After a pretty full day of downhill skiing I decided to try my hand at Cross-Country (XC) Skiing at the Tamarack Lodge, which has 19 miles of groomed XC trails. I didn't know what to expect but after talking to a couple at the lodge who had done it for 30+ years I couldn't help to feel their enthusiasm and I signed up for a class.
Thursday morning I took a class with Marcia, our instructor, who is an absolute natural at teaching and an all-around awesome lady. She quickly taught our class everything we needed to know and after 90 minutes told us we were advanced enough to venture onto any of the blue and green trails we pleased.
I had lunch and decided to go off alone on some of the easiest trails near the lodge. The solitude of XC skiing is both exhilarating and terrifying. I ventured down the trail for just 5 minutes and I was completely alone in the woods. The only sound is the birds and my skis. It took me a little while to get used to being so alone in the wilderness.
Soon I felt confident enough to venture up the main trail (Lake Mary Road) toward Lake Mary which I skied around and returned home. While I was up there (at about 8900') I took lots of photos and enjoyed the quiet. I saw a ton of interesting animal tracks from deer, rabbits, elk, and even bear.
Cross-country skiing is a blast and I LOVE it. I didn't want to stop but after 10 miles of mainly uphill skiing my body was giving up on me. I talked Jeff and Denise into skiing again the next morning so I could go back out for more, but when we woke up on Friday a storm was coming through and the wind gusts would have made skiing miserable so we packed up and went home. I can't wait to go back again and am going to see if I can find some groomed XC trails a little closer to home. Who knew I would have found a version of skiing I liked so much?
Here are the photos I promised from the weekend.
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