December 14th ski

 

Three hardy souls--Bob, Judy and Di, with Scotty of course--braved the frigid temperatures to head to the Turtle Mountains for our first (for some of us) ski of the season.  

 

Things got off to a rocky start when Judy, who was driving, realized she'd forgotten her purse and therefore also her drivers' license.  That was a minor setback.  When we were 5 minutes from the park, Bob realized he'd forgotten his poles!

 

But, the trails were newly groomed, and Bob decided to give it a try without poles.    Di and I thought he might make it to the hut at the Bower turnoff, build a fire there and wait for us to come back, but he chugged along right to the James Lake cabin.  While a bit on the cool side, it was a gorgeous day--the tree tops were coated with ice and sparkled in the sunlight, and lower branches drooped with a heavy blanket of snow. 

 

We were ready for a warm fire and hot drinks when we got to the cabin, but as usual in that cabin, we got more smoke than warmth.  We dallied for an hour, and were just beginning to thaw our fingers and toes when we realized we'd better move if we were going to get out before dark.

 

We love those warm washrooms at the trailhead.  Di and Scotty had lots of time to warm up for the ride home while they waited for Judy and Bob, who finally showed up at dusk.  Kudos to Bob--a 10 km ski without poles for the first ski of the season is amazing!