Cold Snap hits Eastern Ontario - Stay Indoors?

This weekend the wind chill reached -39 in the City of Ottawa, and to hear the media there was nothing for anyone to do but seal the doors, brew up some hot chocolate, and settle in front of the television set.

I disagree.

There is no question that -39 is not merely extremely cold, but potentially dangerous. At that temperature, exposed flesh can quickly freeze and frostbite is a real possibility. However, that does not mean to me that you should not go outside. It simply - but most assuredly - means that you must take the proper precautions: dress appropriately, choose a route where you have the ability to return to shelter rapidly if necessary, and monitor your condition constantly.

I actually went outdoors three times on Sunday, and walked a combined distance of more than 14km. The first was before breakfast, although not before coffee. I am fortunate to have near the house a wooded path tracing a ridge line. I spent nearly an hour tramping along this ridge; I took the above picture with my Blackberry.

Was I cold? Surprisingly, not really. I had two layers on my legs and four on my torso. I wore mittens and a toque, as well as a kerchief that I could raise over my face. My fingers felt chilled somewhat, as were my toes, and any exposed skin felt raw, particularly when I headed into the wind, but when I finished my walk I was sweating; you can see it frozen on my toque.

I am not saying that -39 temperatures should be discounted, but neither do I think that they preclude being active in the outdoors. During my walks on Sunday, I saw people walking their dogs, children sledding in a local park, and cross-country skiers (true, bundled up with so many layers that they could barely move).

So do not let the cold weather of January and February force you into hibernation. You might need to put a little more effort into what you wear, but if you chose wisely, you can still get outside and absorb more of that delicious sunshine that our body craves so much in these winter months.

No Corrections Yet Received

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you getting outdoors and not permitting the winter weather to keep you housebound. (I did a 15km run at -25 [wind chill] this morning with the Ottawa Orienteering Club. The hardcore added another 5km through unploughed forest trails.)

One of the reasons I established this blog was to provide updates to the routes that I have profiled in Hiking Trails of Ottawa. Some might think that unnecessary, especially when the book was only published in June 2010, but you might be surprised how often something changes, even on a popular managed trail. Bridges wash out, parking lots get renumbered, and forest fires occasionally shut trails. So, with the aid of comments submitted to this blog, I thought that I might be able to update readers on any variations on the ground from what is presented in the book.

However, to this point nobody has commented on any changes that they might have noticed. It is possible that I made no mistakes in the book (and anyone who has written a guidebook will know that this is impossible), or that they have yet to be submitted. I am guessing it is the later, so I would like to remind everyone that if they notice something different on the trail from what I wrote in the book, please make a comment on any story on the blog. I will review it and post it for the benefit of all other users of Hiking Trails of Ottawa.

Enjoy your snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.