Yesterday afternoon, we bundled up and headed to Spidahl's to go cross-country skiing. It is funny that there are these wonderful opportunities near Fergus Falls and we are still discovering them!
We are a fairly inexperienced at cross-country skiing, even though we can all downhill ski. Steve & I had tried crossing-country one-time before in Breckenridge, CO almost 4 years ago. Abby had tried it out about 9 months ago at Long Lake, MN. Kippy was giving it a shot for the first time.
Gearing up took us a while. Getting our boots to click onto the skis was not very easy. I'll have to say that the boots for cross-country are WAY more comfortable than the boots for downhill. Check out how "Bob" the black lab is supervising everyone. I think he sensed our inexperience. Perhaps we were entertaining to him as we tried to figure everything out.
We had many different trails to choose from, but we stuck with a beginner trail that was 1.1 miles long. Notice the grooves that Abby's skis are in? Those are there to help a beginner out.
The trail wound through some beautiful natural forest. It was so serene and quiet. We all shuffled along trying to get a rhythm going. Abby just scooted on past all of us.
Did I mention that it was pretty cold? I think it was 5 degrees or so. I was freezing my fingers off at this point because I had to take my gloves off to work my camera. I figured I would need to go back to the lodge and warm up.
Don't I look like I should be cozy warm? I was wearing insulated snow pants, on top of insulated sweat pants, which was on top of winter cuddle duds, one sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, a Columbia coat, insulated mitten/gloves, turtle fur and a headband. I am surprised I could move at all!
Kippy had a hard time staying in the "grooves" and fell countless times. Steve ended up skiing with Kippy so he could help her, while Abby and I went off on our own. Once I got some momentum going, I got toasty warm.
I loved how everyone of us had frost in our eyelashes (Steve's was in his beard). Some of my hair had actually gotten frozen to my turtle fur! I can't wait to go back again!
Today my shoulders and quads are sore, so I guess that means I either got a good workout, or am really out of shape. Either way, I finally found one winter activity where I wasn't freezing to death the whole time!
4 comments:
Ethan goes cross country skiing for Prairie Wetlands and wants all of us to try it. I didn't know where we could go, so thanks for the tip! Where is this place exactly?
That looks like...almost fun. I don't ski...at all. Would I be dumb to try this? Jim thinks we should go. Do they rent skis there? I'd better look them up for more info.
I want to try it too, but I'm thinking that it will be an activity to do sans-kamiryn....no?
How long did the trail take? Glad you had fun and finally warmed up!
Here is the Spidahl's link... http://www.exploreminnesota.com/listing.aspx?EntityId=7770 They do have rentals for $7.50 and there is also a trail fee of $7.50. Kids have free rentals and just pay the trail fee. If you haven't tried it before, I would ask for a basic lesson. It isn't really complicated tho... you just kind of slide/walk and use your poles to give you traction. Let me know if any of you try it out.
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