cooperative weekend

With no plans for the bike during the past couple of days the weather right now is fantastic! I got on the snowshoes again for a longer haul up the snomo trails that included a gated segment near Skyline proceeding to Jean Duluth. I usually bypass this going to the horse stables on Amity. Great terrain can be found on this stretch but listen closely for sleds at a blind crest. Pleasant View would be my turnaround and shortly after I did I hopped onto the SHT for most of the way back to Jean Duluth. I'm glad it came to the snomo trail before the road as it pops out of the woods a bit north of where I heading. Amidst all the fluff I would see no other but Charlie Farrow trying really hard to pedal his Pugsley in the direction I just came from. He remarked, "I knew it had to be either you or Hex when I saw these tracks." If you've never met Chuck then let me plainly say that you've not yet had the privilege of listening to a guy w/the toughest stories to go along w/such accolades. We would BS for a little and carry on so that I could put a cap on my Saturday.

Duration: 2 hours 43 minutes

For Sunday, I decided to check and see whether the city had groomed the ski trails in Lester. After walking over there it didn't show any indication but I wanted to skate at any rate. I was going to head out to the furthest point as I always do but it proved to be more work than I could handle following yesterday. I came to H for a short cut back to the pavilion when I noticed fresh corduroy in the lane of the "lighted loop" down by the hairpin turn. There's nothing like being the one to leave the first marks and on my way back up I heard the beeps and eventually saw the blinking flashers of the PistonBully at the B cutoff. As huge as these machines are I still was finding it soft when pushing off my edges. That really gives us an indicator of how much snowfall we've been receiving of late. I would stay on the "lighted loop" for the rest of the time as I was feeling sloppy.

Duration: 1 hour 28 minutes