January 2005 Newsletter
Wild Rock's First Rewards Program Member Sale!
The sale will take place 7-10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 19th. Please forward this on to friends and family who would be interested in great savings! Remember, this sale is for one night only.
Our new rewards program is up and running. This is an example of the special opportunities available to those who have signed up for our rewards program. Here is your opportunity to save even more! On top of these great savings, you STILL get 2% store credit on your next purchase.
All Clothing. Receive 10% off the regular retail price of the first item, 20% on two items, 30% on the three items, 40% on four items and 50% on five or more items.
Smith, Spy and Anon goggles 50% off.
Smith sunglasses 50% off! Regular price $89-$159 on sale $45-$80.
50% off Louis Garneau,Smartwool and selected Craft long underwear. Regular prices from $39-$109 on sale $20-$55.
15% off regular retail price on everything else in the store. This includes boats, 2004 bikes, sleeping bags, packs, snowboards, skis, snowshoes and camping gear.
This does not include items already reduced or 2005 bikes.
Banff Film Festival
 For over ten years, Wild Rock has been presenting selections from the Banff Film Festival for your enjoyment. This year the dates are January 23th at Showplace and 24th at the Gordon Best Theatre (sorry, the 24th is already sold out!). Tickets are $15.
Click on the picture to see what films we are choosing from this year. If you have never been, this is an evening that has something for everyone! There are films on skiing, base jumping, climbing, snowboarding, cycling, travel, mountaineering and mountain culture. There are short films that make you laugh, ones that make you think and extreme sports to keep you on the edge of you seat.
Drop by to pick up a ticket and a free copy of the BFF magazine.
Film Festival info from the Banff Centre
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Events
Join our ski group! Tuesday mornings at 10 or Thursday afternoons at 2 join us for a ski at Kawartha Nordic. There is no formal instruction - just motivation to get out on your skis!
Mount St. Louis/Moonstone Snowboard and Ski Trip. Do you want a no fuss day trip skiing or snowboarding? For a mere $65, you can be on your way to the slopes with us. The trip is on January 22nd.
There will be a Nordic Ski Demo on January 22nd at Kawartha Nordic Ski Club. This is a great opportunity to try new classic or skate skis out on the trails. Fischer and Madshus will be represented there for you to try. Swix will be there to make sure your skis are waxed well.
Snowshoe hikes start on January 23rd. It will be a nature walk at Lakefield Marsh. Rodney, our resident interpreter, will be on hand to point out some interesting things you can see on a snowshoe hike!
Advanced bike maintenance clinics. Are you interested in learning a little more about how to keep your bike moving? Our Head Wrench Monkey, Zac, is going to be offering you a chance to learn tons. Starting January 12th, there will be four classes from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. (Please note the change in day if you saw this notice earlier!)
Kayak Pool sessions. Are you missing being in your kayak? You will have the opportunity to keep your skills or try out new things every Wed in Feb and Mar, 9 p.m. at the Trent Pool. $10 per session or $35 for Feb, $45 for Mar or $90 for both. We have rentals!
In Search of the "Great White Pine"
It seemed like an easy enough plan. I mean, there it is on the map of Algonquin; “Centuries-old, giant White Pine are scattered through mature hardwoods – a rare remnant of the forests which once dominated southern Ontario.” So the plan came together in late September that the 6 of us, Bart, Cory, Jon, Rodney, Kris and myself would take three canoes, and spend two nights and three days in the southern part of Algonquin on the first weekend of November. It would be great, the air would be crisp, the leaves would all be gone, and we’d wake to frost on our tents each morning with the steam rising off the lake plus we’d have the whole park to ourselves. As the weekend approached the weather forecast was calling for temperatures hovering around zero and chance of snow flurries. No problem. We owned down jackets and plenty of socks.
