Snowshoeing and Skiing in Lake Itasca State Park

Enrico and I drove out to Lake Itasca State Park ahead of a winter storm. We arrived at 12:30pm, checked into our four-season suite, and got into our new snowshoes purchased from Costco (thought it appeared they were sold out, a salesperson tipped us off that a set had been returned, so we went for it). We headed out on the Dr. Roberts trail, fueled by John Wheeler's fruitcake. About midway through the loop, the snow, which had been falling gently when we arrived, started falling with greater intensity. We enjoyed the solitude, the fresh air, the beauty of Itasca in winter time. Enjoyed it so much, we proceeded to have a 12-hour nap upon return to our cabin (is 7:30pm too early to turn in? No? Okay then). 

When we woke up there were several inches of new snow, so we headed out on our Trak waxless skis. I had stashed a couple of baguettes with prosciutto and brie in my backpack, along with some spicy green tea, some apples slices, and, of course, water. 

His and hers Trak waxless skis

We stared out on the Ozawindib Trail, headed south. It had already been rolled, but tracks were not set. Though the storm had ended, little gusts of wind sent mini clouds of snow erupting from the high branches of white pines. Once we passed the crossover trail, the trail was not rolled and we began breaking trail. We determined to go all the way to the North Country trail, follow it west for 3.1 K and then head back north on Deer Park trail, a loop we had hiked in the fall, while camping at McKay Lake.

It was delightful to break trail--I love the feeling of new snow piling up against my shins, like snuggling into a down comforter up to my chin. My feet are warm inside my wools socks and ski boots, while the fluffy snow piles up around my feet and lower legs. Once we were on the southernmost part of the trail, the sun came out, and we felt like we were in a magical space--beauty all around us. We had been following the footprints of a fox, softened by the snow that had fallen during the night, but now, he had veered off, and we broke through pristine powder. Whereas I had taken the lead and the pleasure of this duty, after a couple of hours we traded places. Once we had reached the point where the trail headed north again, back to Lake Itasca, we looked for a fallen log in the sunshine to sit and eat our lunch, which our bodies were craving. A good spot presented itself just ten yards off the trail, so we went over, and sat down to rest and eat, just for the length of time it took to consume most of our sandwiches, as we chilled down pretty fast. Afterward, I was happy I had packed dry mittens and a thicker hat, which I changed into. With the blood headed to our stomachs to digest the food, our fingers and toes got a bit cold (it was 18 degrees F, to the positive), so we stopped to swing our arms. 

We stopped at the McKay Lake camp site where we had camped in the fall. It is also beautiful in winter. From there, it was a bit of a slog back. We arrived back at our cabin as the sun was setting--a 4.5 hour ski tour. The only animals we saw were this lovely orange breasted bird, busy pecking at a white pine and a single squirrel. I love this quiet time of year and am grateful that I had the strength to be out skiing for four and half hours to witness the beauty of this season. 

Last rays of winter light on December 30th

Great weekend of skiing!

Since Fargo didn't have much snow, we drove to Maplelag resort on Saturday for a day ski. We explored Sap Run, sukkerbusk, and the North Loop. The trails had been groomed, though there were a few spots where the equipment kicked up some dirt. We were using our "rock skis" that already have lots of nicks and scratches in them, so no worries. It was a cloudy, warm day--about twenty above zero (F)--and midway through our ski, we saw a bit of sun breaking through the clouds. It was nice to be out for a couple of hours and also very nice to come back to some hot tea in a thermos in the car. One can now pay for a day pass online here.

The boys skiing on Sap Run at Maplelag

On Sunday we woke up to snow floating down (as opposed to being blown about), so we waited until the afternoon and then went for a ski along the river in the fresh snow. The sun came out, it wasn't very windy, and the new snow was lovely. Enrico and I went together and then the boys skied together. Afterward we had soup made from the cherry tomatoes that I had thrown in the freezer when we had too many ripening at one time in the summer. I made a focaccia to go with it. Sometimes a simple soup supper after skiing is especially satisfying. 

The trails along the river haven't been groomed, but it was still good kicking and gliding. 

Skiing?

