I've just come in from my pre-breakfast ski with the dog. We got a little bit more snow on Thursday evening, which means skiing is just possible. There is about 3 cm of soft powder over the base, which is either ice or earth (with occasional rocks and roots). So the conditions for skiing are barely tolerable. The temperature today is predicted to rise to +3, so things will not get better later on. Tomorrow's high will be +5 with rain, so that is not very encouraging either.
Now I have to unburden some frustration: sometime since Thursday night's snowfall, someone has been walking on the ski trails. This was not just on the Bruce Trail or one of its official side trails, but also on several trails that are marked clearly as for skiing only. It is difficult enough to maintain good snow conditions for skiing, without having selfish, inconsiderate people trample the snow with hiking boots.
Please, please, please, if you are walking (or snow-shoeing) restrict your travels to the main Bruce Trail (white rectangular paint blazes) or a BT side trail (blue rectangular paint blazes). And when you are walking on the joint use trails, please walk along the edges, not right down the middle.
As a skier who liked backcountry trails I gave up and would ski the bt right along the edge where it was almost impossible for hikers to follow due to brush etc...but even so inconsiderate hikers seemed irresistibly drawn to those parallel indents in the snow while there would be four feet of room beside me. It's mystifying. Hikers? Do you not get it?
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