Winter Wonderland


This weekend I had a little getaway up north with a few friends (and a dog). This Winter has basically been a bust in the snow department. I think we've maybe had one or two little snowstorms with some accumulation that promptly melted within days. This is not good for my snowshoeing.


J came up with the idea to do a snowshoeing weekend somewhere where there is actually snow (imagine!) and where we would have our meals included. J found a great little place, near Algonquin Park. It was perfect and the food was really good (with HUGE portions).


The day we left we were supposed to get a big snowstorm (where have I heard that before?) but it only ended up being rain in TO. However, as we drove more north the snow started accumulating and suddenly, the conditions were kind of bad. On Highway #11 we were crawling along at 60 km/h when normally the speed limit is 100 km/h. At times we were just stopped, for no particular reason.

A front view of the drive up. Notice my pink cassette tape skin for my iPhone in the rear view mirror and J's GPS which basically never spoke.

A side view of the snow. I'm only getting excited about this because we have seen so little of it this year.


We finally made it to our Lodge, after almost 5 hours of driving (it should normally take under 3 hours).

Look how pretty the snow is in the trees. This is the main Lodge where we checked in and had all our meals. We arrived just in time for Dinner, which was 3 courses & consisted of a 1/4 chicken & ribs main course!


We went for a night snowshoe walk after Dinner. I used the iTorch on my phone to light my path.

Pretty lights.


Our cabin was really nice & very large. We all had a room to ourselves, a big bathroom to share, a living room with fireplace and a mini-refrigerator (for our booze!) and sink.

J's Siberian husky posing in my room. Isn't he cute? A really good dog with a nice disposition and so patient. But he has tons of energy, being a husky and all. Gotta love the bedspread.

Some of the furniture in our living room. I love the teeny tiny chair. Too cute!


The next day we went snowshoeing twice. First on a combined cross-country ski trail/snowshoe trail. It was challenging because the snow was deep (good workout for my hips, butt & thighs), parts were quite uphill and it was windy.

My snowshoe. See how far I've gone down. And that isn't even the bottom of where the snow begins. We met some cross-country skiers on our walk and the one woman loved my snowshoes. I had to tell her the French army and Norwegian armed forces use the same brand!

That's J far in the distance being led by her dog. He was so fast & always way ahead of me & G3. I love the way the trees & clouds look in this shot. And all the white untouched snow!

A deep footprint. J's because she couldn't wear snowshoes with her dog pulling her. She would never have been able to keep up. I really loved all the snow.

Here we are snowshoeing on the Lake, completely frozen over. Only a few snowshoe trails marking where other people had walked.

This crazy couple (who passed us snowshoeing) are setting up to ice fish for a couple of hours. It was pretty damn cold so I don't know how they kept warm. Hopefully they caught some fish to make it worth their while!


That evening the Dinner was Prime Rib. We were playing a game of guess the meal before we went to the Dining Room so bingo, I was right! And it was so so good. We could bring our own wine to our meals, which was great. The Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Cake for Dessert was also a big hit.


After Dinner we lit the fire, turned on the music, drank some Scotch & talked. It was very relaxing.


The next morning I guessed we would be having Eggs Benedict, and I was right again! I love poached eggs. We went for another snowshoe after, where the dog proceeded to get lose and run all the way across the Lake and through the trees. Luckily he loved the dogs next door and came back to them so their owner escorted him back to our cabin. Crazy energetic dog! He knew he was bad.


Lunch was a delicious Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and then we were off to get back to TO. The drive was a lot quicker and we made it in less than three hours.


The weekend seemed to go by so fast but I enjoyed being up there with the beautiful snow and peace and quiet. Somehow even the stars seem brighter up there. I'm glad I got at least one weekend of snowshoeing in this Winter. I would definitely go back to the same place again.