Ok, so yesterday wasn't my last ski after all. It was 29 degrees this morning, so I thought I'd check out the classic trail. Also, I was curious about the length of the trail, and now that I have an iPhone, I can use the Runtastic app to find out. It uses GPS to map your route and calculate the distance. It turns out from my door, to I-94, then back north to the dike and home again is 20.5 kilometers. It took me an hour and 7 minutes to do the whole thing at a leisurely pace. Last week I did it in 55 minutes, really pushing it the whole way. Today, I counted squirrels--they were so BUSY. Most of them were running between the river bank and the trees. What are they doing? Going down to get a drink of water? Probably not, since many of the bigger trees now have puddles around their bases. Sunbathe? Nibble on grass exposed by the sun melting the south-facing side of the riverbank? Does anyone know?
In other animal news along the river, I saw a flock of 19 crows perched in a huge tree on the Moorhead site south of Gooseberry Park. I also saw something very interesting between 9th Ave and 13th Ave--a couple of holes in the snow leading right down to the river. I skied over to one, and it was all dark and watery inside. Is this where the beaver or river otter comes out? I can't believe I hadn't noticed this before.
The river is higher today. It is up to the docks at 13th Ave and just a foot or two shy of the banks in some spots. There is a 30% chance of this year's flood exceeding the "500 year flood" of 2009. I can still see bits of debris in the trees from the 2010 flood. The generous snows that have made this such an excellent ski season now transform to agents of destruction in the coming weeks. Again, as I ski, I imagine all of this trail being underwater soon, and I think about skiing through water, each stride and pole push like a swimming stroke. It feels so real, swimming and skiing share some similar sensations. Push and glide, stoke and flow.
The snow bridges over the bike trail are now ice bridges, and I predict that after today's melt, they will be gone.
In other animal news along the river, I saw a flock of 19 crows perched in a huge tree on the Moorhead site south of Gooseberry Park. I also saw something very interesting between 9th Ave and 13th Ave--a couple of holes in the snow leading right down to the river. I skied over to one, and it was all dark and watery inside. Is this where the beaver or river otter comes out? I can't believe I hadn't noticed this before.
The river is higher today. It is up to the docks at 13th Ave and just a foot or two shy of the banks in some spots. There is a 30% chance of this year's flood exceeding the "500 year flood" of 2009. I can still see bits of debris in the trees from the 2010 flood. The generous snows that have made this such an excellent ski season now transform to agents of destruction in the coming weeks. Again, as I ski, I imagine all of this trail being underwater soon, and I think about skiing through water, each stride and pole push like a swimming stroke. It feels so real, swimming and skiing share some similar sensations. Push and glide, stoke and flow.
The snow bridges over the bike trail are now ice bridges, and I predict that after today's melt, they will be gone.
Wouldn't that be a "coven" of crows? Congratulations on the blog, Kelly!!!
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