Cross-country ski season

Conditions are good enough for an hour of xc skiing right out Picton's back door into the wilds of Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area. I blazed a trail clockwise around the drainage basin. Park at the heritage house, skate ski up the wide path through Whattam's Memorial Park, then keep on the level to the east of the frozen pond. It gets tricky through the cedars and hemlocks where snow doesn't completely cover the rocks and sticks but once you're up on the high ridge the only thing that can trip you up are the prickly ash bushes. Don't attempt to traverse the steep slope for a short-cut home; there's a crusty ice just below the snow.