Maple Lake Ontario

Updated! Weekend & Long Term Weather Forecast – 3.05.10 – 3.12.10 – Haliburton Highlands Southern Ontario – Sunset Webcam Photos March 5, 2010

Ξ March 5th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ontario, Photography, canada, cottage country, weather, webcam, winter |

Southern Ontario Short Term Weather 3.5-6.10

Welcome to the first weekend of March!

From some of today’s Southern Ontario webcam photos it looks like there’s (been) a thaw in parts of Southern Ontario. Definitely in Reach Harbour and in Haliburton.

And so yep (I checked), this big thaw in the Haliburton Highlands area and other areas is continuing through next week!

The spring transition is always such an active, shifting weather time.

Haliburton Highlands – Maple Lake Long Term Weather

Short-term weather Haliburton Highlands. Tonight–Friday night was clear and with low of 11°F or so. Chilly!

Sunny skies will greet you both waking up and through the day on Saturday temperatures will be mild, climbing  to 43°F with sunny skies lasting until early afternoon. The temperature steadily declines until at midnight it is expected to be clear and 27°F . Then a big change occurs. Around 1 a.m. fog moves in with patchy fog with denser fog  mixed in in certain areas. Temperatures will be around 27 °F.

Sunday morning through mid-day will be sunny with nice temperatures going from 29°F up to 43°F during the day until a shift around 6 pm with clear skies moving to variable periods of cloudiness and temperatures falling to 26°F overnight on Sunday.

Haliburton Highlands Long Term Weather Forecast 3.5-3.12.10

Haliburton Highlands Weekend Weather and Long Term Weather Forecast – 3.05.10 – 3.12.10

Lake Nipissing Sunset (3.5.10) North Bay, Ontario, Canada (northwest of the Highlands)

Monday, expect cloudy periods but still above normal ‘thaw’ temperatures of 41°F. The overnight low on Monday is forecast to be 26°F. There’s a pattern of freeze overnights and thaws during the daylight hours for most of the week so watch out for ice patches–all potentially dangerous ice, actually.

Tuesday willy be sunny with a high of 36°F and an overnight low of 17°F. It seems the nights are normal but the daytime temps are above, right?

Wednesday is the second of at least a four of sunny days in a row (1). Expect the high on Wednesday to be 36°F and the low temp overnight–same as last night– 17°F.

Thursday is sunny with a high of 34°F and an overnight low of 18°F.

The beginning of next weekend is starting off on a sunny note with a high of 41°F. Overnight lows will be 26°F.

Have a great week!

‘The hockey gold medal has come home, where it belongs’

Ξ March 1st, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Photography, United States, canada, events, news, winter |

Sidney Crosby wins gold for Canada. (Photo credit: Doug Mills/New York Times)

The depth and breadth of hockey’s place in Canadian culture can be hard to fathom beyond the borders. But it now might be heard, echoing from the north, thanks to a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States in the final event of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

To hear Canadians tell it, the hockey gold medal has come home, where it belongs.

Canada did not win as many medals as it had hoped at these Olympics, which closed on Sunday night, but it won more golds (14) than any country in history. The last, an emphatic exclamation point on the 2010 Vancouver Games, will be collectively cherished more than any other.

This, after all, is a country whose $5 bill has a scene of children playing hockey on a pond, with a quotation from the short story “The Hockey Sweater,” by Roch Carrier:

“The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places — the school, the church and the skating rink — but our real life was on the skating rink.”

Hockey, the Canadian poet Richard Harrison once said, “is the national id.”

Continue reading this article at the The New York Times.

Roberto Luongo w/ victory flag (Photo credit :NYTimes/Stalknecht)

Team Canada Olympic hockey team wins gold/ Photo credit: Doug Mills, NY Times

It is really hard not to gloat.

The men I live with were rather smug about Canada’s loss to the U.S. earlier in the competition. They felt quite sure that the US had a lock on the gold.

There was never a doubt in my mind that Canada would take home the hockey gold. The world’s record 14 gold medals  for Canada is the fudgey chocolate icing on my Nanaimo bar.

Weekend & Long Term Weather Forecast – 2.26.10 – 3.05.10 – Southern Ontario Webcam Photos – Haliburton Highlands, More

Ξ February 26th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Haliburton Highlands, Ontario, Photography, Trails, canada, cottage country, weather, webcam, winter |

Feb 26th, 2010- It’s been the stormiest week of the year so far for Southern Ontario.
Read on to see what else Mother Nature has in store for this weekend and the upcoming first week of March, 2010.

Haliburton Highlands Weekend Weather 2.26.10

Weekend Weather Forecast Haliburton Highlands - Maple Lake 2.26-27.10

Welcome to your weekend!

