I am a would be outdoorsman - that is if I had more time, skills and knowledge. When I can, I love being outdoors, just camping, hiking, snowboarding, xc skiing, snowshoeing, paddling a canoe or trying something new. What I lack in ability, I make up for in enthusiasm and having a go. I'd never really survive for long out there in the wild, but I enjoy pretending I could if I had to...
To spring! There have been one or two days this past week where the air has felt almost warm, with a softness or mildness that is more than just strong sunshine on a cold winter day. Yes, I think spring might be right around the corner! (Let’s ignore the forecast for tomorrow – Thursday, at the time of writing – where it’s likely we’ll delight in a high of 1C and somewhere between 5-10 cm of snow. Nothing more than a seasonal blip…)
Seasonal (luckily, the maple wasnt too strong a flavour)
In recent days we’ve enjoyed a cup of coffee or two on the deck, wavering between do we need a jacket – yes we do – and/or we don’t really need a jacket, do we – yes, you really do. Give it another week or three, and maybe then lose the jackets.
There has been a steady increase in birdsong, along with the almost ceaseless sound of snowmelt and surface water dripping from roof tops and gurgling into drains. The edges of gradually reappearing grassy areas are showing just a hint or two of green as the sunshine melts the last of the ice banks.
Seasonal blip, maple drip
Goodness, have we time to finish the Easter chocolate before finding time to start cutting the lawn? (Lawn? Steady on, OldPlaidCamper – I think small patch of grass is closer to the mark. Lawn…)
What grass?
I’ll leave it here for now, feeling optimistic about spring as we look past the next few days towards a weekend and beyond that promises something positively balmy. In the meantime, where’s that jacket? And, oh no, the snow shovels?
What snow?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Yup, we’ve been spring breakers, if by that, we are taking a break from spring. Or spring is taking a break – or yet to arrive – in Quebec!
I do like to say how much I like snow, so at the risk of sounding as if he doth protest too much, we’ve had plenty of snow and I doth like it!
Snow? It hath snowed!
We – I – was delighted to see the latest large dump of snow stick around this time. For most of March it has snowed on and off and melted almost as fast as it fell. This made walking in the woods somewhat challenging, with a thin topping of slush over another thin layer of ice, with a large layer of mud lurking underneath. Sounds like a spring break drinks order at a dubious beach bar.
Is the beach this way?
My Dad would have liked that. He used to drink whiskey and coke (yuck), always ordering it in a tall glass, lots of ice. I thought of him enjoying that slushy delight a few times when my foot post holed into the muck. Raised a smile as I wondered if my feet would stay dry…
So no spring break style weather for us, but at least the last round of snow fell through a colder patch. It stuck around on top of ground that was more frozen, making travel into the woods much easier. Hard to say who was happiest, me or Scout? Probably Scout by a nose!
“Not sinking in? I like it!”
If you’re on a spring break, I hope it’s going great for you, whatever the weather. Maybe order yourself a glass of something good? Tall glass, lots of ice?
I got the tall glass part right…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Yeah, yeah, yeah – whatever! Let’s go – I think I can hear the sea!”
Oops, I mean pause… Anyway, here’s Scout enjoying an almost warm and sunny spring morning earlier this week:
Sunny ways!
She, like us, was surprised late Saturday and through Sunday, when just as we were finished organizing our spring camping plans, the snow began to fall. And fall. And fall! Not too sure of the final amounts, but it was close to a record for a March snowfall in Quebec.
“Thought we were done with this?!”
It was certainly pretty, although it might have been the wettest and heaviest snow I’ve ever shovelled. More like weighty sorbet rather than light fluff. Temperatures have climbed since the weekend, so when we were enjoying the fruits of my snow shoveling labour by sitting on the cleared and sunny deck, the noisiest sounds were those of running and dripping water as the sorbet defrosted.
“Good job, old boy – but have you missed a bit?”
We took a walk out around the neighborhood once the storm passed, and it looked more like mid-January than it did back in mid-January:
Looks like January, but feels much warmer!
The snow was too claggy for us to walk on or through to access the woods, so we made do with looking at the edges. Pretty enough:
Access denied!
After all our exertions, we went home and enjoyed a well earned glass of something good!
Splendid – spring notes of pine resin, and not too bitter – yum!
The next week or two looks set to follow a similar pattern, with another small spring forward and hints of warmth, followed by a drop in temperatures and more snow. Is it jumper or jacket, or both?!
Both!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We spent an enjoyable weekend celebrating a friend’s 60th birthday. Some of us are slightly older, some of us (me) are much younger, but we mostly all agreed we’d hardly changed from the vibrant young things we all were last week, or last century.
Celebrating something, and why not? How about still being here?!
