Finally Snow…..

Finally, we got some snow in Minnesota. The last time we had any measurable snow was on December 30, 2015. It took another month and on February 9^th, we received 10 beautiful inches of the white stuff. We were too busy on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to get out and enjoy, but then along came Saturday.

Saturday was pretty warm by Minnesota standards. I might be buying into the whole global warming thing because anytime we get any snow here; it warms up to the point of making all that snow disappears quickly. On Saturday, the temps were supposed to rise to 35 degrees, not good for those who want to get out and enjoy what mother nature sent us. Not to be deterred, we set out to do a little cross -country skiing. We went to a local park as they usually do a pretty good job of grooming those trails.

However, when it is going to be in the 30’s, it is hard to figure out what to wear to keep yourself warm, but also to keep yourself cool. On this particular day, I threw on a base layer leggings with a pair of running tights over the top of that. I pulled on my wool socks. On the top, I wore a long sleeve sweat wicking shirt topped with a nordic ski windbreaker. I always take along my buff to keep my neck warm, which can also be pulled up over my head if for some reason it is extremely cold out. Lastly, I threw on a headband to keep my ears warm and a pair of full-fingered bicycle gloves. This was just about perfect for skiing in the temps we had.

On Sunday, not to be outdone, we decided to pull out our snowshoes for a sunrise hike through the woods. Again, it was already in the 30’s at 6:30 a.m., so I did not want to overdress. The location of our hike was at a local park that is part woodland and part prairie. From previous experience, I know that back in the woods I usually have to drop a layer to avoid a complete sweat meltdown. When we hit the prairie area, I usually need more layers. For this type of activity, I dressed the same as Saturday’s ski day, but added an extra fleece jacket over the top of my windbreaker. I did need to remove the fleece back in the woods, but I was glad I had it on when we were tromping through the prairie area. Spent some time taking in the views and following the many deer trails looking for any antler sheds. It is still a little early in the season to find any sheds, but we decided to look around a bit since we were out there.

Hopefully if you live in the northern climate you do not let the weather deter you from enjoying the outdoors. It is all about layering your clothing to find out what you need to stay warm, or to stay cool, depending on your activity. So get out, strap on your skis, snowshoes, or just pull on a pair of boots and see all that winter has to offer you.

New Year’s

Another new year is upon us as out with the old and in with the new begins all over again.  In our house, New Year’s means fighting to stay awake on New Year’s eve, getting up a bit tired and putting away the holiday decorations and Christmas tree, taking a much deserved nap and also hoping to have some snow and decent temps so we can enjoy a bit of the outdoors.  As 2015 ended, we were fortunate to receive about 6 inches of snow after Christmas.  The snow was the “good” snow which means it was conducive for outdoor activities.  My daughter was home from college so she was able to do some testing of the snow with a trip out to Cleary Lake Regional Park, (Cleary Lake Regional Park), for an hour of skiing.  Her report was good which meant that the faster we could get our tasks completed the quicker we could get out and ski.

I don’t know about your house, but in our house when the decorations need to be taken down, all of us have our specialties or things we like to do.  Now I say that with a touch of sarcasm because I really don’t know anyone who enjoys taking down their holiday decorations.  My task is usually getting all of the crates out and the dismantling of our tree.  After about 3 hours and the tree pretty much returned to its crate, a decision was made for an afternoon nap, aaaahhhh one of my favorite times of the day.  We each grabbed some shut-eye and then proceeded to get up and finish what was left.  After a quick bite, it was off to the ski trails.  

We decided on a night ski as Cleary Lake Regional Park is one of the destinations around the Minneapolis area which has lighted trails.  If you have never experienced an evening ski, I highly recommend it.  I can’t describe how cool it is to be gliding on a trail, stop and stare up at the millions of stars above you.  Now if you have never tried cross-country, (nordic), skiing, Cleary Lake is a great place to go.  Their trails are well groomed and they even offer rentals for the folks who don’t own their own.  They also have a pretty good variety of trails from a beginner loop to loops for the more advanced and adventurous.  

Since this was my first trip out for the season, I elected to stay on the shorter loop to hone my skills a bit.  It has been a couple of years since I had skied since last year we were lacking in the snow department.  My wife had been out earlier in the week with my daughter but she decided to stay with the shorter loop as well.  Now for the folks who don’t know a ton about nordic skiing, there are a couple of techniques you can use.  One of them is skate skiing, which mirrors the motion of rollerblading and ice skating and then classic skiing which is the more traditional technique of skiing in tracks.  For us old timers like myself, I grew up classic skiing as the skate technique had not yet been developed.  I still enjoy the classic technique but as I get better at skating, I am really beginning to enjoy that.  

Like I mentioned earlier, Cleary Lake does offer ski rentals.  If you are just beginning the sport, I recommend beginning with the classic technique just to get your bearings on the sport and then moving over to the skate style.  Now your kids may be more inclined to start with skating, just because kids today are a bit more adventurous plus most of them have tried ice skating or rollerblading.  Either way, both are great forms of exercise and do get you out and moving.  

On this evening, it was about 20 degrees with minimal wind.  After getting my legs under me, off I went and after a bit I just stopped to catch my breath and admire my surroundings.  The stars above me were just fantastic.  My wife pointed out Orion’s belt and my daughter, who was already on her 2nd lap, stopped and wanted to find the Big or Little Dipper.  At this point, is where I just stopped to reflect on how fabulous the weather was this evening.  It may sound strange to folks, but you can work up a pretty good sweat in 20 degree weather when you are out and exercising.  

There is a lot of trial and error when dressing for skiing, but over the years we have gotten pretty good and figuring out what to wear.  The one item I still struggle with are my fingers as they are usually the first things that get really cold.  I had mittens on this evening which made my heads sweat a bit, but I would rather have to stop and take them off to let my hands breath vs. having my fingers feel like ice cubes.  

After about 5 miles, we called it an evening.  Now with only 6 inches of snow and a ton of people getting out to enjoy it, the trails at Cleary Lake are getting a bit icy and rough.  There are a couple of spots where the trail is getting down to the dirt so we are in need of some added snow.  Sounds odd but in order to keep trail conditions ideal, a weekly snowfall of about 3-4 inches is ideal and crossing our fingers there is snow in the forecast for later this week.  

So for our family, 2016 started out great.  The decorations were put away and house back in order and we were able to finally get out and enjoy some of the Minnesota weather that we are so famously known for.