I Found Winter! The Canadians Took It!

“As I write this, I'm sitting in good ol' Michigan.......it's 62 degrees.....the robins are back from their southern retreats and are singing......the grass is a crusty brown......my charcoal grill is heating up......there isn't so much as a black, grime-covered frozen snowpile left in sight.....but just yesterday, I was snowshoeing through 4 feet of snow to watch a small group of climbers scale the "Mother of Pearl" ice column in the southern Ontario wilderness. Winter is alive and well, it just ain't here.

I've been to Ontario many times, most recently was last fall when I took a color tour hike with Tarabull through one of my favorite sections of Ontario, the Agawa Canyon. I've seen many different seasons in Canada, but have never taken a winter trip even though it is something I've always wanted to do. Because she is such a winter fanatic, after last fall's hike, Tarabull and I started planning a winter trip that would allow us to see both the ice and snow for which this area of Canada is famous. We were able to find it back in some of the same areas in which we hiked last fall. After a lot of research, we settled on the Batchawana Bay and Montreal River Harbour areas of southern Ontario. According to what we'd read, these areas were perfect for not only piles of snow, but ice cliffs and ice climbing as well. So last Thursday we took off for the north county to see some snow and ice, and hopefully catch some ice climbers scaling the frozen walls. Our timing was perfect because we found it all!

More trip report and some great pics to come!”

“And didjya get back across the border a little easier this time, ya damn hippies?”

“Breezed across both there and back---probably because I finally got my hair cut.”

“The hair in your nose is finally gone? You ain't got no hair on your head.”

“Canadians frown on long nose hair combed over the head for some reason.”

“lol.

Glad you guys found some snow. Lord knows it was scarce around here this year! Look forward to your pictures.”

“If you go back, thank the Canadians for me. I'm enjoying days like we had today!



Hi Wolfie! It was nice to see you yesterday!”

“Prolly cause it makes you look like a wart hog.

Where is the rest of the trip report and the pics?”

“Hi, Smiley! Good to see you and G, too! Did ya polish off both of the kegs you brought on the dolly's?”

“Naw, we lef them for Birch and Sass to do the damage!”

“I found winter... and a new winter sport, too.

The trip to Canada was fantastic! Got to use my snowshoes. Played in snow. Ate like a queen. Made some great, new friends. Took lots of photos which I hope to upload this evening. Saw the queen w/ a bare behind (hehehe). I wanna go back.... now.”

“I'll have more TR up later this evening....pics will be later because there are so many to go through. Still a LOT of snow up there but any more 50 degree days like they had yesterday and it'll be gone fast.”

“Got to Sault Saint Marie and had dinner late Thursday so we decided to stay there for the night. We had several pages of info regarding ice climbs in the Batchawana area and would have a full day of exploring Friday before heading to The Mad Moose Lodge at the mouth of the Montreal River. Friday was a beautiful day which helped make the search for ice very pleasurable. Despite the bunch of info that we had regarding ice cliffs in the area, we had a hard time finding some of the locales mentioned which I believe was due to the info being a bit dated. We were searching the proper areas but were not finding the plowed parking areas that our data mentioned. Even a few weeks makes a difference up there because where we expected to find plowed parking (we were on logging roads) we found snow too deep for my vehicle and trails not well marked. Trucks hauling snowmobiles, slushy, rapidly melting snow, and the threat of a logging truck barreling down the road made the idea of parking alongside the road a bad idea. Still we had a great time exploring and seeing more snow than either of us had seen in a long time. We decided to depart the woods early and head for the Mad Moose Lodge because we knew there were ice cliffs in that area and some of the ice climbers use it as a base camp. We "checked in" with Dale at Mad Moose and quickly put on our winter gear to explore one of the snow and ice covered points that juts out into Lake Superior. What a great trail with some awesome scenery! The Montreal River dumps into Lake Superior right behind the lodge and there are two long rocky points that stick way out into the lake. The trail went up and down the rocks and the snow made it a little interesting in some places. Every once in a while either Tarabull or myself (but mostly Tarabull) would sink up to our knees in the snow. We snapped picture after picture all the way to the end of the trail before heading back. Talk about some awesome views! NEVER pass up a chance to visit that part of North America! Back at the lodge, we met another of the owners, Denny, who was not only an experienced ice climber who promised to lead us to ice the next day, but he was one of the evening's chefs as well. That night we dined on the best bean soup I ever had, smoked chicken breast, rice pilaf, augratin potatoes, veggies, and apple pie. As we dined, more and more ice climbers pulled into the lodge and greeted each other with hellos and hugs and bottles and bottles and bottles of spirits. It would be a long night for some of them. Tarabull and I turned in for the night as soon as our food coma began to set in leaving the revelers to whoop it up until morning. We were excited because we were going to get to see some ice cliffs and get to see the climbers in action---however hungover some of them would be.”

“Friday pics:

http://community.webshots.com/album/548500603nnDgms”

“Thanks for the reports and pictures. Very nice!”

“pretty place. nice shots.”

