Xcountry Skiing

Our cabin for the weekend - lovely.

The view across the lake.  Great skiing, you just glide along! The weather was -20 C but you don't notice when you are skiing.

The dining room in the main lodge. Just a hop and a jump from our cabin, but you had to wear your winter gear for the walk across.

21 intrepid skiers had a great 'retired weekend' (Sun, Mon. Tues.) in Huntsville. Bright, sunny days more than made up for the cold weather. The group was very convivial and we even played Scrabble! Sigh, perfect!

Setting off on the East River Trail. There were 21 of us and yet we didn't run into anyone else.

The warming hut where we ate our packed lunch from the lodge.  It had a wood stove with drying racks over the stove.  Picnic tables were provided for lunch. 

The winding river.

Time to take the skis off and investigate.  A bridge over the river afforded a great view.

Bread crumbs from our lunch to lure the wildlife.

Now those are happy faces!.

The highlight of the day for my XC buddy was feeding the chickadees.  Those noisy little birds demand attention. As we rested at the crossroads pondering which way to go, a chickadee landed on XC buddy's hat just to let us know there weren't many seeds around. So after lunch we had to go back with our crusts.

A little red squirrel was desperate for a piece of the action. It was so fast, it darted in and out like it was in some Disney cartoon.  You could only locate it by its chatter.