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.