I picked up Enrico from NDSU after he was done teaching Thursday afternoon, and we headed up to the athletic complex to be tested for Covid-19. I already had the car packed with snowshoes, skis, poles, boots, and fat tire bikes, along with some food, including an assortment of croissants from Nicole's fine pastry. We were headed to Itasca State Park for a long weekend to "Live deep and suck out all the marrow of life," as Thoreau said, which for us, meant grabbing the last few kilometers of skiing as the temperatures climbed from 20 to 55 degrees.
Once we got notice that our Covid-19 tests were negative, we texted the results to our longtime friends, Barb and Mike Kelly, who were driving from their home in Hayward, Wisconsin with a similarly stocked vehicle. They stopped at Tutto Bene in Bemidji to pick up our to-go order of pasta, bruschetta, crab ravioli, and more and we met up at the adjoining four-season suites we had rented on the shore of Lake Itasca. We arrived just as it was getting dark and tucked into a fine meal. After months of eating alone, it was so wonderful to eat with friends, catch up with each other's lives, and plan out our play time for the weekend.
Friday morning, Enrico, Barb, and I skied the trail from the suites to the Visitor's Center and then followed the trail from there toward the headwaters. It was pretty icy, but the classic tracks were intact, and we had a good ski. We came back to the suites, and had lunch with Mike. After that, I convinced Mike to come ski with me. He and I went further than the three of us had gone in the morning. We were just enjoying the conversation, softening trail conditions, clear, blue sky and bright sunshine. After Mike and I got back, I switched from skis to fat tire bikes and then ventured out on a reconnaissance mission with Enrico and Barb. I was riding my new Framed Fat Tire bike and Enrico was riding my old Specialized Fat Boy, which I felt was too big for me.
Barb had a beautiful carbon fiber bike custom outfitted. The road by Mary Lake was clear of snow, which was fine riding, but I wanted to see how my new bike handled on trails, so we tried out Ozywindib trail. It was OK at first, but soon we were sinking in too much on the soft snow and we didn't want to tear it up for the skiers, so we turned back and then tried riding up Wilderness Drive. It was quite firm, having been rolled for skate skiing. We continued up to Deer Park trail then rode down that back to Douglas Lodge. We reported back to Mike on our findings. Barb made a delicious tomato shrimp stew over rice and served cupcakes from their local bakery for dessert.
On Saturday morning, Barb and I decided to head back out on Wilderness Drive. It was still below freezing, so we thought it should be firm and fun. I was skate skiing, and she was on her fat tire bike, and somehow we managed to stay together. She was faster on the downhills and I was a little ahead on the steeper uphills. We went to Elk Lake, but in that area, there was a lot of bare pavement with ice on the edges, which was not great for skiing, so we decided to turn back. I wanted to take a photo, but I found out then that I had lost my phone. On the way back, we kept an eye out for it, and fortunately found it right in the tracks on one of the downhills--it must have popped out of my vest pocket when I assumed a tuck position. We got to hear a piliated woodpecker--it sounded like he was laughing at me for losing my phone. I love the woods at Itasca State Park.
On Saturday afternoon, the four of us set out on our fat bikes for the headwaters of the Mississippi, which flows north after leaving Lake Itasca. After riding awhile on the road, Mike turned back and the rest of us continued. At the boat launch, we left the road and took the bike path and walking path to the headwaters. We experienced hard-packed snow and ice, soft snow, open ground, and mud. Talk about transition season.
At the headwaters my knee let me know that it had had enough fun for the day, so I called Mike to come pick me up. Barb rode back with me and Enrico pedaled back the way we had come. That night I made polenta and ratatouille for dinner and we played Sequence. After 2 and half hours of us ladies dominating the game, Enrico and Mike finally conceded--hahahaha. Final score: 7 to 4.
On Sunday morning, Enrico and went for one final ski on the bike path--he was doing diagonal stride, and I was skating. We both had our rock skis on and made good use of them over dirt, branches, pavement, and grass that was showing after a couple of days of warm, sunny weather. This was the end, my friend. We said our good-byes knowing we had made the most of the little remaining snow and could look forward to spring without regrets.
Also, Mike set me up with a "smart" trainer and a computer loaded with the Rouvy application. Now Barb and I can meet up and go for rides together virtually--looks like fun!
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