CDMC

Moat Lake; Wed Apr 21, 2010; snowshoeing; leader: Tim Penney

The weather conditions on Wednesday were perfect for our long trek out to Moat Lake. We left the Raven Lodge parking lot of 6:48 am and were soon up to the Piggott Creek bridge crossing. Although the snow was well frozen previous hot weather had melted it to a fairly narrow track, just about the width of a snowshoe, leaving a somewhat precarious crossing. Several snowshoers crossed with no trouble but when one club member on skis tried to follow he slid off the narrow surface and landed in the creek, about 12 foot below. Although wet, and somewhat shaken from the experience, he suffered no injuries other than hurt pride and some bruises. After much discussion the skier decided to ski out alone back to the Raven Lodge and his vehicle. The rest of us carried on up to Helen Mackenzie Lake where, after more discussion, Karl headed back to make sure that the skier returned to his vehicle without any further problems. Thank you Karl.

The rest of the trip was quite spectacular with morning coffee break at Hairtrigger Lake and Lunch on Stuart Wood Island in Moat Lake. The cabins were almost buried under the snow and the tips of two boats, standing upright and tied to trees, were only just visible. We returned on a slightly different route, more to the north of Hairtrigger Lake, where we met up with Karl on his way out to join us.

We arrived back at Raven Lodge at around 4:00 pm having covered nearly 23 kilometres and some 3000 foot of accumulated elevation gain.

The day was satisfactorily concluded with sugary treats at Dairy Queen in Courtenay which included a sundae-to-go for our missing comrade, who had exited early after his morning swim in Piggott Creek.

More photos are available for viewing.