My first ski of this season was on October 22nd--I was out for an hour and a half and had such high hopes for a good ski season. Since then, no significant snow. So . . . nothing but rollerskiing and bicycling. Being on sabbatical this year (and the Pandemic), I was free of my bicycle commute, so when I ventured out for some exercise, I had the time to explore some different routes. Usually, I take the bike path over to Gooseberry Park and ride the single track trails there. One day, I rode the bike path along the river to Lindenwood Park, then continued south on residential streets until I came out at University and followed that bike path to Iwen Park, where I hopped on to some single track routes south of 52nd Ave South. These trails were really fun, winding through the trees next to the river. I followed them back all the way to Lions Park and then returned home. I heard there were some additional single track trails on the Moorhead side of the river south of the interstate, so one day, after riding the Gooseberry trails, I headed over there. One has to go up on the bike path for a bit, but I followed the path of other riders and reconnected with the singletrack trails. These were also a lot of fun. I began remembering my technical skills from when I was younger and started doing some of the obstacles--so fun! 

When my sons came back from college at Thanksgiving, I was eager to show them these great trails, so the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I took Massimo out to the trails south of I-94. We were having a great time, and then as we were rounding a corner, I was suddenly thrown violently to the ground. I did not even see the obstacle. Fortunately, I did not hurt my shoulder, but my right foot did not release from my toeclips. I lay there for a moment to get my breath and Massimo caught up to me. I tried to get my foot out of my pedal, but I couldn't, so I asked him to unlace my shoe and get it off for me. I had landed on my hip and it really hurt, but I could stand up. I looked around the trail, and I could not see anything that could have caused my fall, except a little stick. It must have been knocked up into my spokes or something. The fall had been sudden--the bike stopped, but my body was still moving forward, but it was a flat section, so I did not endo. I found I could walk, so we began walking back. As we did so, I began to see stars, so I asked Massimo to call my husband and ask him to drive to meet us on the other side of the bridge between Gooseberry and Lindenwood Parks. I wanted to go to the walk-in clinic to check for concussion--I was really not feeling okay, and my hip felt weird. At the clinic, I was answering the physician's questions, and I realized I had no memory of Massimo putting my shoe back on, though he must have. I didn't lose consciousness in the fall, but I was missing some recall. They x-rayed my hip--not broken. No significant concussion (I was wearing my helmet). 

The next week was extremely painful. I had not hurt my ribs, but where my ribs connected to my sternum had been hurt. Every time I had to sneeze--extreme pain. The second week was not much better--all I could do was go for short walks. Week three was much better, and yesterday, I went out bicycling on my fat tire bike. I took it very easy--my groin muscle is still tender from the twisting sudden fall. It felt so good to break a sweat again! And it was beautiful out with the light dusting of snow. I rode for an hour and it was a joy. I hope we get some more snow soon, so we can start skiing!

One more ski on March 28th!

When I woke up this morning, it was below freezing, so I decided to venture out one more time for a little crust skiing, knowing full well the ski trail would be further underwater due to the rising river. I couldn't resist, though! I got out my worst pair of skate skis and walked to the first patch of snow I could find. I got to ski maybe 100 meters before the trail went underwater. I walked around that, skied for another 100 meters, walked again, and after the water treatment plant, I found plenty of crust skiing all the way through Ponte Park. Then I had to jog aways to be able to ski on a short section of skate trail above water. At the end of the skate trail, I walked up the hill and over to the baseball diamonds in Lindenwood Park. The fence had served as a wind and snowbreak all winter, and there was snow piled up next to it. This made for the best skiing of the day. I skied around the outfield and back a few times, enjoying the feeling of gliding. As I made my way back, it was getting close to 10am and the temperature was going above freezing. The magical crust skiing was almost over--I could feel the snow giving way beneath my skis, but at least I got some exercise outside in the sunshine. When I got home, I had to wash the mud from my skis and boots before putting them away for the season.

Transitioning from Skiing to Biking

Enrico and I had stood on this dock last night with the dog. Today, there is water over it.

On March 25th, I thought the ski trail here in Fargo looked pretty bad, so I decided to go fat tire biking for my workout instead. I had been doing a bit of running, but my shins needed a break. The river was rising, covering part of the ski trail, and the bridge from Lindenwood to Gooseberry had been raised. It was just below freezing, so the ski trail was firm enough to bike on without leaving a rut. I enjoyed experiencing the trail I have enjoyed so much this winter from a different perspective.

