April 17th and still skiing, though the snow has lost its integrity, like certain academics I know, grump, grump

It was one of those 12-hour days in the office, and it seemed to snow all day long. Here is the view from my office. 

When I got home, Enrico had a nice pasta dinner ready, and Alex was playing violin. Ah. 

After dinner I harnessed up Noko, and we went out for a ski. Two observations:

1) Despite the fact that it has been snowing all day, the new snow could not keep up with the melting and there were exposed areas of the trail like the one in the photo below.

2) The snow has lost its integrity. How do I know? Well, when Noko and I were skiing around, every so often we would here a sound like Pshhhh! A whole plate of snow would then collapse. It was quite startling to Noko. It is a cool sound, like all the snow crystals are tiny bells that softly ring together. 

So, it is about over. Soon this little stretch of trail will be under several feet of water, as the river is expected to flood, possibly as much as in 2009. 

When I got back home, Enrico was looking at flood maps. I need to get a kayak and float far, far away from here. 

I can't believe I'm still skiing on April 16th!

Took my classic skis down to the river first thing this morning so that I could ski before it got too hot. The trail was in pretty good condition. Some parts were icy after melting and then freezing, which scraped my wax off. I did a lot of poling, which is just as well--balances out the lack of upper body work from my running. I caught up to a couple of older guys in Lindenwood, just out chatting and skiing. I love that. Then I  met a guy from Jamestown. He had heard on WDAY that our trails were groomed, so he drove all the way here to ski. He said his daughter had driven from Grand Forks to use the skate trail. COOL! Fargo is becoming the ski mecca I always knew it would be. On the way back, I skated for awhile since my wax was no good, and that was nice, except for the short poles. I saw a huge hawk in Pointe Park. Near the water treatment plant I saw some blood, fur, and bits of bark in the trail, so probably the hawk was having some hunting success. I skied for about an hour and a half. It was getting quite sunny by the time I finished, so this won't last long.

Tax day, post-blizzard ski

Yesterday I was supposed to drive to Bismarck for work, but as the day progressed, the lines on the ND DOT Travel Information map went from green to blue to purple to red as a winter storm swept across North Dakota. While we were waiting for the storm to hit Fargo, I went for a 10-mile run as part of my preparation for the Fargo half-marathon. After all, the ski trails were OK yesterday, but there was a lot of melting in the afternoon, so I doubted they would be that great on Sunday. From what I could see of the trails on my run, it was a good decision.

About an hour into my run, the snow started up. At first, it was just gently falling small flakes that melted as soon as they hit the bike path, but then the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, and soon my black dog, Noko, had a blanket of white on his back. When we got back home, we cleaned up, ate a lot, and then hunkered down to watch the storm. It did not disappoint. Flakes got fatter, and the array of flakes became more dense. Soon there was quite a bit of accumulation. We were falling asleep when the call came that school would have a late start in the morning to allow for a ski, I mean to allow for snow removal.

Today, Monday, April 15th, we woke up to the sound of our neighbor, Darren, snowblowing. He did the whole block--what a guy! Enrico sent the boys out to do hand-shoveling in other areas. I gulped down some protein mix, put Noko's harness on, and headed out the door with my skis. What big piles of snow! Both Noko and I were bubbling with excitement. The tiredness from the 10-mile run was forgotten as we climbed the dike and glided down to the trails.

First surprise--the bike path was already plowed--those Fargo Parks employees, they sure are on top of things!  I stepped gingerly over the pavement on my rock skis, and we headed downhill toward the river. That's when I got the big surprise . . .

Fargo Parks had already groomed both the classic trail AND the skate trail--unbelievable! Not only that, the skate trail was already set up, so we could ski it without gouging it. Heavenly day!

Noko on top of the dike

Why I LOVE Fargo Parks

End of the ski--heading back up the dike onto our street

Happy with my tax day "refund"

April Fool's Day ski

I feel lucky to have been able to ski on April 1st this year, although conditions were not very good in spots. Nevertheless, I enjoyed some parts quite a lot, getting into a good skate rhythm in the firmer sections. I had to take my skis off a few times to walk over the section that had been plowed to the water treatment plant and the part of the bike path that no longer has a snow bridge over it. I just skied to Lindenwood and back--the parts that were mushy were kind of hard on my knees and ankles. Lots of sunshine, shrinking snowbanks. 

Spring Skiing

It was warm this morning, but the trail was firm and a bit icy in spots. The early light makes it easy to get an hourlong ski in before work. The skate trail was a bit rutted in spots that got a lot of sun yesterday, and the city has dug a trench from the water treatment plant to the river, so one has to step gingerly over that, but mostly the trail is hard and fast. It was just lovely! I saw one other skier (classic), two runners, and no bikers. Two Canadian geese flew by. A cloudy sky, dirty snow, the bridge raised in anticipation of the coming flood--all signs that the end of the ski season is coming. But just maybe the clouds will protect the base today and we can sleep to ski another day. 