“The dinnertime food coma wore off during the night only to be replaced by another on Saturday morning. We woke up to scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, toast......thank God we had some time to relax and gather gear prior to hitting the woods. The ice climbers woke up a bit later than Tarabull and I due to their Friday night festivities, but we got acquainted with a few of them (including one guy I had met another time back in Michigan.....the cousin of a wife of a cousin....) and we were anxious to head out with them to see some ice. What a great bunch of people mostly from the Michigan and Ohio areas.....very enthusiastic....a lot of common interests......very friendly........I haven't heard the words "right on" and "groovy" and "cool" used so much since the Brady Bunch, lol. As our info indicated, it turned out that the lodge was very close to some classic ice climbs, many within 4 miles. We got our directions and decided to head out with the group climbing the "Mother of Pearl" column. (Apparently, the first person to climb a new found ice cliff also gets to name it.) We'd have about a 30 minute hike through the woods before reaching the ice cliff. (Because we had snowshoes, we were told "oh you are so-o-o in!) There is a lot of exposed vertical rock in this area of Ontario and anyplace that experiences a little runoff can turn into a spectacular column of ice during the winter. Because many of them are way back in the forest hidden by the trees, the ice can last well into late spring. To date, there are new ice climbs found every year.

Tarabull and I drove to the trailhead and donned our snowshoes. Talk about snow! Even with a few days worth of snowmelt, there had to be at least four feet of snow in the woods. I'd read reports of years past in which 10 feet of snow was the norm in some areas. We hit the trail about 15 minutes behind the climbers and found a broken trail that was easy to follow. The snowshoes were great to have (first time with my new ones!) and even with the shoes we would still occasionally sink deep into the snow. The sun was shining, the temps were climbing and so was the trail---uphill all the way. I had a light fleece shirt and a heavier fleece pullover but was quickly overheated. Thankfully the daytime temp hit 50 degrees (in March in Canada???) so I didn't get cold at all when we reached the ice and stood around for several hours. The trail kept going up and up and I couldn't believe that there would be ice to climb to an even higher point, but sure enough, there it was: a huge column of ice 65 feet tall hanging to the surface of the exposed rock. What an awesome sight! Giant icicles hung like jagged teeth on one part while the ice dove straight into the snow on another. There was a small cave formed behind the ice. The climbers were already there and gearing up under a huge rock overhang. Several climbers hiked farther up the hill to a passage over the cliff that would lead them to the top of the column where they would drop their ropes. Tarabull and I took picture after picture as they rappelled down the ropes they had just secured. Then we watched in awe for hours as they took turns climbing and descending in the winter sun. Some made it look fairly easy, swinging their axes and kicking their crampons into the ice, climbing like spiders up the frozen waterspout. This is definitely somewthing I'm going to have to try. We watched and took pictures, chatting with the group of climbers for several hours before Tarabull and I decided that we were ready to leave. A quick exchange of some e-mail information and we were on our way. The hike back to the car was uneventful and we both hated to leave the beautiful snow-covered woods behind us. We'll definitely be back!

Climbing pics to come later---they rock!

Big thanks to the Mad Moose Lodge (I'll post a link later) due to the hospitality, food, and fun. It's a great place to visit with awesome hiking, climbing, kayaking and canoing just minutes away. The view of Lake Superior alone is well worth the trip.

And a big thanks again to Tarabull for making this another awesomely fun trip. We always have a barrel of laughs and a great time because she's great company. Yo, thanks T!”

“Not to worry: the Canadians will be giving it back by the end of the week.”

“Times have changed,
Our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents,
They just want to fart and curse. Should we blame the government, or blame society, or should we blame the images on tv No!
Blame Canada! Blame Canada

With all their beady little eyes,
their flapping heads so full of lies
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
We need to form a full assault, it's Canada's fault! Don't blame me, for my son Stan, He saw the darn cartoon, and now he's off to
join the klan!> And my boy eric once, had my picture on his shelf, but now when I see him, he tells me to f-#&%!$ myself>

Well, Blame Canada!

It seems that everything's gone wrong since
Canada came along
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada! They're not even a real country anyway. My son could of been a doctor or a lawyer, it's a true, Instead he burned up like a piggie on a barbecue> Should we blame the matches? Should we blame the fire, or the doctor who allowed him to expire. Heck no!
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
With all their hockey hubaloo and that b-#&%!$ Anne Murray too. Blame Canada!
Shame on Canada!

The smut we must stop
The trash we must smash
Laughter and fun
must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before somebody thinks of blaming us!”

“(Nobody up here except for us black flies).

Of course Tarabull and Nonconformist are always welcome - and Lumberzac and Artex, MarkO, AmyG and all the others (you know who you are).”

“Hey Nonconformist,

You should have kept your mouth shut, man! The Canadians must have felt bad and sent it MY way! We had a beautiful weekend, woke up and heard we're suppose to get 3 inches of accumulation of the wet, heavy snow. What they failed to mention was that that would come in the first hour! The kids came home from school early and the snow is still coming down.



Actually, this, I'm hoping, is our annual St. Paddy's day snow storm. It should be the last one of the year. I hope.



Great trip report and great pictures! I look forward to the rock climbing pics. Yeah, tarabull is great fun to be with. I can't wait for her to become a Yooper!”

“"I found winter. The Canadians took it"

Only abit of it...lot's of our cities are reporting lower than average snowfall this year.

In Montreal....we've only gotten one big snowstorm 41cm (16") this year...the rest were under 6cm. Usually we get about 6 snowstorms. Plus it rained quite abit...so that didn't help the snow.”

“My pics...
http://community.webshots.com/album/548522600UHzAkK”

“Finally got my last day pics up too. The ice climbing was a sight to see.

http://community.webshots.com/album/548500603nnDgms


Great pics, T! Thanks!”

“I would like to have a little bit of winter back now for at least a short time-hiking in all that mud lately and having to wash my dog off afterwards sucks-this part of spring with the mud and the exposed debris that has been hidden all winter makes everything look so ugly this has always been my least favorite time of year.”