Good-bye, ski trail. 

Getting ready for the spring flood.

Skiing in the time of social distancing for Covid-19

Look at this beautiful corduroy I got to skate on!

During our first week of self-isolating, it was a big change to go from an empty nest of two middle-aged people to five people, three of whom are college-aged. It was also NDSU's spring break. Instead of having  abreak, I needed to figure out how to change my instruction from face-to-face in the classroom to online. I also needed to figure out how we could all live together without reverting to childhood routines. Pretty soon, I needed some stress relieving!

My younger son, Massimo, and I have a few things in common

Spring fever!

My solution was to drive out to Maplelag resort to catch some of the best spring cross-country skiing before the snow melted. On my first outing, it was just me and Enrico. We did not see anyone on the trails at all. Maplelag was closed for the season, but the conditions were holding steady.

The second time, I took Denali and Alessandro. The third time, Enrico, Massimo, Denali, and I went. There were a few more people who were there that time. Each time was superlative! Here are a few photos from those wonderful outings. Many thanks to Jay Richards for keeping the grooming going and making the most out of the dusting of snow we had that week. This was a great relief during the first week of social distancing due to the pandemic of Covid-19.

Denali, Enrico, and Massimo tried classic skiing, but it was a bit icy, so they switched to skate skiing.

Two Red Foxes on the Red River--Fat Tire Biking at -10F

Got back to Fargo at 1pm on Thursday, January 9th, a day later than expected due to travel delays. I headed out for a ski at 3pm. I knew there had been a big snowfall here, but what I found in breaking trail from our road to the ski trail is that there must have been some rain or something too because the big mass of snow had a glaze on it. Breaking trail reminded me of a toasted marshmallow--crisp on the outside and heavy and gooey in the middle.

See the glaze on top of the snow?

I headed down to the classic trails and found them to be poorly groomed and walked on. The divots had filled with leaves and the leaves had been dragged through the tracks by previous skiers. As a result, there was not much gliding to be had, as my kick wax picked up debris and either dragged my ski or stopped it rather suddenly. I trudged on, thinking each new section of the trail might be better, but it wasn't. At least, I thought, when I get near I-94, I will pass through a section with no trees or bushes that should be clear. However, when I got to that section, I found it partially covered with dirty globs of snow from the road having been cleared. Yuck! I skied home, disappointed.

Today, I decided to switch to fat tire biking. I have a Specialized Fat Boy that Enrico gave me for Christmas one year, and last year he gave me some new toasties from Apocalypse Design in Fairbanks to go with it. It hasn't really been cold enough to use them, but this morning it was -16F, so I put them on before heading out. It was a bit chilly riding on the bike path--I had to pull my neck gaiter up over my nose for a bit--but once I got into the woods in Gooseberry Park across the river, I was going more slowly on the narrow trail, and I was warmer. Of course, my hands stayed toasty warm, thanks to the toasties.

Here's what the bike path looks like now, and you can see my toasties. 

It's been a while since I have ridden on a narrow trail, so I felt a bit awkward at first. Once I let go of the death grip on my handlebars, the little balancing moves came back to me, and I was able to do a circuit of the trails without falling. Most parts of the trail were firm, but a few sections were softish, which was no problem for my Fat Boy. I had fun on the corners and the little ups and downs, laughing to myself. 

Here's what the Gooseberry trail looks like today. 

Because of the cold, there was no one else out--no other bikers, skiers, or dogwalkers--and only one squirrel. On my ride back home, I was musing on how I had not seen any animals while out today, when I came to the section of the river just upstream of the water treatment plant and saw TWO RED FOXES right in the middle of the river. One ran downstream, while the other stayed sitting and looking at me the whole time. Coincidentally, not 5 yards behind that fox, just on the river bank were he was sitting, was a deer, just hanging out, watching the fox, like I was doing. 

The foxes were so brightly colored in the sunshine against the snow and they were so FLUFFY too. They looked really orange and white, like a creamsicle. It made me happy to see them. I hope they eat the rabbits in my backyard before gardening season!

It was a bit cold for taking selfies, but I just had to anyway. When I'm too old or sick to do this, I want to re-read my blog and remember how happy I was. Nothing like laughing in the woods in subzero temperatures!