I should have been wearing skates!

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Lake Simcoe looked completely different today then it did last week. This past week we saw spring like temperatures in Barrie resulting in a thaw on Lake Simcoe. The past 2 days has seen a return to cold temperatures resulting in a lot icy areas on the lake. Today I skied the entire length of Kempenfelt Bay. Kempenfelt Bay is huge and feels like a separate lake all by itself. The bay was very icy. The first few kilometres I skied was sheer ice and I had to push pole through it. The rest of the bay was covered in icy patches. I ran into a number of pressure cracks, the largest of which was at the mouth of the bay. Towards the end of my trip my camera froze!

Distance: 17 km Total Time: 2.5 Hours

What a crazy ski on Lake Simcoe today! I skied on Kempenfelt Bay from Centennial Beach to Minet's Point. The temperature was only -4 degrees Celsius but 30 km/hr winds from the west made for very blustery and chilling conditions. Drifting snow made it hard to find a decent trail and it was a constant battle with the wind. Out there I did see a kite surfer as well as a guy on a modified dirt bike practicing on an ice track.

Distance: 4 km Total Time: 40 minutes

Skiing at Dawn

Got up early to start my day with a ski. I decided to ski a bit earlier to take advantage of colder temperatures (didn't want to ski through slush today). The temperature was -6 degrees Celsius with great visibility. There was a small breeze coming from the south which help dissipate the oil and gas fumes from the snowmobiles that I encountered last week-end. I left from Lockhart Road which exits into Sandy Cove. It was much quieter entrance onto the Lake then departing from the 9th Line. The first thing I saw was the sunrise over Fox Island. Simply breathtaking.
Distance: 7km Total Time: 90 mins