The Dreaded Collembola at Mt. Shark
Trip date: Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Submitted by Mary
Particpants:
Ray and Mary
Discussion:
Forget the groundhog as prognosticator of Spring. In these parts, any self-respecting gopher will be deep in his hibernatorial slumber. Around here, it is the nasty, stinky little snow flea or collembola that is the true harbinger of Spring. And they are in the tracks at Mt. Shark, especially closer to Watridge Lake. The temperature was -5C when we started at 10 am and 0C at noon. The 2 cms of fresh snow made all the difference today. We skied the Watridge lake Road to the Banff Park boundary on v45 wax and found the tracks nice and clean, but the wax was a bit sticky on the downhills. After lunch back at the car, we switched to fish scale and skin skis, which were better, especially on the fast downhills. We skied the biathlon loop and then went out again to the Watridge Lake turn before heading back for a grand total of 20 kms. A good ski and very few people around. The Smith-Dorien/Spray Lakes Road was in great condition from Canmore.
P.S. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! (some more)