Ski tracks

This is one of the hundreds of cross-country skiing trails in the Gatineau Park, across the river from Ottawa. The Gatineau Park (wikipedia entry) is an amazing resource only fifteen minutes' drive from Parliament Hill. It's an old escarpment in the Canadian Shield running parallel to the Ottawa River, marking the boundary of the Champlain Sea that covered the region after the last Ice Age. Only 10,000 years ago, the whole area was covered in two kilometres of ice, and as it retreated the sea flooded in from Hudson's Bay, draining only as the land rebounded from the huge weight of the ice.

The park built on the hills above Ottawa is pretty stunning all year round, but especially in the autumn and winter. The Canadians, being sports nutters, don't go in so much for walking, they're too busy skiing or running or mountain biking to take in the scenery at a more natural rhythm. We felt the pressure to engage in winter activities too, and during our first winter I booked a week off work to learn to ski (downhill). Unfortunately I couldn't book tuition in advance, and every time I turned up for lessons the instructors had all been nabbed for the day by schoolkids. So instead we drove up to the Mackenzie King Estate and walked on one of the few routes in the park which is actually open to pedestrians without snowshoes. The woods in the winter are magical - the quality of light is totally different, the snow on the forest floor creates bright reflections and the absence of leaves makes it hard to believe how dark and gloomy the woods can be in midsummer. The cross-country skiing paths dwindling into the distance are very inviting, but woe betide a walker who dares to set foot on one of the groomed trails. Within minutes he'll be mowed down by one of the hundreds of skiing groups that spend all winter tearing up and down the hills on the constantly groomed tracks. The group leader will inevitably harangue the poor walker for daring to leave footprints on the ski tracks and impede the skiers' progress. Sports nazis. They should leave the outdoors to people who actually appreciate it for what it is, without turning it into a race track.

Details: Nikon D70, 18-70mm lens @ 70mm, f/4.5, 1/500s, ISO 200, converted to duotone in Photoshop. Gatineau Park, 17 February 2005, 11.26am. Placemark.