Instead I packed up my car with my new parks sticker and trail pass and headed to the Zillmer ski area for a bit of cross country skiing.
Wow, it had been a long time since I did this. Over 3 years. That's how unpredictable my schedule and the snow has been.
I got the hang of it relatively quickly. Just a matter of balance, kick ad glide. Just like falling off a, I mean riding a bike.
I did the easier brown loop first to get my legs under me. Then I hit the green and red loops, because I was feeling good. A few spots I fell, as down hill curves got to me Not hard falls, but more like, whoa, whoa, bring it back and down.
When all done and said, I did 3 loops and over 5 miles.
Happy with that I packed up and then headed to Greenbush Trail system. Where they have more ski trails, hike, bike and snow shoe trails.
Once there I contemplated getting the skis out again, but it seemed a bit crowded, so I strapped on the snow shoes, grabbed my day back and hit the trails.
The weather was great, 20° and sunny with little to no wind. I started on loop one and was feeling good. Got passed by a fat tire biker and I passed another couple also snow shoeing.
Loop 1 led to loop 2. Still feeling great, I kept going. Onto loop 3. A little into loop 3 there was a sign for a shortcut back to loop 2. Pfft, who needs that. On I went, hell I might even do loop 4. These loops are just extensions of the previous trail going a bit further out each time.
Eventually I reach the loop 4 junction. Unlike the rest of the trail, no one has even tread on loop 4 for quite some time, the trail is fresh snow and no footprints or bike tracks. If I took this it would add at least another mile plus to my trip. I decided not to forge through on this one. I had a snack, drank some water and began the return loop on 3.
Not going to lie, I was getting tired. The sun started getting lower, would I be out of here by dark? Probably.
Eventually, I rejoined loop 2 and felt a bit better. This led back to loop one and back out to the start. 7 miles total. I was beat. I packed up headed home. I am sure I will be sore in the next few days, using muscles that don't see much use like they do with skiing and walking with snow shoes attached to my feet.
I really need to go out a few more times, this was a nice break from running and trail running now that the snow is a but deeper.
A little video here:
