A simple day - skating back-and-forth on the Doldrums enjoying the feel of skating easy terrain. The new snow has transformed the quality of the trails creating very good conditions for both classic and skating - you've probably got a few hours to enjoy pleasurable skiing everywhere before the forecast slop forces us off our skis for 2-3 days.

A bit more on the elusive P17. It's important to realize that the almost invisible entrance is a short distance from the exit from the traffic circle: when you exit from the traffic circle (going toward Maniwaki) maintain a creeping speed and look for a track across the construction rubble to the left - the last time there I estimated it to be 100 m from the exit. It's important that you don't do the normal exit acceleration; otherwise, you going to miss it. If you've got frenetic traffic on your tail it's worth an extra go-around of the traffic circle until you can be sure of a clear road to allow for a dithering speed.