Riverlot 56 Natural Area

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Riverlot 56 Natural Area

March 31, 2011

I discovered another Natural Area yesterday and it is within the City Limits of St Albert.

Apparently volunteers groom the cross country ski trails on this Natural Area so I tried it out. By yesterday evening the snow was quite soft so I decided to go skiing early this morning. Morning was a good time to go because the snow was solid and the trail was fast. There are a lot of foot prints on the trail indicating that the trails get a lot of pedestrian traffic as well. In fact I met one jogger during my ski. There are a couple of steep inclines on the trails which gave the track a bit of a challenge for a skier like me.

There are a lot of information sign post on the trails. I would say that this is one of the better maintained Natural Areas but then it is pretty much in an urban area.

I saw a couple of snowshoe hares and a red squirrel as well was some sign of a porcupine. There is a sign posted at the entrance that says "leave your pets at home" but judging from the tracks not every visitor complies with the request. There are a lot of dog tracks on the trail.

It was a pleasant surprise to find a groomed ski trail so close to an urban area.

Anyway the stats for this ski are:

Total distance 3.56 km

Moving Average 3.9 km/hr

Moving time 55 min

Later in the day I drove out to the Flying Shot Lake trail in Elk Island Park. I didn't walk far down that trail before I encountered a Bison. I found the trail has a considerable amount of snow cover, there is no ski track so walking it would likely be the best option and snowshoes would be advisable for a few more days at least.

Then I drove to the Blackfoot Lake Recreational Area. It was mid afternoon and the snow had softened quite a bit. There is still a visible ski track on the Whitetail and Gasline trails. I just hiked them as the snow was still firm enough to walk the trail.

Distance covered was about 2 km in about 45 min.