Temagami Snowshoeing



In keeping with tradition, I went out for the annual snowshoe trip. This year the group was Dan, Brent and I (in past years it was Dan, Eddie and I). The night before the trip, Dan outfitted our toboggan with his mother's old cross-country skiis, and thus was born the skiboggan! It worked much better than the toboggan for dragging loads across lakes. After a delicious stop for breakfast at Michelle's (Dan's girlfriend), we continued the 3 hour drive north to Temagami. We spent two nights on Cliff Lake, about a 5km hike from the access point.

Some interesting things we discovered along the trek included enormous icicles formed from ground water seeping out of limestone cliffs, icicles formed upside-down like stalagmites, and lake-ice of the thrilling thickness (or thinness). Click the thumbnail above for the photo gallery.

We also recorded MOVIES:
The snow was of a specific consistency so that when a snowball was bowled along the lake, it would slowly disintegrate. Due to the law of conservation of angular momentum, the snowballs sped up as they rolled instead of slowing down! And to add to how brilliant the effect was, the snowballs would keep speeding up and shrinking until they disappeared completely in thin air. See two movies: 1 here, and 2 here.

The ice was very strange in some places on this trip - thin ice with voids beneath, or thin ice hovering a foot over the lake below. See two movies: 1 here, and 2 here. More interesting ice conditions were found on a small marsh we discovered while trailblazing through the forest. Movie here.
Mike's photo adventure weblog: Temagami Snowshoeing

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Temagami Snowshoeing



In keeping with tradition, I went out for the annual snowshoe trip. This year the group was Dan, Brent and I (in past years it was Dan, Eddie and I). The night before the trip, Dan outfitted our toboggan with his mother's old cross-country skiis, and thus was born the skiboggan! It worked much better than the toboggan for dragging loads across lakes. After a delicious stop for breakfast at Michelle's (Dan's girlfriend), we continued the 3 hour drive north to Temagami. We spent two nights on Cliff Lake, about a 5km hike from the access point.

Some interesting things we discovered along the trek included enormous icicles formed from ground water seeping out of limestone cliffs, icicles formed upside-down like stalagmites, and lake-ice of the thrilling thickness (or thinness). Click the thumbnail above for the photo gallery.

We also recorded MOVIES:
The snow was of a specific consistency so that when a snowball was bowled along the lake, it would slowly disintegrate. Due to the law of conservation of angular momentum, the snowballs sped up as they rolled instead of slowing down! And to add to how brilliant the effect was, the snowballs would keep speeding up and shrinking until they disappeared completely in thin air. See two movies: 1 here, and 2 here.

The ice was very strange in some places on this trip - thin ice with voids beneath, or thin ice hovering a foot over the lake below. See two movies: 1 here, and 2 here. More interesting ice conditions were found on a small marsh we discovered while trailblazing through the forest. Movie here.