Mountain Dell Ski With Mark

Mark and I made plans to cross country ski after work today. Originally we talked about hitting Millcreek, but switched over to Mountain Dell to mix things up (Mark hasn't been there before - I tried it for the first time last week).



Mark got delayed at work so I went ahead and went down to the course to discover that Wild Rose was having their fun race. The organizer asked if I wanted race - at first I said no, but then decided to give it a try. I was one of only 3 classical skiers, and sure enough the skaters took off fast. I was at the back and pretty much everyone passed me, but half way along the first lap of the main loop I passed one guy. Oh well. I chugged along trying to keep my pace up - man, going fast is work! I was pretty tired after the first lap but kept going. Felt a lot like mountain bike racing - you're hammered but you keep going anyway. I was slower on the second lap, but still tried to keep the pace up. I climbed the last hill to the finish with a time of 35 minutes for the 5.1K (3.1 miles). I've always wanted to try cross country ski racing and now I had and it confirmed that I'm slow. I had fun anyway.



After the race I waited at the top of the hill looking for Mark. Within a few minutes he came into view. We buzzed down the hill for another lap to go see the moose.About half way along the main loop, there they were - two adults and one calf. Here's the calf and mama about 50 yards away:



We finished off the loop and headed for home. Except I had parked downhill on ice and could get the car out. We worked at it for a while then put some stuff down for traction and some other came to push and I was out. Trick learned for one of the fellows who pushed: use the floor mats under the tires for traction - worked great. Thanks for sticking with me, Mark (he needed to get home just like me)! Not the best ending, but it was still enjoyable to spend some time sliding across the snow.

Also, I went for a 1 hour snowshoe quickie up in the foothills above my house yesterday after work. It was a good workout! There was some light when I started, but it faded and I turned on the headlamp. It was a little freaky being up there alone. I had thoughts that my noisy tromping would attract a hungry mountain lion. After climbing for 35 minutes I made a small loop and headed back down. I called my wife from a good vantage point to see if she could see my light from the house - no go, trees were in the way. I jogged down and enjoyed the faster pace and added challenge of not tripping over my shoes - I didn't fall once. Back at the car I loaded up and started up the car - my headlights illuminated a couple dancing to their car radio. Oops. sorry about interrupting the romance (there's a nice view of the city lights from there). I drove the mile back home and warmed up by the fireplace.