Running Mania

Any rocks on that P7 to the lookout route Strider?

Nothing like Sunday's run. Just a few, but easy to scoot around.

Thanks so much for the help. Looking forward to getting out there this weekend!

Dreaming of theses runs after this week in Ottawa...

OMG I cannot wait until Spring!!!!!!!!! I'm going to make a focused effort to incorporate Gatineau and the March Highlands more into my training plan for the Ottawa 1/2. Last year I avoided the trails when I was preparing because I was scared of an ill timed injury, but I think I'm going to rely on them somehow this time around.

I snowshoed (snowshod?) trails 64 and 65 out of Relais Plein Air yesterday. They are super accessible and have enough ups and downs to give you a really good hourish-long workout.

NMG...come join any weekend. The Gatz are fun...much better than the doldrums of the road. I consider the road barely a step up from the TM.

dgrant...I have no idea where that area is, but am now interested. Could I get a good hr of running, snowshoes and no snowshoes there? I'm looking for anything closer than 70/71 that also has climbing.

ngcaper wrote:NMG...come join any weekend. The Gatz are fun...much better than the doldrums of the road. I consider the road barely a step up from the TM.

dgrant...I have no idea where that area is, but am now interested. Could I get a good hr of running, snowshoes and no snowshoes there? I'm looking for anything closer than 70/71 that also has climbing.

Relais Plein Air is on the eastern border of the park, right in urban Gatineau. It's about 10min from any of the bridges. You'll find it marked as P2 on the park maps.

Not really any winter (non-snowshoe) trail running in Gatineau Park until the snow's nearly gone. The XC skiers will read you the riot act for walking/running on their groomed trails in the winter... which is only fair given the fee they pay.

Snowshoe running is a monster workout, and many (most?) of the snowshoe trails do not double as summer trails, so it's an opportunity to see things you don't from March to November.

Lets get this discussion going again...I ran the Wolf Trail last weekend with a pair of microspikes (not snowshoes), the whole loop was very "runnable" I went up the steep side (turn right at the trail junction about 500m after trailhead) I would recommend this as there was some ice that i'd rather hit going slow on the way up, rather than in full flight on the way down!

Warmer weather on the way, it might all change to slush (or ice) quite soon, so get up there!

Once the marathon is out of the way I will definitely be heading into the Gats. Will post my findings when I return.

Hey everyone!

Does anyone know of a nice 20-30K trail loop in the Gats? I was looking at the map and saw what looked like some options starting out near Wakefield (P17 and then doing a bit of a loop around Lac Philippe and back), but it was hard to get a read on the exact length based on the map I was looking at.

I've no issues with some elevation gain, but would prefer not to climb all the way up and then back down, at least not for this trek. Some stuff on the lower ground with some hilly stuff mixed in would be great.

Can you think of any options worth looking into? Just looking for a relaxing long run that I can take on one Saturday morning in the near future.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have!

I think the big triangular route around Lac Philippe (51/53/52/50) is indeed what you're looking for. If I recall correctly, it's just a bit over 20km. Lots of nice shade, no hills longer than a minute, really nice running surfaces. There are some low-lying spots along 52 where the bugs can be really annoying.

If you don't mind an out-and-back, #1 from the main Visitor Centre in Old Chelsea goes for over 20km each way and is IMHO the best running surface in the park (for a non-technical long run). There are a few mega-steep slopes along there though.

Thanks dgrant, that's exactly what I was looking for!

I'm camping with my family at Lac Phillipe in August- any suggestions on good trails right from the campground? I prefer nasty & technical over smooth trails.

erinmcd wrote:I'm camping with my family at Lac Phillipe in August- any suggestions on good trails right from the campground? I prefer nasty & technical over smooth trails.

Looking at the trail map, most trails around there seem to be easy ones. Looks like your best bet would be taking #54 to Lac Lusk near thec Lusk caves. Part of that trail is a black diamond (difficult). You could carry on along #54 to #55 around Lac Taylor and up #56 to the lookout.

I haven't been on any of these trails, I am only going by the map.

Map is available on this page:
http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places-to-visi ... nformation

I'm doing the 30km MEC race in Gatineau Park on the 19th. Ventured in twice:

1) 16km encompassing most of the 1st half of the race course. Parked at Camp Fortune and headed up #4 to #1 (east) then it's the awesome gnarly trails of #8 and #17 before returning to #1 to Shilly Shally, turn around and back down #4 to Camp Fortune.

2) 22km featuring most of the last 2/3 of the course. Camp Fortune again, #4 to #1 (west), #18, #9 #24, #40. Mostly easy up to that point but then as you turn back onto #2 there is a huge long ball/ovary breaking upslope. Absolute killer!

After that it's supposed to be #21 to #3, back to #9 and return to #4/Camp Fortune on #1 but I missed a turn and ended up running a really cool gnarly/muddy trail (#21 and #3) back towards Lac Fortune. I knew I was heading in the right direction so just went with it. After that, a little foray onto #9 took me back to Camp Fortune and bizarrely enough the 22km I was expecting.

