Mt St Marie - Part I

Headed to Mt St Marie this past weekend to visit with my good buddy Fritz and help put some big fat original man hours into some trail work. Fritz has been working on establishing trails up that way for some time now and I was only too happy to lend a hand. My favourite things other than riding and eating are working on the bike and building trails.

Fritz's enthusiasm for the trail system he single-handedly started at the hill has caused much enthusiasm from the locals and cottage dwellers. No shortage of folk keen on lending a hand. Today, however, it was just Fritz, Mario and myself.

no photos please

Beauty drive up to Mt St Marie which is only about an hour and twenty minutes from Ottawa in La Belle de Province.

beauty landscape

Fritz's cottage/ski chalet - built in 1860. Very comfortable and cozy, set amid pine trees which keeps the property cool even in the plus thirty one degree sun.

4x4'ing up Mt St Marie ski hill to access the trails with all the tools
- couldn't get up the entire way as it pitched up to steeply towards the end

time for some new trail building gloves- these have seen their share of moving rocks, dirt, logs, trees and leaves over the years.

Lookoff out the backside of the hill - not a house or road in site. Reminds me a little of being in Psigah.

Fritz and Mario took the sucker way down to the jeep - they walked. I was going to take the lift, but they said that I'd have to wait until December. We made our way down to the lake for a swim to scrub off the dirt from trail building.

We did just a wee bit over three hours of work on the trail before calling it a day. The heat and deer flies were too much. Back down the hill, a swim in the lake, a bite to eat then it was off for a ride to try out our handy work.
Coming off two weeks of night shift with not much sleep, some tough trail work in hot & humid conditions, then the long four kilometer climb to the top wore me down. I managed to ride the trail, but I felt pretty near shattered the whole time. Sunday would be an improvement . . . but that will have to wait until tomorrow's post.