"Ottawa’s winter-lovers can now pick among a half-dozen skating trails that wind for miles through the wilderness in and around the city. But climate change threatens the good times."
"OTTAWA — No matter how enjoyable at first, whooshing round and round the constrained oval of an ice rink can get monotonous for even the most die-hard skater.
But gliding on the ice through miles of pristine forest, with birds in the trees, paw prints of wildlife imprinted in the snow and a new discovery beckoning around every bend? That never gets old to skaters in Ottawa, and ice trails winding through woodlots are multiplying in and around the city, Canada’s capital, helping fill what seems to be an insatiable demand there for new recreational skating options.
“This is an actual childhood dream come true: to be able to skate anywhere you want,” said Michelle Reid, who drove with her husband, Lee Larson, for about two hours from Kingston, Ontario, to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary at Icelynd, which became Ottawa’s sixth ice-trail network when it opened this January. “It’s travel by skate through a forest, instead of circles on a rink.”"
Ian Austen reports for the New York Times with photographs by Aaron Vincent Elkaim March 19, 2022.
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