Upland Barrens

Great BC Ski Today: Chalet - Upland Barrens -
Cold Brook Rear - Back to Chalet

We had a wicked good backcountry tour today (photos
under backcountry tour at www.whaleback.ca)! It was a 21 k
circuititous route of Cold Brook Rear. Oh what a feelin' descending from
Cold Brook high country. Tina Moores was in a tuck all the way down
the big hill and she passed three snowmobiles while descending the grade.
You wanted to see the look on their chubby faces! Here they had paid a
fortune for their brightly coloured machines and Tina whizzes past
them. "Something wrong here!" they said. Was she flying, or
what! Tanner, Jack's dog, ran 302 kilometres while on route today
and stole four lunches at the boilup. Dan Rumbolt was not pleased.
What a time we had. Most of the previous lines were obvious lies, so now to
the truth. Yes the tour was great ... I have been living here for 33
years and I still marvel at what we have right in our back yard. A
skier can step into their touring skis at the chalet and within five
minutes you're on the bogs on the compass bearing heading for the high
country. The view from the upland barrens back of Cold Brook is
exceptional. The entire Bay St. George region is at your feet and the blue
ocean is like a magnet to your eyes. The snow conditions on top were like
February, but the sun was definitely displaying it's spring
energy. Our boilup location tucked in amongst the black
spruce of a brook valley was a 9.92 on a scale of 10. We had a grand
chat as we supped on tea and snacked on Diane Lamond's delicious chocolate
cookies complete with stuffing in the middle. Some good!
During the boilup Howard Skinner gave an informed lecture on ski training
and menu planning for the athletically inclined. Most tuned out
though because Howard is the only one following a ridged
training program, so it was of no great significance to most in
attendance. But don't think for a minute that Howard is not the
keener. Sporting his new backcountry skis, he was a ball of energy
and the star of the day. He'd climb up walls of snow as if he was a BR250
with hsi new backcountry boards. What traction the man had!
Members of the group today included Doug Fowlow, Dan
Rumbolt, Jack Lamond, Tina and Wallace Moores, Howard, Earl Hunt, Lisa
Alexander, Tanner "the good dog" and Me. Please feel free to join us some
time for off trail skiing ... don't be scared of us ... we're normal
people ... honest ... we will be having shorter tours if you want to get
started and also some longer ones. We've never abandoned anyone
on the trail yet and don't plan to. So when we advertise the next one
.. think about coming along ... tea around the fire .... fruit cake
.. chatting with friends ... great views ... it sure is a change of
scenery.

Fanny pack Found by Don Cormier

Don Cormier found a fanny pack on the rack on Saturday
evening. If you forgot one there, Don has it. As Don would say:
"Good man". Maybe it was already returned while we were chasing moose back
of Cold Brook.