Journal Entries

Admiring the decor of Poplar Hut - the first hut built in the Maine Huts and Trails network.

En-route to Poplar Hut with a fresh layer of snow and a nice narrow approach trail. All of the trails in the Maine Huts and Trails system are well groomed and wide. Having a small, less traveled windy path through the trees made for a nice change of scenery.

Ah, it is nice to be back in the Maine woods!

@reneetougas and I managed to get away this weekend to stay at our friend's cabin in Maine so that we could do some cross-country skiing.

The name of this trail is Newton's Revenge... and @reneetougas certainly agrees at the end of a long-ish climb with poorly functioning ski grip on this hard-packed snow.

Go to the map for this journal to see the route for our trip this afternoon.

This is me, finally succeeding after my previous failed attempt to get this photo.

We finally have enough snow covering the inch of boilerplate ice that has developed over the last couple of weeks that skiing is decent again.

This is me, falling (with my cross-country skis on), while attempting to maneuver myself to a better photo position. #photofail

Spring skiing conditions in January? What's up with that? I didn't bring any Klister wax, which is what I needed today, but @reneetougas and I still had fun in the unseasonably pleasant weather.

@brienne begins to learn the fine art of snowboard maintenance. Her first task: removing the rust from her edges. Next up: a wax job...

The life of teenagers means that it is much more difficult for us to get very far on the weekends these days, as everyone has something going on that they need a ride to/from. Thankfully, cross-country skiing is keeping us sane, as @reneetougas and I steal away every chance we get to explore the city parks. Today was pretty cold (-29C with the wind chill) so we had the trails to ourselves.

It was @celine's turn for a ski with me today. We had a couple inches of fresh powder and the temperature was a little warmer than the few days, so it made for very nice conditions.