A ski for Ginny

When I started my ski today, I said to the trees, "This ski is for Ginny." Ginny Wood died yesterday at age 95. The last time I saw her was in 2010, when we visited Alaska and spent a few days at Camp Denali (which she founded) before traveling to Fairbanks, where we visited her at her home. She kvetched about an award she was given. Typical Ginny.

As I started my ski, the new snow sprayed up on my shins. It was fine grained snow with high moisture content. It wasn't too deep for skate skiing, but the spray felt funny--I imagined I was waterskiing. After the novelty of these unusual conditions wore off, I settled into a slow, steady rhythm and it was then that memories of Ginny came back to me. I had heard about Ginny and Celia from friends, from reading the Northern Alaska Environmental Center newsletter, etc., but it wasn't until I lived in "Dogpatch," their neighborhood on Musk Ox Trail, that I got to know them better.

I had just moved back to Fairbanks, after living "Outside" for a couple of years. I had left to join my boyfriend in Idaho and I came back married to another man--an Italian named Enrico. My friend, Buck Wilson, had a cabin on his land that he rented out, and it was free around the time we planned to move back, and he kindly rented it to us. That was a lucky break for us. We were in master's student poverty at the time. I had just finished my M.A., and Enrico was working on his M.F.A. Furthermore, I decided to pursue my teaching certification that year.

I knew the neighborhood was special from being a guest at Buck's house, attending some of his weekly saunas or movie nights, but now I begin to really see how so. As soon as you pull on to Musk Ox Trail, you can tell this is not your typical neighborhood. The road is dirt, and it is only as developed as it needs to be, and it meanders through the Taiga. Romany's cabin is the first one you come to and then Ginny and Celia's cabin. After that, the Beneschs and then a left turn uphill to Buck's place. The homes are set back from the road and all handbuilt, unique and fitting to each family.

There is a ski trail at the bottom of Ginny and Celia's property. It loops around through Herreid land and connects with the rest of the 20K university trail system. I didn't get to do much skiing in the neighborhood that first winter--first I had major abdominal surgery and then I was student teaching in North Pole, so I had to leave by 6am to make the drive and often didn't get back until 5pm. My evenings were full with preparing for the next day. The next winter I didn't ski much in the neighborhood either. I had my first teaching job at West Valley High School and I was also coaching the ski team. I had a knee surgery partway through the season--an ACL replacement--and then in spring I found out I was pregnant.

Ginny and Celia kindly rented Romany's house to us the next winter so that we would have more room and running water for when the baby was born. That winter, I skied with Celia, especially during winter break, the month before Alex was born. I felt like my joints would seize up if I did not get out and move each day, but I was nervous about going out alone. What if I fell and could not get up? I was HUGE by this point in my pregnancy. Celia was so kind--she met me to ski each day, and I think she even had to tie my boots the last few times.

When labor finally started, it was slow, so I walked up and down Musk Ox Trail, pausing to look at the stars every so often. Finally, Alex was born, and I was on child care leave for the remainder of the school year. I loved to see Ginny and Celia walking to the mail box each day, always in deep conversation with each other. Sometimes they would stop by on their way back to check in on me and Alex. Other times, I came by to see them. I loved to hear Ginny tell stories about their days as WAC pilots and starting Camp Denali. She told the same stories over and over and I never got tired of them.

When we had enough money, we bought our own house and moved away, but later I would regret it. Just being there with these wonderful neighbors was better than having one's own home. I wish we had stayed longer. I'll always be grateful for that time in our lives.

Good-bye, Ginny. 

Logging the Ks

I have been skiing 54 times this winter (since December 14th), from 25min to 2 hours each time. Yesterday, I got back from Las Vegas around 2pm and was out on the trail by 6pm. It was only 5 above, so I chose to do some classic skiing, and I had the perfect wax and perfect glide. It was sunny and lovely out, and my heart and lungs felt great, so I just went full steam for about an hour, enjoying my engine, feeling the fluidity of the kick-and-glide rhythm. It was "like butter"!

Today I went skijoring with Noko. He is obviously in better shape than at the beginning of the winter too. He doesn't have to stop and rest so often, and he can really pull hard sometimes. I had to tuck a few times because I just couldn't ski fast enough to keep up with him.

We are supposed to get 4-8 more inches of snow tonight! I'm delighted that the ski season is continuing. I really thought I would come back from the conference, and it would be over. So . . . I skied a lot before I left, even just before getting on the plane. Now, with cool temps predicted for the rest of the week, it looks like I will get a few more ski outings in. Maybe I can break 60?