Hazards of snowshoeing

This weekend I learned first hand about one of the perils of snowshoeing in the Spring, weak ice. We had an impromptu gathering of the people that went on the recent Adirondack trip. We headed up to Gatineau Park on the north side of the Ottawa River. The snow is melting quickly but there is still a thick base of granular snow. Our goal was to have lunch at Pink Lake. We initially started out by bushwacking in a northwesterly direction. After scrambling through a couple of thorn patches we decided to try and find the main trail. It was at this time that we ran into a wet problem. We had to trek between two lakes divided by a land bridge. The hump of the land bridge was quite steep. My first attempt at getting up the hill was unsuccessful. One of my legs slid down onto the weak ice breaking through the surface of the lake giving me a soaker. One foot was icy cold while the other was toasty warm for the recent exertion. As more and more people went up the slope it became more slippery. A couple of soakers later we decided to take an inland route rather than trying to scout along the edge of the lake. We made it to Pink Lake and took a more direct route back to the car.


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