This evening Friday expect cloudiness with clear breaks and a temperature of 29°F. Overnight there will be scattered flurries with a rather mild low of 27°F.

Saturday morning calls for continued scattered flurries with a temperature of 29°F. Scattered flurries continue through Saturday afternoon. It will be unseasonably warm with temperatures climbing to 34°F. Saturday overnight expect variable cloudiness with a few flurries and a low of 26°F.

Haliburton Highlands – Maple Lake Long Term Weather 02.28–03.05.10 (below)

Haliburton Highlands Long Term Weather Forecast 2.28 - 3.5.10

Variable cloudiness returns on Sunday with temperatures still on the warm side at 34°F. Overnight, expect temps to slip to 26°F.

Variable cloudiness opens the month of March on Monday.  The high temperature is forecast to be 29°F.  The overnight low is expected to be 24°F.

Tuesday ushers in cloudy periods and a high of 32°F.  The overnight low will drop to 22°F.

Wednesday returns to a familiar theme of variable cloudiness and a high of 29°F.  The overnight lows continues to be lower as the week progresses. Expect Wednesday’s nighttime low to be 18°F.

Thursday will be a sunny day!  High temps on Thursday are forecast to be 24°F. The low overnight drops to 11°F.

Friday will be mainly sunny day with a high of 27°F and an overnight low of 13°F.

Have a great week!

Be sure to CLICK to enlarge the web cam photos below taken today Friday, February 26, 2010

Haliburton Highlands Winter Trail Report – February 26-28, 2010*

Ξ February 26th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Algonquin Township, Haliburton Highlands, Haliburton, Haliburton Highlands, Maple Lake Ontario, NON paid Post, Ontario, Photography, Trails, canada, family, fun activity, winter |

Photo courtesy of the Haliburton Highlands Tourism Dept.

Weekend Winter Trail Report Haliburton Highlands (CLICK to enlarge)

Weekend Winter Trail Report Haliburton Highlands Pt. 2 (CLICK to enlarge)

Ski Conditions defined (CLICK to enlarge)

Working on weekend and long term weather forecast–will be posted soon!

Ontario Cup Races at the Haliburton Nordic Ski Club February 27-28, 2010

Ξ February 23rd, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Haliburton, Haliburton Highlands, NON paid Post, Ontario, Photography, Trails, canada, cottage country, events, family, fun activity, winter |

Photo: http://www.xcottawa.ca/articles.php?id=356

Each winter a series of races take place in locations throughout Ontario that collectively form the Ontario Cup series.

Each district of Cross Country Ontario hosts a race at one of it’s member club sites.

Races typically run on weekends with Saturday races being of the ‘Classic’ style and Sunday races being of the ‘Free’ or ‘Skate’ style.

There are age categories for the participants in each race that may include midget-aged boys and girls, juvenile aged boys and girls, junior aged boys and girls, junior aged men and women, and senior men and women.

Points are awarded based on finish results of each race. These points are used to as selection criteria for high performance team selections and awards.

This winter, Southern Ontario District is proud to support two Ontario Cup races. On January 16 & 17, Arrowhead Nordic and the community of Huntsville will be hosted the Ontario Winter Games. Ontario Cup #2 took place that weekend.

On the weekend of February 27 & 28, Haliburton Nordic Ski Club will host Ontario Cup #5. Both events promise to be a great showcasing of Nordic skiing in southern Ontario. Take the opportunity to go and watch, participate, or volunteer to help out.

Glebe Park Haliburton
Contact: County Visitor Info Centre
Tel: 705-286-1777 or 1-800-461-7677,
Email: tourism@county.haliburton.on.ca

This is a non-sponsored post in support of the Haliburton Highlands.

Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir Win Ice Dance Olympic GOLD

Ξ February 23rd, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ontario, Photography, canada, events, winter |

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir win freedance Olympic Gold for Canada 2.22.10

VANCOUVER — Theirs has long been an almost uncanny alchemy — great parts platonic love and respect — and on Monday the mix was potent enough to transform a beautiful 14-year partnership and endless personal sacrifices into an Olympic gold medal.

It wasn’t so much magic on a grand scale, because implying sleight of hand or smoke and mirrors would not do justice to the intricate, romantic free dance program that sent Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir flying to the top of the podium at Pacific Coliseum. Quite simply, their heartfelt performance and technical mastery over ice dancing’s ever more difficult elements — the lifts and spins and twizzles — set the bar too high even for their young friends and training mates, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who settled into silver, a rather distant six points behind.

“What a night, what a week for us,” said Moir. “We knew it was in us, but to get out there on the Olympic ice and perform, and execute like that; it’s a feeling that I’ve never had.”