It’s likely we have fewer springs and summers ahead than we’ve already enjoyed, so each one left to us is one to look forward to but not rush. With that in mind, we’ve been planning a few spring and summer camping trips. Unbelievably, at least for someone who likes to pretend he knows a bit about camping and being outdoors, I don’t think I’ve slept in a tent since autumn 2022. Goodness!
Palatial
Part of the preparation – it’s getting to mud season here, no more skiing or snowshoeing so we might as well look ahead and be prepared – is checking out what equipment we have and what state it is in. We’ve had to acquire a new tent – our palatial green one seems to have gone missing. Hopefully it’s getting well used out on the wilder parts of the west coast of Vancouver Island!
My “work” tent! Retired, like me!
I do have and absolutely love my “work” tent, a tiny one person camping miracle perfect for backpacking and carrying onto small boats, but not one for two people and a dog. So a new tent it is.
Remote remoteness
For this coming season, we’ll be front country camping in sites accessible by truck. It’ll be sometimes somewhat remote, but not the remote remoteness we enjoyed on the coast. My brother has a new tiny teardrop trailer, and we’ll be meeting up somewhere twelve hours north of him and twelve hours west of us, to test out his new rig. I don’t think he’s done too much camping in the past, so I did mention there’ll be at least three (and maybe as many as five) mosquitoes where we’re headed. There, now he can’t complain about not knowing…
Find us here – twelve hours north and twelve hours west – you know the place!
So do your worst, mud season, we’ll get through whatever you throw at us the next few weeks – late season snow or rain or late season snow and rain – because we’re almost prepared to spring forward and land right side up, ready for the big outdoors! Boing! Squelch! Smile! Why, we’re hardly any older than the last time we were hardly any older…
Let’s wait a few more weeks. No need to rush…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Like winter, I’ll be taking a break, but, unlike winter, I will return more fully next week. We’re away for a short while, off to celebrate a friend’s 60th (huh?!) birthday.
The on and then off winter continues, with recent days being bright, cold and sunny after a limited snowfall.
Bright, cold and sunny
On falls, I had one myself recently, and I wish I could report it was dramatic, high tension, and high speed stuff. Sadly, it wasn’t. I was stood (almost) still on skis on a slight upslope, didn’t compensate enough and fell backward! Ouch! Was what I didn’t say. I won’t repeat that here…
Before the fall! (What slope, OldPlaidCamper?)
One sprained wrist later, I’m easing off both skiing and typing, so a brief post this week, and possibly next week as well, until both the dented ego and the sore wrist are restored.
If you tilt the camera, there’s quite a steep slope?
In the meantime, we’ll be enjoying the last remnants of winter this coming weekend with sedate and low risk walks in the woods. Looking ahead, I see another thaw in the forecast and very little snow. How and when will I get back on that horse— I mean skis?! No snow woe? Good thing I have a sunny disposition…
Cool
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Rascal! I like saying this word. It’s one where, with repetition, meaning fades and the sounds emerge, so you hear the language without engagement – like listening to a song or piece of music that isn’t in your mother tongue but you enjoy anyway. You’re engaged, but not concerned with the literal.
Rascal!
We met this rascal last week, along with a few others. Why not be a (good natured) rascal through carnaval? The Carnaval de Québec is a high spirited event that celebrates winter, good times and good people sharing those good times. If the number of pop up bars are anything to go by, plenty of good spirits are downed to keep the cold at bay and cover up that you might not know any of the words to the drinking songs. Are we back to being engaged without worrying about the literal? Just let it wash over you…
Polar? Almost…
We enjoyed the upbeat atmosphere – yup, it is winter, so why not celebrate it?! Even if it was unseasonably mild to the point where the ice sculptures were struggling to maintain shape. Maintaining shape a struggle? I know how that feels after a carnival beer or three. Or I would if I did…
A good man, so he is!
Rascals? Yup! Bonhomme? Yup – everywhere! He’s a good fellow, a busy fellow and popular too. So many people wanted to be seen with him that he had to have a minder or two to see him safe. No, really!
He gets around
Pis sors! My inner grade 8 could not get enough of seeing the posters around town with pis sors all over them. As it were. I sent an image to my brother to confirm pronunciation (he understands French about as well as I do – so not that well) and he assured me it is p*ss sauce, and, in this particular case, not to let it wash over you. Sound advice! (I think it’s a genetic thing, us both being stuck in grade 8?)
Hehehe…
We didn’t stick around for the late night parties, but I do hope those that were there had a good time. I’m fairly sure I’d fail the drink a yard of ale test, and what a waste of beer that would be. Still, there’s always next year and the twelve months to train for it.
