginning conditions were exceptionally good with new tracksetting on the North Loop, FP, & CP. After the Champlain lookout conditions went south: there had been no new tracksetting and the snow was still hard with a number of frozen deep ruts from yesterday - this meant that the rest of the tour was more one of picking my way rather than pleasure - but I was a man with a mission and I had to get to that swamp.

The swamp was still supportive when I got to it so I managed to get a good skate around it (visiting favorite spots). I then spent a good while reclining on a bare bank communing with the swamp. Unfortunately I spent too long on the bank: when I returned conditions had gone from hard to soft and slow so that the return trip was mostly work all the way.

There's still a lot of snow and with a forecast of -2 C for tonight, with tracksetting, conditions tomorrow morning should be superb. Snow coverage on CP is starting to thin between Etienne Brule and Champlain.

Another comment on the NCC "Ski Conditions":
In spite of the excellent tracksetting this morning on the North Loop, the FP, and the CP the web-site reports that the FP and CP were trackset 29 hours ago (as of 16:30) and the North Loop was reported as being done 25 hours ago. If there's no interest in providing accurate information the NCC should get rid of it in case someone, mistakenly, thinks that it contains valid information. Either that or fix it - currently it is at best a joke.