TR: A Trip to the far East, Exploring Americas Hat + Stowe Shots
A Trip to the far East, Exploring Americas Hat
Participants: backcountryben, gpetrics, me, and 3 DOC'rs
Purpose: Penetrate deep into enemy territory to the far North East. Scout campsites, future ski goals, and record the habits of the local population.
Soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvfAA...layer_embedded
Directions: Drive North, Turn to the Right, Drive East, arrive at destination.
Further plans: none
Things got weird as we approached the border:
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3469.jpg
They stayed weird for the entire time we were in bizzaro-america.
The first firm evedence that we were actually in Quebec:
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9242.jpg
Every car had a trailer hitch and most seemed to be towing a run down trailer with a random assortment of possessions.
Soon after the last shot was taken, the sun went down and all the Canadians went to bed. The roads were clear and we drove onward and eastward.
Fuel and food ran low just as the highway ran out to the east of Quebec City. We sought emergency provisions at the american embassy http://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:w...2520Arches.jpg , but for some strange reason they didn't want american money. Confused and hungry we got back on the highway.
We arrived in the Parc du Gaspe at 130 american time (not sure what that is in metric), threw down the tent and jumped in. The snow acted like a memory foam mattress, made a nice impression of our bodies and then never rebounded (very un-foam like). After a night of tossing and turning and being cold we rolled out of the tent at 7am to find ourselves in the middle of a field surrounded by heated, reservation-only cabins, no where near the tenting area. Realizing we had been spotted, and potentially compromised by the locals, we beat a hasty retreat to the safety of the cars.
Our next stop was the Chic-Choc's themselves, to try and do some skiing.
We expected an empty wilderness, so we were bewildered when we encountered this on the hike into the Serpentine hut:
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3485.jpg
Still, the skiing didn't look too bad:
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3472.jpg
Aparantly all those hikers were going to the party that was taking place at the serpentine hut. An avalanche awareness event of some kind. We were clearly under dressed however, so we took a wide line around the hut and headed for the mountains.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3489.jpg
... and on up. I could get pretty used to EC alpine snow.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3516.jpg
Enough sitting around though, time to show these silly canadians how to ski
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3556.jpg
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3570.jpg
We were the first people up the patrollers bowl that day and thought that we might be in the wrong area due to the lack of tracks. By the time we got done with that run though, the mountain was swarming with people all being weird in their own uniquely inexplicable way. We witnessed people hiking down with skis on, booting up next to a boot pack, hiking in dress shoes etc. It was far stranger even than Tux during the inferno.
We hiked back up for another lap, but wanted to push further out and avoid all the crowds.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9257.jpg
Did i mention that these mountains are flat on top? even the mountains are weird in Quebec.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3645.jpg
We had spotted a short but very steep looking bowl at the north end of the patrollers bowl.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3658.jpg
Greg skiing the short steeps
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9292.jpg
This place blows my mind. There is virtually limitless unskilled terrain in every direction for as far as the eye can see, but everyone skis right on top of each other at the mouth of the patrollers bowl.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9273.jpg
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3719.jpg
We stopped for a snack then decided to make our exit back to the car by climbing the face that was visible in the background in the last two photos. First we needed a little snack.
Ben, enjoying the taste of freedom.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3760.jpg
So we climbed up and got ready to drop off the back side. For some reason they have "Caribou Closures" around large parts of the park. It seemed really weird to us though, because Caribou will probably go wherever they want, and it'd be a hard rule to enforce. Silly canadians...
No Caribou here though
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3792.jpg
or here
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3815.jpg
or here
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3822.jpg
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3900.jpg
Just about the best spring skiing run I've ever had.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3929.jpg
Greg following down the same pitch.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9303.jpg
"Ohhhhh, you mean the mountains are closed to people to protect the caribou? that makes a lot more sense, I mean how could you even stop the caribou. How dumb of us to accidentally just ski that closed area...."
We decided to go check out the park's high class hotel. Unabe to afford to stay there or eat there, we enjoyed it from the outside.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3982.jpg
We got a few looks for this.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3983.jpg
What do you want?
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3980.jpg
The next day, after another cold night on the snow stealth camping, we decided to head for Mt. Hogsback. With temps at around 30, clouds in the sky, and a front coming through. No one except Ben was very psyched to ski frozen corn.
Weighing the options.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3990.jpg
We narrowly avoided the dreaded "bail-triangle" (TM, backcountryben), where everyone keeps their mouth shut and does a trip that no-one wanted to do. Rather than following up an awesome corn day with ice and a late arrival home, we decided to get on the road early and stop in Quebec City on the way home.
We saw a few more weird sights on the way home though.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3998.jpg
"sweet, no tax on hors in the duty free zone"....
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_3999.jpg
So. All in all I think 6 of us drove two cars around 1400 miles for 3 amazing corn runs in the Chic-Chocs, and a mind-numbingly weird road-trip there and back. I've tried to convey it, but there is no way to properly show you just how strange the Quebecois are. Maybe ben and Greg can chime in with a few more anecdotes.
Fun Facts About Quebec :
- It is not unusual to find someone pushing a large handcart into oncoming traffic on the highway.
- Pajamas, down booties, and enormous gaiters are traditional camp dress in quebec.
- In Quebec city, if you dont have a large white tent as a garage, you are a loser.
- Cops take croissant breaks, not donut breaks.
- When an american passes you in the skin track, it is acceptable to try and race them.
- Animals on road signs have unusually large apendages.
- Trailers are preferable to trunks or roof racks, no car is too small to pull one
Now the Stowe shots:
I've been sitting on these for a week or so, they were from one of the upslope storms that dumped a few inches on Stowe. We caught a bit of higher elevation pow before it all turned to mush in the afternoon.
Chris, a snowboarder was so excited for the pow, he gave skiing a try.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9184.jpg
allen, hiding in the shadows.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9189.jpg
Greg setting up for a photo under the rime ice.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9202.jpg
Allen, in desperate need of brighter clothing.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9213.jpg
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9225.jpg
Where's Waldo?
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9230.jpg
Chris reconsidering his choice of gear.
http://www.uvm.edu/~selozier/'08-'09...R/IMG_9231.jpg
Hope you enjoyed all that, Greg and I sure had a good time documenting the madness.
thanks for looking,
Sam