Two rascally fellows, and so very well maintained
Let’s finish with another phrase I like to repeat. Soyez doux – be gentle! I think I read it in relation to the ice sculptures, but maybe it was a nudge as to how to behave in general? Soyez doux, soyez doux, soyez doux – I like the sounds and the meaning. Given the state of the world right now, I’m all for a bit more soyez doux, and a laugh and a drink or two with good natured rascals and bonhommes. Seems quite sensible.
Déguédine pis sors! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hidden dangers? Sounds exciting – they could be anywhere and everywhere. Goodness, let’s explore this some more – follow me into PlaidCamper dangerous daydream territory…
Lose yourself here? No…
I’ve rarely found outdoor places to be overly intimidating, preferring instead to enjoy and be amazed by the beauty of the natural world, at least as I’ve experienced it. I’m sure if I was ever truly lost in the woods, or really caught outside in an immediately life threatening situation, then I’d certainly feel trepidation, and be afraid. I don’t leave home unprepared, but perhaps I’m getting complacent? I should snap out of it, because maybe it’s not so safe out there…
Mostly though, I’ve been outdoors in relative safety, often due to the company of more experienced fellow travellers, people who’ve taught me, as necessary, how to safely navigate the genuinely wild and remote places we’ve found ourselves. I count myself very fortunate to have been taught and trained by so many tremendous individuals.
A touch sinister? Follow me, it’ll be fine!
But what about those hidden or unexpected dangers? Do you ever wonder how you’d truly fare if you found yourself in a serious and dangerous wild situation? I think about this quite often, although I don’t go out of my way to seek danger. It’s just… suppose danger finds you? There’s always something lurking in the woods, isn’t there?
Recently, I’ve noticed that sometimes I’ll wander along and daydream, somewhat inattentive, almost complacent because I’m walking in woods mere minutes from our current home. I’ve yet to see bear or wolf tracks, so it’s all good – isn’t it?
Calm down, imagination – just shapes in the snow, they aren’t creatures…
A little while back, I fell behind Mrs. PC and Scout, mostly because I’d been dawdling, stopping to take a photograph or to look at a particular tree up close. Distracted, I stepped off the trail in a spot a bit more overgrown than the surrounding area. It was heavily blanketed by recent snow and my snowshoe went down and then down some more.
Deeper snow off the trail
Struggling to extract myself, something on the far side of the nearest tree positively exploded into motion, up, off and away. You should have seen me jump up, out and back on the trail, heart hammering. In this place I’ve never seen tracks for anything larger than a deer or another person, so I’ll assume it was a deer. I didn’t see what it was – too busy waiting for my overactive imagination (everything ran through my mind, so many possibilities – fortunately, nothing ran out of my undershorts) and my pulse to calm down…
Yup, deeper snow – anything over the edge?
Once I’d steadied myself and caught up with Mrs. PC and Scout, (my outdoor cool and nonchalance restored, acting like I’d never been, you know, even slightly startled) it was back to daydreaming, asking how I’d cope in a dangerous or unexpected situation?
Seems like being taught and actually learning might be two different things. As for what might really get me out there? Well, why worry about a bear when a deer combined with an overactive imagination might do for me. How would I really cope? Hmm…
Daydream territory
PlaidCamper caught daydreaming – I’ll say I had a wake up call! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
It’s been an on and off sort of winter, and speaking for myself, I prefer a steady seasonally appropriate winter rather than a surprise thaw followed by a freeze followed by a thaw. Mud season can wait! Those lumpy with slush to ice sidewalks can wait! It’s a thaw point for me.
Winter
We did get into the local woods fairly recently, a decent snowfall providing some fun snowshoe conditions. We plodded and Scout scampered – I really do think snow is her favourite substance (or second favourite, just behind anything a dog can safely eat. Or unsafely. Fortunately, not too many incidents like that…)
“It’s not edible?! Now you tell me…”
We’ve heard a bit more bird song on our recent outings, and last week a woodpecker flew across the path ahead of us, landed high and crept up and down a tree trunk looking for good things. A red head! Was it a pileated woodpecker? I honestly don’t know, but it was lovely to see.
Quiet
The silver bark, green needles and a light dusting of early morning snow made what could have been a monochrome morning somewhat brighter than that. It was cold, but not so cold we couldn’t stop and sit to enjoy the quiet and a dusty muesli-style bar. Sort of healthy, but maybe go back to carrying chocolate? Just a (sensible) thought…
Who brought snacks?
No amazing glass trees, and no graceful gliding, but the silvers and greens and our steady snowshoe plodding after a fresh fall worked a different sort of wonder for us! The latest thaw is behind us, and I believe both more snow and appropriately steady seasonal temperatures are in the forecast…
Portrait of a plodder
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 