Displaced Beachbums

Although I had more than a few things to do around the house, I decided to join a friend on a cross-country ski this morning. We headed out about 10:30 on a trail here on Ft. Drum. 3 miles and 2 hours later, with very tired legs, a hurt knee and more than a little exhausted, we made it back to Outdoor Recreation Office.

The last time I was on cross country skis was about 20 years ago when I lived in Wyoming where the trails were wide and out in the open fields. I must have blocked from my memory how much of a workout it is. The trail we went on this morning was narrow and needs another 6-12 inches of snow. There was a lot of exposed rock along the route as well as my poles kept getting caught in the brush. If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see snow on my hat as well as on my pants. On one of the hills, as I was going down, my ski got caught on a rock and I went face forward ~ literally, a face plant. And I hit my knee on another rock. I kept asking myself if I was having fun yet?

Will I go out again? Of course! It can only get better right? But I’ll be waiting for another snowstorm before trying that trail again.