-Roy at the Whiskey jack – Pocaterra picnic table. Notice the Whiskey jack(bird) sittiing on the table-
Upon arriving at the top of Whiskey jack, I was feeling a bit peckish so I asked Roy if I could share the picnic table with him for a few minutes.
Yesterday it was Chinese food, today it’s Rocky Road squares
Two Whiskey Jacks hovered nearby, waiting for an opportune moment to try and steal my meagre rations. As luck would have it, Roy’s wife had just baked some Rocky Road squares which he shared with me. Deee-licious!
The Whiskey jacks will quickly swoop down and steal food right out of your hand. I’ve seen it happen.
Wonderful new tracksetting as I started from Boulton creek
The day was off to a good start. It was nice to get back on the PLPP tracksetting and Whiskey jack was groomed to perfection. Air temperature at Boulton creek was a pleasant -4°C and the snow was -6.
Pocaterra near the Whiskey jack junction
The tracks on Pocaterra were inviting in both directions, but skiers coming from Tyrwhitt informed me there was 3 cm of new snow in that direction. The Live Grooming Report indicated that Pocaterra north had new tracksetting all the way to the Lynx junction, as did Packers. I decided to go as far as Tyrwhitt meadows and return to Pocaterra.
Tyrwhitt had about 2-3 cm of new snow over the recent tracksetting
As I reached the Pocaterra – Tyrwhitt – Lookout junction I could see a couple cm of new snow on Lookout which would be ideal for descending that steep trail. It looked like a couple skiers had been on it today.
Watching the antics of a vole on Tyrwhitt
I continued for 1.2K on Tyrwhitt to the high point then about 1K further through the meadows because the scenery was so spectacular today, including an interesting wildlife siting. Skiers had stopped to watch a vole as he wandered aimlessly around the snow, and also on people’s skis. He eventually dug himself back into the snow and disappeared.
Superb conditions on upper Pocaterra
The fresh snow on Tyrwhitt had been skied-in quite well by mid-afternoon but it was still slower than the new tracksetting. I turned around and enjoyed a pleasant and unhurried downhill back to Whiskey jack. Now the fun begins.
Streetlamp on Packers
The Pocaterra downhill was extremely enjoyable. The excellent snow conditions and new tracksetting made the steep downhill turns easy to negotiate.
Next on the agenda was Packers and that was just as much fun. Not a bit of ice anywhere. The first steep downhill is scraped clean, but the bumps have been smoothed out and make for some thrilling dipsy-doodles on the way down.
I can tell that Christmas is near because the trails weren’t very busy today.
I was thrilled to hear that Redearth creek was finally trackset today. According to Russell’s Trip report, it’s trackset to the campground at 7K, and roll-packed thereafter to the warden’s cabin at 11K.
Don’t show a picture of a vole on the ski trails or the wildlife biologists with Parks will shut the whole system down.
Too bad you didn’t eat the Rocky Road on Rolly Road.