Borax

Last week on one of my days off I went up to the Idaho/Montana border for a little cross country skiing. Walter stayed home because I was hoping for some good kick and glide and did not want him to have to run the whole 7 or so miles. The skiing was actually rather slow because of the snow conditions but I had a good time and a good work out.

The old Milwaukee-Seattle rail line over the pass is a great place to nordic ski if you are not too hung up on grooming or snowmobiles. Part of the route is groomed by the downhill resort and that was great, but the rest was pretty rough. I started at the pass and skied east to the Borax tunnel. For the first time in my life I saw cougar tracks in the snow. There were tons of deer and bunny prints crossing the trail down to the St. Regis River so I figured the little kitty was well fed. They looked less than a day old.

The floor of the tunnel was a sheet of ice so I did not venture in too far. The last mile was done in the dark and I was hoping for a bit of full moon action but it was behind the mountains. Still, I did not need my headlamp or anything.

Indian Creek

Last week Nancy, Walter, and Elliot and I went up to Indian Creek along Priest Lake for a few nights. It was lovely. We stayed in one of the state park cabins...two rooms but totally tiny. The cabin we stayed in was the only one that allowed dogs. There is electric heat and lights but no cooking inside so we cooked on the porch; also no running water and the toilet was a bit of a walk. I highly recommend using a propane stove which will work well regardless of the outside temp, and extra plug in lamps. Each room had an overhead flourescent bulb that did not add to the ambiance.

We took our skis and snowshoes but spent the first day reading and napping. A few days before we went we had to put Ruby, Walter's mommy, to sleep. It was unexpected, dramatic and horrid so we were both a bit spent from that. On the second day I did a bit of skiing. The park grooms several miles of trails but I skied on part of them and then down the Cape Horn road towards our friend's cabin. It snowed most of the time we were there and it was nice to sit and look out the window. I had a small outdoor fire one night which was nice. Nancy was really into reading and sleeping. Walter and Elliot were ok with that as well. We left just as it was starting to rain so it was all perfect timing.

Skiing along Cape Horn Road

Indian Creek

The boat ramp. There were actually people out fishing one day.

Slackers