19 December, 2010 Cross-Country Skiing

  We decided to have some fun Sunday and go skiing so we headed to a couple of small lakes above Murphy Lake.  The temperature was about 20 degrees which is almost perfect.  The snow is cold enough for good skiing yet it's warm enough you don't freeze!

First step of preparing ... get your feet nice and warm by the wood stove while eating breakfast!

Susan made my gaiters out of the leg bottoms of an old pair of wool pants I had.  They had holes and tears above the knees in various places due to hard use so she cut the bottoms off, sewed in an elastic cuff at the bottom along with a zipper, tie string for under the boots and a hook on the front.  Then she put a drawstring on top to finish them off.  They work great and are as good as the $35.00 pair I was going to order.  She made a set for herself out of the arms on an old coat we found.

On the way to the trailhead.  Can you see the mountain peaks above the low, lying clouds?  We'll be skiing just below them.

At the trailhead.

This is Martin Lake in it solid state.  It's close to the trailhead and makes a nice short 1/2 mile hike in summer or ski trip in winter.

Susan

Me and the dog.  The pack contains a lightweight, fleece jacket for me, ham radio, GPS unit, extra batteries, 22 handgun and ammo, small hatchet, sheath knife, some food and drinks, cordage, Gerber multi-tool, compass and few other odds-n-ends.  We both carry basic materials like fire-starting stuff, pocket knife, etc. in our pockets.

Hagadone Lake.  Looks like someone drained it!  We've been going through several years of a drought cycle and a lot of the smaller lakes are dry now.

The dog in her usual mode of travel ... full speed.  When we got her at the animal shelter they said she'd been returned by the last couple because she was too hyper.  They'd tried to make an indoor dog out of her.  That'd be a very poor fit for her.  She just has too much energy and has to run it off every day.  Even around the house she'll suddenly take off running and make large loops outside to burn off energy.

Me

You can just see the outline of the sun through the clouds in the upper center of the picture.

We went from Hagadone Lake on to an old logging road and followed it awhile.  After a couple of hours skiing we stopped to take a break.  The dog wanted to share my food so we played a game of catch.

This was actually taken on the trail to Hagadone Lake.  It just got placed in the wrong order.

On the way back to the trailhead now.  We travelled about five miles round trip.