Solo Ski at Ferris Park

This weekend was shaping up to be one of the best for outdoor activities this winter. There has been a good amount of snow this week. In fact, it seems like it has non-stop snowed for the past two days. The temperature has been just a little below the freezing point. It seemed like a great weekend to get out and enjoy the wintry weather.

The only problem seemed to be that our two daughters woke up sick, our son was exhausted from his school ski trip yesterday and my wife is (hopefully) getting over her cold. When I asked at breakfast who wanted to do some cross country skiing today, our son was the only one that was keen. He changed his mind a short while later, saying that he was too tired. That meant, unfortunately, I'd be headed out on my own. 

I gathered my skis and headed for Ferris Provincial Park. In the past I've accessed the park from the east side of the river where the gate house is. This is the second winter that the gate at the road has been closed so I proceed to access from the west side by at the suspension bridge.

I crossed the bridge, strapped on my skis and had a great ski throughout the park. While in the park I had a few snowmobiles pass me while I was on the Trans Canada Trail and I saw one person on snowshoes heading in as I was heading out.

I captured some video, but not as much as I had expected. When I changed the camera battery about midway through my trip I must not have hit record. It's too bad that the most exciting parts were on the second half of the trip. In any case, here's some footage from my great day of skiing.

Picnic and a Paddle at Ferris

After struggling with the lawn tractor yesterday afternoon (the lyric: "One wheel's off and the axle's broken" came to mind) we decided we should end the day with a relaxing picnic and paddle. We packed up the gear, some food and the kids and we were off.

We headed to the park and made our way to the boat launch where there was a picnic table  right by the water. It was a perfect spot for a BBQ then to launch the canoe for a paddle. Once every thing was set up I turned on the propane and heard hissing coming out of the tank. It turns out the O-ring on the hose was missing. Luckily I had some bits of lumber in the van. We made our way to a nearby campsite and cooked up some wieners and s'mores. It was a great night for a picnic. Watching an osprey feed it's young while we were eating was certainly a highlight.

It was while we were eating that I pulled out the camera and realized that the memory card was in the computer at home. I had also left my phone at home on purpose since the only thing I could imagine needing it for was taking pictures. Who needs an old camera phone when you've got a DSLR right?

Approaching the suspension bridge from the south

After eating and playing at the park for a bit we made our way down to the water and put the canoe in the water. It was a perfect night for a paddle. We paddled upstream toward the suspension bridge. The current was unnoticeable at first but as we approached the generating station it was clear that we had to work a little harder. It was still very manageable.  It was cool seeing the bridge from below. The picture would have been great. We paddled under the bridge and made our way up to the falls.

Ranney Falls 

We paddled under the overhanging rock where the falls would be raging in the spring and got close enough to the portion that is flowing to get sprayed.

Under the Overhang

Time for a Shower

It was a hoot. We saw a lot of small fish swimming in the rocky waters just below the falls. The paddle back was leisurely with the current pushing towards our destination.

The kids loved playing at the park while we packed everything up and got the canoe tied on the van.

We will certainly go back and get all of the pictures we missed so that we can post them here.

Edit: We went back the next day for more fun and some photos this time. We also had time to cross the bridge.

A Turtle, Spotted From the Bridge

Winter Day Trip To Ferris

Ferris Provincial Parks is a small park located just outside the town of Campbellford. We visit quite frequently since it is so close to home. I spend a lot of time skiing at Ferris and regularly try to convince the kids that they should come along. Last weekend we decided that we would take the entire family along for some adventure.

The parks offers 5 km of cross country ski trails and snowshoeing trails (officially, though I have skied quite a bit more than 5 km at a time). The trails proceed mostly along camp roads but there are a few sections that wander though the woods. One of my favourites is the Milkweed Trail (take the first possible left after leaving the gatehouse). It's a narrow trail through the woods with some nice up hills as you make your way to the top of a drumlin.

Milkweed Trail

 This trip was meant to be fun for the kids so we skipped the Milkweed trail. Instead we followed the trail up to the junction to the Valley View Campground, where we stopped for a break.

Trailhead

On Our Way

By the time we had stopped our youngest daughter was fast asleep in the pulk so I decided to do a loop of the Valley View Campground. After a short rest our son decided that he wanted to come as well so he caught up to us. We did the loop and made our way back to the rest of the group who were on their way to find us. We proceeded to the first campsite and had a snack.

Picnic Time?

Unfortunately, we stopped for a little too long and the girls started getting cold. Other than that we had an amazing day. The sun was out, the snow was perfect and it seemed like we had the park to ourselves since we didn't seen anyone else. It's a small park but when you're travelling with young kids, you don't need huge tracts of wilderness. Take the kids out on short outings to local parks and conservation areas. The memories and experiences will not likely be forgotten for a long time.