As we hit the water on Smoke Lake the wind was in our face and blowing cold. It was not a pleasant way to start a trip; a stiff headwind; a long lake and we haven’t exactly got our paddling arms yet. It didn’t seem to matter though; we were all in high spirits and were on our way. The breeze seemed to let up through out the day allowing us to make easy time to our first nights campsite on Little Coon Lake. As we were making camp that night you could feel the temperature falling and we got our first glimpse of snow. By the time we had devoured the delicious jerk chicken wraps that Jon had brought and were enjoying the campfire, the snow was starting to accumulate. Little did we know what was in store for us that evening. As I was down pumping water the sky began to light up to the north. First blue and yellow, then scarlet and it began to pulse. The northern lights were about to give us a show to remember. We all paddled out into our quiet little bay and watched as the sky glowed and pulsed as we lay in the bottom of our canoes. That night the lights danced in my head while I slept.
The second day we woke to 2” of wet snow and a thin sheet of ice bordering the lake. This day was going to bring us through the Whatnot Lakes and along Hollow River before reaching our campsite on Dividing Lake. After a couple of short paddles and longer portages we were into McGarvey Lake. It was here that the first of our river otter sightings would be. As we paddled past a small island we heard a swoosh from beside us as one of the otters slipped into the water. Moments later we were being confronted by a large, hissing otter. For a moment we all thought that the otter would be joining Cory and Bart in the canoe as it seemed very upset that we interrupted its’ solitude. The remainder of the day we spent working our way along the river through occasional snow squalls and missing portages. As we arrived at Dividing Lake by mid afternoon we had plenty of time to explore the lake and find the better campsite. To our dismay, we found the better of the campsites and the whole Western and Eastern banks of the lake devoid of standing trees. It wasn’t fresh but it was obvious that a tornado had passed through there in the not too distant past. What it destroyed in natural beauty it did make up for in a convenient campsite, lots of firewood, logs to sit on and even a couple of stumps on end to make perfect tables for cooking. As we enjoyed our steak fajitas that night, the temperature began to drop and we all began to wonder what kind of shape our “Giant White Pines” were in as they were directly to the West of us in the path of the tornado.
Day 3 we woke to clear blue skies and the coldest temperatures so far and the ice thick around the canoes. After a breakfast of hot cereal and coffee we loaded up the canoes and headed for the portage to Minky Lake. The idea was that we would leave the canoes at the Dividing Lake side of the portage and do the short hike over to Minky and then around the South side to find ourselves some “Giant White Pines.” What we found instead was a swath of destruction that looked like a giants’ game of pick up sticks with a forest of trees. As we crawled over and through a twisted mess of fallen, we were humbled to think of the power that Mother Nature can produce. What we did not find were the “Giant White Pines” that we had come in search of. Those massive trees would have been the first to fall. Too much height and wind surface and not enough roots to hold themselves to the ground. After an hour of searching and trying to pick our way through the mess of trees we decided it was time to return to our canoes for the remainder of the trip back, we still had to make it back to the truck by night. But as we headed down the backside of a hill that we hadn’t come up on our way from the canoe we came across a single White pine standing at the bottom in a protected little valley. It wasn’t as “Giant” as we had come in search of but the fact that it was still standing was enough for us. We all had our picture taken around the base of it.
The rest of the day seemed to be the perfect ending to a great trip, breaking ice through sheltered inlets and narrows, dragging the canoes over snow covered portages instead of actually carrying them and eating all the remaining food, again instead of carrying it. The sun even broke out and shone on our backs as we paddled home.
This was written by Zac Wheeler
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Winter Camping Experience
 Have you been looking for a winter adventure? Here is your chance to try something completely different. Timberrosa Wilderness Adventures is based in Peterborough and runs trips all year. There is a winter camping trip which includes dog sledding, snowshoeing and sleeping in large heated tents. There are only a few spots left for the February 5th to 12th trip. The trip will be through the west side of Algonquin.
For more information on this trip contact: timberro@nexicom.net
Visit the Timberrosa Wilderness Adventures website at http://www.eagle.ca/ipg/timberrosa/index.html
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