“It was just about skating together and skating from our hearts and enjoying the moment for us and skating for the two of us,” said Virtue. “We’re so proud to be Canadian and do it for the nation. This is absolutely Canada’s medal.”

Continue reading this story: SOURCE

Scott Weir & Tessa Virtue win Olympic Gold for Canada - 2.22.2010

Moguls Skier Alexandre Bilodeau Snags 1st Canadian Gold At 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Ξ February 15th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Photography, events, family, health/happiness, winter |

Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau competes during men's freestyle skiing moguls qualifying on Cypress Mountain at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, February 14, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake

Family Day unofficially was extended across the country Monday as millions of proud Canadians continue to come together to celebrate the athletic achievement of moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau.

The country remains abuzz after the 22-year-old captured an Olympic gold medal on Sunday night in Vancouver, the first by a Canuck in a Games hosted by Canada in 34 years.

“Bravo Alex Bravo!” speedskater Charles Hamelin, a medal favourite at these Games, said of his Canadian teammate on Twitter. “He is my hero, I am so happy for him! I’m eager to congratulate him in person!”

That could happen Monday as Bilodeau will receive his gold medal at a ceremony in downtown Vancouver.

Also “pumped” for Bilodeau is Brian McKeever, a visually impaired cross-country skier who soon will make history himself as the first Paralympian to compete at a Winter Olympics.

“What a performance to give us the first gold on home soil,” the 30-year-old native of Canmore, Alta., tweeted. “Now maybe the media will focus on something else.”

Proud Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was among the crowd of 60,000-plus at Friday’s opening ceremony under the roof at BC Place Stadium, phoned Bilodeau after his victory and said: “Canadian families across the country are proud of you, Alex.”

A medal contender, Bilodeau nailed his last run, blazing through the slushy moguls to a 23.17-second finish and a score of 26.75 to best defending Olympic champion Dale Begg-Smith, a Vancouver native who now competes for Australia.

SOURCE: National Post

Congrats to Canada’s Alexandre Bilodeau on breaking the 34-year Olympic gold-on-home-soil (snow?) drought.

Despite all the noise from the usual suspects about who should have won (ironically, the Australians are saying that the gold should’ve gone to a former Canadian, now Aussie competitor) this a morale boost for all Canadian competitors. The pressure is off all of them in that Alex Bilodeau has “broken the curse.”

And though some are spouting the old, tired complaint that since Alex is a native of Quebec (which last time I googled, was a province in CANADA! Has there ever been a time when both Quebec and the rest of the provinces existed that they did not feud about what constitutes the “real” Canada?!), Canada has not truly won the gold yet, Alexandre Bilodeau will go down in history as the winner of the of Olympic gold medal on Sunday night in Vancouver. Bravo to Alex and to the Canadians who are not nit-picking his victory–just reveling in his wondrous win and the pride felt seeing the gold bestowed upon this phenomenal Canadian athlete.

Miss Canada to Attend The Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby – February 14, 2010

Ξ February 12th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Algonquin Township, Haliburton Highlands, Food and/or Drink, Haliburton, Haliburton Highlands, Maple Lake Ontario, NON paid Post, Ontario, Photography, Trails, canada, cottage country, entertainment, events, fun activity, health/happiness, winter |

Miss Canada International 2010 - Canadian Ambassador to the Teddy Bears of Hope Campaign

(February 12, 2010, Haliburton, ON) The County of Haliburton is excited to announce that Bridget Nickerson, Miss Canada International 2010 will be in the Haliburton Highlands this Family Day Weekend!

A native of Nova Scotia, Miss Nickerson is currently touring across Canada. Miss Canada is strong supporter of giving back to her community and as such, she is the Canadian Ambassador to the Teddy Bears of Hope Campaign.

The Teddy Bears of Hope bring smiles and hope to children all over the globe who are lonely, underprivileged and caught in a web of poverty and despair.

Miss Canada International will attend the Haliburton Highlands Dog Sled Derby at the Pinestone Resort & Conference Centre on Sunday, February 14 where she will be available for media interviews and photos between 10 am and noon. She will also attend the Blue Line Charity Auction at McKeck’s on Sunday from 4 to 6pm. On Monday, she will enjoy some of the great winter activities the Haliburton Highlands has to offer before continuing her journey across Canada.

Thanks to the County of Haliburton, Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Marketing!

This is a  non-paid post in support of the County of Haliburton and the Haliburton Highlands.

Haliburton Highlands Dog Sled Derby $10,000 Purse! FREE for Spectators!

Ξ February 10th, 2010 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Haliburton Highlands, NON paid Post, Ontario, Photography, Trails, canada, cottage country, events, family, nature, winter |

Haliburton Highlands Dog Sled Derby – February 13th & 14th, 2010

$10,000 Purse, minimum guaranteed!!!

