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By Jo-Anne Benson

OTTAWANS ARE fortunate to live in a city where green space and recreational trails are plentiful.

The region boasts the Capital Pathway with its 170 kilometres of multi-recreational routes. Sections of the Rideau and Trans-Canada Trails are nearby and easily accessible, and the Gatineau Hills are just across the Ottawa River in Quebec.

For something new and different, try a short drive south of the city to the Baxter Conservation Area. For just $5 per vehicle, this little gem of a site has a great deal to offer.

The 68-hectare Baxter Conservation Area falls under the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and includes five kilometres of multi-use trails. The open fields have trails meandering through a diverse environment with mixed forest, wetlands, a nut grove, and a section of the Rideau River shoreline. While snaking through the woods, users delight in the network of level trails that are well marked and wide enough for snowshoers. The Fiddlehead Trail offers a 2.2 km circuit that meets the Grouse, Cattail, Hare, and Alder trails. Each one is a delight – well worth exploring.

Resting benches are strategically placed throughout the area. You’ll find others by the bridged entrance to an inlet of the Rideau River and on various observation decks. These offer ideal locations for a moment’s rest and refreshment.

Along the trail, interpretive panels will entertain and inform you on such topics as fossil fuels, life along the water, the food chain, and the 1990’s Ice Storm. The main bridge off the Fiddlehead Trail leads to the Fillmore Park Nut Grove. This grove, which boasts over 30 varieties of nut- and bean-bearing trees and shrubs, was planted in cooperation with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and the Eastern Chapter of the Society of Ontario Nut Growers.

While winter is not the ideal season to identify different types of nut trees, a visit to this section often entices visitors to return in warmer weather for further exploration. Here one can view such unique species as the Kentucky coffee with its unusual seedpods or the Chinese chestnut trees with their oblong waxy leaves and flowery clusters. The tall osprey nest and the pond area are focal points for the anticipated animation that heralds the warmth of spring.

Winter exploration challenges the nature detective within us to observe such environmental curiosities as seasonal changes, animal tracks, and fauna adaptation. As a means of travel, snowshoeing allows us to become attuned to the surroundings at a leisurely pace. A fresh blanket of snow provides an empty canvas for the artistry of squirrels, porcupines, rabbits, deer, lynx, coyotes, and fishers. Don’t forget to bring along your animal track and birding guides for quick and easy identification.

Watch for downy and hairy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, evening grosbeaks and flocks of snow buntings. Snowshoeing provides quiet transportation, so listen for bird songs that can lead to a rewarding visual encounter. While many birds frequent the feeders

and forage for seeds on dormant plants, you may even see a hawk in search of food, or a hidden owl waiting for the cover of darkness.

The unobtrusive nature of snowshoeing provides many ideal photo prospects, too. While people and animals are frequently viewfinder favourites, many other wonderful opportunities of the season await you here. Light often plays a critical role in winter photography, so be on the lookout for appealing shadows in the trees and for reflections on snow. Nature itself is extravagant with exciting designs, so try to capture unique ice formations, unusual snow drifts, the colours of a setting sun, or an extraordinary winter still-life image. Ice-encrusted flowers, a melting droplet of water, or the beauty of a massive snowflake make excellent subjects.

The Baxter Conservation Area holds particular appeal for families as

it offers the ideal introductory venue for youngsters to experiment with snowshoes. The open fields are an excellent training ground to let beginners get their footing prior to heading for the trails. When children have exhausted their interest in their newfound sport, the Baxter area also offers a small sliding hill, a pond that is occasionally used for

skating, and a campfire area. The trails are multi-purpose and host numerous walkers, cross-country skiers, and snowshoe enthusiasts. For a luncheon or early dinner break, the area around the Conservation Centre has numerous picnic tables.

In addition to offering a diverse natural area to explore, Baxter Area Visitor Services offers educational programs to community groups. Winter topics include Instincts for Survival, Endless Energy, Winter Ecology, and Animals and Habitats.

Don’t sit at home thinking that winter is a lost season. Discover its many incredible delights. Head out to the Baxter Conservation Area and you’ll find a rewarding and fun-filled experience every time!

— Jo-Anne Benson’s interest in the outdoors includes walking, canoeing, hiking, photography and exploring new destinations.

