Montreal had turned into a true winter wonderland early in the year. I had recently obtained snow shoes, and was itching to try them out.
Luckily Cam owned snowshoes too, and was ready to plow through the snowdrifts of 'the mountain' with me. For Montrealers, the mountain signifies our very own Mont Royal, landmark and center of the city.
We met up for a strengthening brunch on Parc Avenue before hitting the snow. Starting from the Cartier Statue that was surprisingly devoid of tam tams at this fine Saturday with -10C, we made our way up to the top. On passing beaver lake, I was tempted to have a go at tubing, but Cam was less enthusiastic. At the end we hiked up to the chalet and enjoyed the view - in my opinion the best view of downtown Montreal in any season.
We did not want to return by the beaten path, so we decided to cross the Cotes-des-Neiges cemetery instead. Here the snow was so high it came up to my thighs! Not wanting to step on graves, we picked our way carefully. Towards the lower end we stopped to read the inscriptions on some of the tomb stones. The deceased were mostly of Chinese origin. I would call that experience morbid but interesting.
Finally we made it back to civilization, and found new strength by way of visiting McCarold's pub.
A nice little hike that we would repeat one year later, albeit with a different route and at a chilly -18C.