As I write this we still have no snow in Southern Ontario !!! FINALLY SNOW IS ON THE GROUND and as I am finishing up this post – it is raining …. As a winter lover I am more convinced this year than ever that global warming is truly upon us…. WHERE IS A TRUE CANADIAN WINTER as I’m yelling …. I can’t enjoy my favourite activity – cross-country skiing…..
Last Tuesday I decided to go to where the snow was … Collingwood – The Blue Mountains.
After a 2 hour drive, my friend and I arrived at the Westin hotel.
So much more snow, yes down hill ski resorts can make snow but even the cross-county ski trails had a great base. We went to scenic caves. The scenic caves are situated on the highest point of the Niagara escarpment and is one of Canadas 16 UNESCO biosphere reserves. There are 27 km of groomed cross-country ski trails and 10 km of snow shoe trails, with one of the trails crossing a suspension bridge – which features panoramic views of Georgian Bay ( hoping to do this next time I’m there). Each year the trails are expanded and improved. The scenic caves are open year round. Check out their webpage , which I have linked above ( full disclosure – I’m not affilated in any way with them, I just think its a great place to go to) and see what activiites are best suited for you.
After going inside and paying our trail fee – $17 (we had our own equipment). We ventured out, since it was our first time out this season, it was a bit hard. But soon we were into the groove. We decided to go to Lookout Point – it was about 3 km to get there, not too many hills to climb – which was good. We stayed on the green and blue runs which are fairly easy.
After An hour and a half we got back to the chalet and made our way back to the hotel, to grab some lunch.
After resting , drying out our gear, we ventured out again to skate – there is a new skating trail that is 1.1 km at the top of the mountain, we paid $18 for 2 hours – Such beautiful scenery and the ice quality was excellent for being an outside rink – very well maintained. Since it was mid-week, it was empty, we had the place almost to ourselves. After skating for about an hour, I was done ….my legs felt like rubber, my day of being super athlete came to an end !!!!
Wow my fitbit was off the chart ………over 20,000 steps, 15 km and 2800 calories burned by days end ……….insane. A very productive day. Once the sun set, I got outside to take some photos as the hills and village were lit up so beautifully, tried to capture some of it and discovered a new feature on my camera – handheld night photography – bonus after trying it , was impressed I didn’t have to set up my tripod and/or drag it through the village. After a great dinner it was time to pack up and make the 2 hour track back home.
Do you get out in the winter? Let me know what you activities you love to do in winter outside?
xoxo
M💞
Little white pearls 