A cache is usually a resealable plasespecially amateur GPS users, finding Decrypting a cache in Ottawa’s backyard By Brian Cooke and Penny Tunnell GeoCaching “GEOCACHING” IS AN international craze that is revolutionizing the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS). tic container with a visitor’s book and a a straight drop cache is a tremendous prize placed in an isolated location. The thrill. On the other hand, if you happen grid coordinates are recorded using GPS, to wander dangerously off course (can and posted on the official Geocache web someone please tell me why Canadian site (www.geocaching.com) to allow othArmed Forces Bases don’t have perimers to search for it. eter fences around them?), you might

GPS enthusiasts can choose from have to field embarrassing questions from hundreds of thousands of caches located military police. all over the world, including the most The next level after straight drops is remote places on earth. (See the Spring a basic decryption cache. At the geocach2004 issue of Ottawa Outdoors Magazine ing web site, we found a cache hotlink for more details.) called Puzzles. It contains the cache’s coordinate location, a description of the Looking for the cache cache’s environs and a very important

Wandering through the trees of the clue encrypted in code. On a scale of difGreenbelt in Ottawa’s Bells Corners in ficulty, it was about 2 out of 10. Puzzles search of a hidden cache, Penny and I grid coordinate would not take us all are running out of time. It will be dark in the way to the cache itself. The posted an hour and we’re stymied. Somewhere, location (18 T 0433718 E, 5017810 N: within 12 meters of where we’re standing, NAD83) would take us though a forest to is a tree with a new set of cache coordia second set of coordinates nailed to a nates and the “key” to open the cache’s tree. We would be on our own from there lock box. We recall our heady days of with only an encrypted clue for help. amateur caching with easy, straightforBefore heading out, we did some ward instructions that inevitably led to the homework using topographical map 31 hidden treasure. This time, it isn’t so easy G/5 for the Ottawa area. The cache’s because we have graduated to the next location is in a large greenbelt less then level — a decryption cache. a kilometre from Robertson Road in

What have we gotten ourselves into? Bells Corners. There appeared to be two

Our first attempt with this new hobby approaches to it, with the closest and driinvolved an easy cache within walking est entry from Robertson Road. We also distance of Parliament Hill. This class checked to see if there was any private of cache, called property to block our access, or hidden GEOCACHING TIPS a “straight drop,” didn’t require any military installations.

Straight drops are a great introduction to be broken by ENIGMA, the famous specialized encryption/decryption typewriter. Since Penny and I don’t quite measure cariously from the top of a very geocaching. They up to the combined Allied war effort, we thin tree. are easy to find decide our first decryption cache needs • Bring a note pad, pencil and good sighting compass in case and tend to be located within a to be easy. Puzzles coded clue was a simple letter-substitution game. the cache requires a test of short distance of After painfully decoding the clues, skill. popular landmarks. I noticed a “decrypt shortcut” below the • Get an early start. It often For beginners, clue that could automatically decode the takes twice the expected time to find a cache, especially when it is a multi-leg cache.

One other aspect to this cache was • Use a good topographical map complicated probattractive — the clue decryption was easy. to pinpoint the cache’s location before heading out. Natural barriers such as streams, fence lines or marshes can block access to your cache from all but one direction, so lem-solving skills. We followed the web site instructions and used our GPS to zero in on Geocaching code types can vary from simple to elite. One legendary encrypted clue allegedly took mathematical analysts six months to crack. Others may require a background in foreign languages or plan your route and dress the hidden treacelestial charts. And then there’s SHARK, accordingly. sures location. a famous World War II code that can only • Bring a camera along. We spotted four deer and a very brave porcupine teetering pre

Photo by Brian Cooke. gibberish for me at the click of a mouse. Oh well. The cache’s first leg would take us over an old east-west rail bed and through a stately evergreen tree plantation. The sight of two deer stumbling carelessly into our path was worth the price of admission. Beyond the tree farm lies a marshy lake which, according to our GPS, was within a few metres of the clue we were looking for. When the GPS told us we were within four metres of the waypoint, we split up to find the tree bearing our next clue.

This is the frustrating thing about GPS accuracy. On a good day, the GPS selective availability — a small error added to the GPS signal by the U.S. government — is accurate to about five meters. Puzzles instructions said the secret tree was 12 metres off the trail we were following. So, we need to search 17 metres of forest, and it’s getting dark.