Great- thanks!

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd post a quick review of the loop I ran today. It's also the one that dgrant described earlier in this thread.

Anyway, you start by parking at the P17 parking lot near Wakefield. The run starts off on on trail 53 and I chose to head off on the 52 a few hundred metres past the start. The 52 leads to the 50, which you then follow all along Lac Philippe to the 51. There is a bit of paved road along the 50 due to it being the access road to the Lac Philippe campground, but I think it's only a few KMs before you head off onto the 51 and eventually back to the 53, returning to P12 from there. You could obviously do the run in the reverse direction of you chose.

The hardest part of the run (by far IMHO) is the 52 section. There is about a 2-3KM stretch that is a pretty steady climb, along with a couple of fairly steep sections. They aren't long, nor are they extreme, but it's definitely the most taxing part of the run as far as elevation gain goes. My Garmin shows about a 400 foot gain over that spot and while I know that elevation gain is not all that accurate with GPS, it seems to support my anecdotal feedback based on how the elevation profile for the rest of the route lays out. Once you hit the high point, you drop back down over what is roughly twice the distance so it's definitely steeper heading up. The terrain on the 52 is a bit of a mixed bag. Some clean, some overgrown, but not allot of rock or roots. Pretty easy going for the most part.

Once you are on the 50, it's very easy sailing with mostly flat, very clean terrain. There are a couple of hills as you are leaving the campground on the paved sections, but nothing major.

The terrain on the 51 and the 53 back to P12 is similar to the 52, without the big elevation gain. It's mainly rolling hills, without much in the way of the flat stuff that you see on the 50. It's easily navigable though and overall, I think the section actually loses elevation as you make your way back to P12.

All in all, it's a really nice run. The bugs were bad in spots, especially if I stopped for water or slowed down, but that should subside in the fall. The views of Lac Philippe were also very nice. I measured it out at 21.3K for the entire loop.

Hello,

I'll be visiting family in Ottawa this weekend for Thanksgiving and should have time to fit in a 20km or so. Never been to Gatineau Park, is there a go-to trail for something extremely hilly and technical? If someone could point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mo

Mega Mo wrote:Hello,

I'll be visiting family in Ottawa this weekend for Thanksgiving and should have time to fit in a 20km or so. Never been to Gatineau Park, is there a go-to trail for something extremely hilly and technical? If someone could point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mo

The trails around Chelsea have lots of tough hills, and some stretches of challenging footing.

http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/sites/default/files/pubs/gatineau-park-summer-trail-map.pdf

From P7 on that map, you could follow 30 to 8 to 23 to 17 to 6, west on 1 for quite a while before turning around whenever you feel like it. The trails are well signed, but you'd want to make a note of the sequence because it's a lot of side loops. Chelsea is about 20 minutes from downtown Ottawa. There are some road closures within the park (listed on the park website), but getting to P7 via the highway wouldn't be affected.

dgrant wrote:

Mega Mo wrote:Hello,

I'll be visiting family in Ottawa this weekend for Thanksgiving and should have time to fit in a 20km or so. Never been to Gatineau Park, is there a go-to trail for something extremely hilly and technical? If someone could point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mo

The trails around Chelsea have lots of tough hills, and some stretches of challenging footing.

http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/sites/default/files/pubs/gatineau-park-summer-trail-map.pdf

From P7 on that map, you could follow 30 to 8 to 23 to 17 to 6, west on 1 for quite a while before turning around whenever you feel like it. The trails are well signed, but you'd want to make a note of the sequence because it's a lot of side loops. Chelsea is about 20 minutes from downtown Ottawa. There are some road closures within the park (listed on the park website), but getting to P7 via the highway wouldn't be affected.

I'll second that suggestion. 8 and 23/17 are gnarly, loads of steep climbs and rocks, roots etc. 6 has great views and 1 is less technical but has some killer hills. Awesome.

mas_runner wrote:

dgrant wrote:

Mega Mo wrote:Hello,

I'll be visiting family in Ottawa this weekend for Thanksgiving and should have time to fit in a 20km or so. Never been to Gatineau Park, is there a go-to trail for something extremely hilly and technical? If someone could point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mo

The trails around Chelsea have lots of tough hills, and some stretches of challenging footing.

http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/sites/default/files/pubs/gatineau-park-summer-trail-map.pdf

From P7 on that map, you could follow 30 to 8 to 23 to 17 to 6, west on 1 for quite a while before turning around whenever you feel like it. The trails are well signed, but you'd want to make a note of the sequence because it's a lot of side loops. Chelsea is about 20 minutes from downtown Ottawa. There are some road closures within the park (listed on the park website), but getting to P7 via the highway wouldn't be affected.

I'll second that suggestion. 8 and 23/17 are gnarly, loads of steep climbs and rocks, roots etc. 6 has great views and 1 is less technical but has some killer hills. Awesome.

Thank you both, I'll have a look at the maps and see. Still trying to find a time when I can sneak away from the in-laws to get on the trails! Looking forward to it...

Mo