Back in APP winter backcountry after a 2-year hiatus. With extremely cold temps on Monday morning, we decided a hotel in Huntsville on Sunday night was a better choice.
We did a day trip to Minnesing and Canisbay Lake on Sunday. Temps around -20, colder as the sun went down. There were several recently-used backcountry winter sites at the start of Minnesing. We started on the trail, then bushwhacked across to Canisbay Lake.
Monday morning was -31. My 2012 Honda barely started, and the ABS/VSA decided to turn off. This is a known Honda issue, but it also disables the ability to open the side doors. Honda dealership wanted $135 to clear the error codes. The Internet said that I can use a paperclip to short-circuit the OEM reader and clear them. Was able to do this with a free paperclip from the Honda dealership, and without killing my car's ECU.
With this delay, we got to Kiosk by noon. We actually met some rangers who were going out on a snowmobile patril. The road is always plowed to the end of the Kiosk road, and usually all the way to the lake access. Great to know.
We set off east over Kiosk. The narrows under the CN rail bridge had open water as expected. Climbing up the railroad was a bit hard, but not a huge problem even with xc skiis. We found a lovely spot in the bush on the east side of the lake, even found a dead maple - what an incredible winter score, as it burns much longer than spruce or pine.
The next two days saw temps of -20ish to -5 by Wednesday morning and beautiful blue skies. Snow was dry and lakes free of slush. Pics below.
Cheers!
Marko