The 2010 Haliburton Highlands Dog Sled Derby will be held at the Pinestone Resort & Conference Centre on Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, 2010. The race trail will be very much like  last years with the 8 dog teams running a 6 mile course.

There are both Purebred & Alaskan Classes, Kid & Mutt and a Youth Race.

This race is IFSS & ISDRA Sanctioned, part of OFSS Triple Crown Race Series.

Spectator Info

If you have never watched a dogsled race it is definitely a sight to behold. With the dogs lunging, howling and barking to get the races started, flying out of the start gate at speeds reaching up to 30km/hr and racing for the richest purse in Ontario, there is lots of action going on.

This year the races will take place at the Delta Pinestone Resort, located 5 minutes south of the village of Haliburton on County Road #21 (formerly #121). Races will be going on all day Saturday and Sunday with teams going out at 2 minute intervals, so you don’t need to worry about missing them! It is anticipated that over 70 teams from across Ontario, Quebec and the Northern United States will take part. The most popular race every year is the Kid & Mutt race but just as fun (and also unique) to watch is the Skijoring class, with mushers on cross country skis, being pulled by 1 or 2 dogs. The large 8 dog race class also offers lots of excitement.

The races are free for spectators to attend, and there are several vantage points for watching the action, both at the start/finish and out on the trail. Programs will be available at the races.

Note: If you have a pet dog please leave him or her at home as  your pet can distract the race dogs. Thanks!

For more information contact:
Tanya McCready & Hank DeBruin,  Winterdance Dogsled Tours
Box 631,  Haliburton,  Ontario,  Canada  K0M 1S0
Phone:  (705) 457-5281
email: info@winterdance.com

Race Schedule (tentative)

All events will take place at the Pinestone Resort, 5 km south of Haliburton on Hwy #21.

Friday February 12th, 2010

7:00 pm Registration (outside Highlanders – Pinestone Resort)

8:00 pm Welcome & Bib Draw (Highlanders Bar)

Saturday February 13th, 2010

7:30 am Late Registration (Kinmount Room – Pinestone Resort)

8:00 am Drivers Meeting (Kinmount Room – Pinestone Resort)

9:00 am 4 dog race start

10:45 am Skijoring

12:00 am Kid & Mutt

12:30 pm 6 dog race followed immediately by Recreational race

2:00 pm Youth Race

3:00 pm 8 Dog Race

Sunday February 14th, 2010 7:30 am

Drivers Meeting (Kinmount Room – Pinestone Resort) 8:30 am

4 dog race start 10:15 am

Skijor Race 11:45 pm

6 dog race followed immediately by Recreational race  1:15 pm

Youth Race 2:30 pm

8 dog race start 4:00 pm

Award Ceremony & Volunteer & Sponsor Party (Pinestone Resort)

This is an unpaid post done as a community service for the Haliburton Highlands area.

Weekend and Long Term Weather Forecast – 2.06.10 – 2.12.10 – Ontario Webcam Photos – Haliburton Highlands – Maple Lake, Ontario

Ξ February 6th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Haliburton Highlands, Maple Lake Ontario, Ontario, Photography, canada, cottage country, nature, weather, webcam, winter |

Ice racing - Minden, Ontario, 2010

Haliburton Highlands – Maple Lake Short Term Weather Forecast 2.06.10 (below)

Weekend Weather - Short Term, Haliburton, Ontario 02.06.10

The weather for West Guilford/Haliburton Highlands Saturday morning will be mainly sunny with a temperature of 0°F. By Saturday afternoon expect sunny skies and temperatures to rise to 15°F. Saturday evening will be clear with a temperature of 8°F and overnight Saturday expect a low temp of 2°F.

include cloudy periods and a few flurries with a low temperature of 0°F.

Scattered flurries continue through Sunday morning and afternoon with a high temperature of 18°F.

Sunday evening temperatures begin the downward slide to 13°F and variable cloudiness. Overnight will be mainly clear with a low temperature of -2°F.

Haliburton Highlands – Maple Lake Long Term Weather 02.07–02.12.09 (below)

Sunday will be a mainly sunny day with a high temperature of 13°F and a low of 2°F.

Looking at the traditional workweek on Monday you can again look forward to a bright, sunny day with a high of 18°F and a low temperature of 4°F.

Tuesday continues the sunny skies trend with a high temperature of 20°F.  The low temperature overnight will be 0°F.

Wednesday brings scattered flurries and a high of 18°F.  The overnight low will again be 0°F.

Thursday, the sunny skies return with a high temperature of 17°F.  The low will be 4°F.

Friday will again be mainly sunny with a high of 18°F and an overnight low of 4°F.

There will be no significant snowfall for the entire week.

Make it a good one!