Sat, Apr 11 2009 - Pigeon Lake Circuit - Slow Pace (View Original Event Details)
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This was the first time for either of us doing this trip, and aside from wishing we had some people join us, we had a wonderful day! Rather than cancel the event off the calendar (like I did with our events from a couple weeks ago where we also had no takers), I figured I would leave the event on the calendar and do a write-up and photos so that folks can see what we're doing and maybe we'll be able to get some of you to come join us in future!
We started at AJ's Trading Post (the Tempo Station) at the intersection of Highway 778 and Highway 616 and went west for a counter-clockwise trip around the lake. Since Brent has a mountainbike and I had a hybrid, we weren't shy about checking out some different roads and rather than stick with the highway (borrrrring) we followed the small lakeshore roads whenever possible.
The lake was still frozen, with some spots of open water, and we were surprised to see how many ice fishers (and vehicles) there still were out on the ice! We ventured off the highway early in our journey and took Lakeshore Dr through Itaska Beach, Sundance Beach and Mission Beach before heading back out onto the highway. This is a great route for bikes and people, but not so great for a car since the road is blocked in several places with barriers that have person/bike-sized foot-paths. We followed the highway around and to the Pigeon Lake Provincial Park where we stopped for a little break. Then, we continued on and followed Lakeview Dr through Poplar Bay, Grandview and Crystal Springs. Back up to the highway then, and headed in to Ma-Me-O Beach.
After Ma-Me-O Beach, we had our only unpleasant time for the day. Following all of our lakeshore successes, we decided to take the lakeshore road again from Ma-Me-O Beach, but we didn't realize that we were getting ourselves into gravel, gravel, and more gravel-ville. After a few kilometers, we stopped and consulted my trusty iPhone to find out how much more gravel we were in for, and it looked like we'd be done in just a short distance beyond. Alas, the intersection we were aiming for had nothing but gravel in all directions. By that point, we were halfway through the gravel in every direction, so to backtrack was pointless and we decided to move on forward knowing that our next intersection was the definitely-paved highway. It was a pretty gruelling experience with lots of deep, soft gravel that wanted to suck you in and throw you off your bike more than it wanted to let you proceed, and when we reached the highway just outside of Mulhurst Bay, we were pretty happy to see the pavement! A quick jaunt into Mulhurst Bay where we found Joe's. The staff were great and plopped a couple of chairs out onto their patio-cum-storage area so we could enjoy our beers outside instead of in the stuffy bar.
After leaving Mulhurst Bay, we had an easy ride back up to the highway and over to the car.
We will be doing this trip again later in the season - we have a great route mapped out now. We're going to start (and end) at Joe's, go the same direction around the lake, and skip the gruelling gravel section and instead use Hwy 780 for a slightly longer but much more civilized experience!
-- Rhonda
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.