I am amazed when Penny finds it. An old padlock key and a second set of coordinates are nailed to a large tree. As Penny reads the digits aloud, I enter them into the GPS, which provides us with a new distance and bearing to follow. We cover the distance quickly and find the wooden box lodged under the remains of an old snake rail fence.

I don’t want to give anything away, but true to the cache’s name, we discover that the clue we decrypted back at home was crucial to opening the padlocked box. Defeating the padlock and enjoying the cache’s contents end the adventure with great fun and excitement.

— Brian Cooke teaches GPS enthusiasts of all skill levels. He can be contacted at Geotracks@aol.com. Penny Tunnell is his trusty paddling partner and has tremendous patience.

Q: How do you fit classic crosscountry skis? A: Skiers used to match their ski length to the height of their wrist with their arm raised. That measurement would give an approximate idea of the skier’s weight. Heavier weights do indicate a need for longer skis, but ability, technique and use are also essential gauges in sizing skis. According to Chris Bloch-Hansen, ski department manager at Fresh Air Experience (www.freshairexp.com), the camber (stiffness of your skis) can make or break your skiing experience. If the camber is too stiff, your skis won’t flatten against the snow for your wax pattern to make contact. But, if your camber is too soft, you’ll sink into the snow and won’t be able to glide.

An old-school fitting test for camber still works: Stand on a piece of paper wearing your skis. The paper should be able to slide around beneath your feet when you are standing on both skis, but it shouldn’t move when you stand on one ski. Beginners who don’t shift their weight from ski to ski should go with a softer camber, while experts (especially racers) prefer stiffer cambers, says Chris. A ski pro can help you determine the camber appropriate for your expertise and intended use.

Q: How should I protect and clean my commuter bike for winter use? A: You should be using a “beater” bike because slush, sand, salt and extreme temperatures will take their toll over the season. If you are not already using fenders, install them. They’ll keep some of the muck off you and your bike. Dave of Dave’s Bike Dump (www.bikedump.com) recommends preparing your bike for the winter by cleaning it thoroughly, allowing it to dry and then applying a rust-proofing product with a paintbrush.

During the winter, you’ll need to clean your bike frequently to keep it running smoothly. Reapply rust-proofing after each cleaning. If rust-proofing sounds too hardcore, use WD40 on all holes and moving parts, except the chain. A good quality winter oil (e.g. 3-in-1) helps protect your chain, although some riders prefer to use a cheaper oil because you need to apply it so often. You should replace your chain in the spring if it’s been used hard all winter.

Where to store your bike can be a tough call. If you leave it outside, a slushy chain can easily freeze. If you bring your bike inside, the change in temperature can encourage rusting. In terms of safety, knobby or studded tires will give you better traction, especially on ice and hardpacked snow. They’ll slow you down, too, but winter cycling is not about speed unless you’re a courier. The couriers use racing bikes with skinny tires that won’t gather snow and cut through to the pavement, says Dave.

Avoid toe clips because icy patches may surprise you. Use a bright white front light and a red back light. Making yourself visible with lights and reflective clothing is especially important in the winter since the days are shorter, snow banks make the road narrower and drivers aren’t thinking about sharing space with cyclists.

Q: What’s the scoop on winter water?

A: Don’t eat snow! You’ll burn so many calories converting snow to liquid that you can give yourself hypothermia. The same energy theory holds true when melting snow on a stove or over a fire — give yourself a head start by adding snow to warm water. To kill any microorganisms, boil melted snow for at least five minutes.

If you’re collecting stream water, you’ll need to purify it. Boiling works best in cold weather, says Dave Rayner, camping products manager at Mountain Equipment Co-op (www.mec.ca). If you are using iodine or chlorine dioxide tablets, you need to either increase the dosage or your wait time to purify your water.

Dave recommends preventing your water supply from freezing by insulating it. Thermoses or foam parkas for your water bottle will work, says Dave. Because hoses and nipples on hydration bladders can easily freeze, wide mouth water bottles are a better choice for winter use. Carry your water bottle upside down so any freezing that does occur takes place away from the nozzle.

— Kathleen Wilker loves cycling, skiing, running, swimming, canoeing, hiking, camping, traveling, visiting with family and friends, drinking coffee and writing.