New glimpses into old Favourites

Recently, we discovered a cool new bonus perspective on Shirley's Bay. one of our tried and true trails in Ottawa.

We already knew that the trail was great for teaching Margot how to cross country ski; it has just the right amount of hills to make skiing interesting, without too many hills to cause too much trouble. However, the bonus we discovered is that, in the dead of winter, you can ski right onto the Ottawa river. 

The first time we went on the ice we saw some snow kiteboarders in the distance

The first time I tried this was a few weeks ago and I'll admit that I was bit nervous about going onto the ice of such a vast body of water. But the second time I tried I went full steam onto the ice.

What I enjoy most about skiing on the ice is the long horizon you get. The river just keeps going and going. People who live near the sea, beside tall mountains or even in treeless places like the Prairies, perhaps don't appreciate just how fortunate they are to have such vast views. In most parts of Ottawa such views simply don't exist - everything is so flat and normally your horizon is only a couple of hundred metres away.

Two brave explorers

But that's not the case here! On the river, the snow and ice just keeps going and going with nothing to interrupt your sight line except for the occasional kiteboarder or ice fishing hut....

Small but annoying fact: I lost my waterbottle somewhere out here!

The perfect place to feel small.