Donations: $0

Thanks to: Alison, Lisa and Stacy, for driving

What a wonderful final ski weekend for the 2010/11 winter season! After a quiet run up the 400 and 11, and then an icy last stretch along Hwy 60, a small, cosy group finally tucked in to spend the weekend at the Wolf Den.

On Saturday, after Brooke's delicious pancake breakfast, we headed to nearby Fen Lake, just inside the Algonquin West Gate. While it is necessary to buy a parking permit, there are no trail fees at Fen, and we quickly figured out why. The warm temperatures hanging around southern and central Ontario for the previous week meant that no maintenance had been done on the trails for at least a week, presumably because the grooming machines couldn't get on the trails without doing too much damage. Another couple staying at the Lodge had gone out earlier in the morning, so as far as the warming hut, there was at least some semblance of track to follow. Lunch at the warming hut was short and basic - a refueling stop only. And then decision time... go on around the hillier ridge loop, or head back the way we had come...

Alison, Caroline and David elected to continue and spent the next two hours slogging for 7km around unbroken trail. The snow was so sticky, coats of Easy Glide were making no difference at all. On ascents that would have normally required some serious herring-boning, we were able to just walk straight up. And on descents that would probably have required at least some braking under normal conditions, the lead skier was getting slowly to the bottom of the slope, and then stopping dead. Which was a real shame, because there were at least two long downhill sections that should have been the reward for the uphill climbs. By way of a small reward, we did see fox tracks, and a beautiful beaver pond and dam, covered in marshmallow piles of snow. While the skiing might have been difficult, the views more than made up for it.

Back at the Wolf Den on Saturday night, the group outdid itself in the culinary department. A delightful pot-luck dinner, that equally satisfied the carnivores, vegetarians and vegans in the group, left us all sated and sleepy, to the point where most of the group were headed for their beds before 10:00pm!

It was a little bit colder overnight on Saturday, and Sunday had us both losing an hour sleep (DST kicking in) and having much better ski conditions. After a leisurely, and very tasty, french toast breakfast, courtesy of Stacy, we packed up and headed over to Arrowhead provincial park. Some of the group elected to snow-shoe, but for the foursome who went skiing, we couldn't have asked for better snow. The trails were freshly groomed, and hard-packed, not quite to the point of ice, but still very fast. We headed out on the Lake and Beaver Marsh loop trails, and blasted around at twice the speed we had been able to maintain on Saturday. Climbing hills meant using the very best herring-bone technique, and the descents really allowed us to pick up speed.

A late lunch in the warming hut, followed by a leisurely drive back to Toronto allowed us to finish the weekend in style (if we ignore the 30 minute delay due to the mandatory accident on the south-bound lanes of the 400...) A great weekend with a classy group, the best kind of TOC event!