This weekend my buddies Leanne, Allison and I stayed at the
Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Montana. Essex is nestled in the "Middle Fork" area on the boundary of Glacier National Park. The Inn is a really cute lodge and a great place to stay and play in the snow. It is an older lodge so the rooms are characteristically small but cozy and super pleasant. There is a bar in the basement with pool, ping-pong and Brazilian young bartenders studiously making drinks from the book. It's a great place to go for the weekend.
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| Me and my friend |
We skied twice on Saturday -- once before dinner and beers and once after. There is a lighted 1k loop that we did 4 times in the dark. It's really a great place with nice groomed XC ski trails.
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| It's a little harder to get the skis on after dinner |
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| 2 degrees is plenty warm |
Leanne has a 10 month old so I felt privileged to be part of a weekend away with her. I forget sometimes how much harder it is for moms to work in this type of weekend. It was great to catch up and hang out.
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| winter wonderland |
I think I will now start training in earnest for Susitna. Through Sunday. Then I will taper. This weekend was good training because I figured out that my Camelback doesn't freeze very quickly at all if I blow the water back in after drinking. This is even without putting it under my jacket. It got pretty cold this morning too.
7 comments:
I don't know how cold it gets for the Susitna, but at 10 below and colder, blowing the water through the hose and back to the bladder will still cause freeze-ups in the mouthpiece.
PS= I'm drooling over all the snow you got to play in this weekend. Mail me some?
What a pretty place.
I like your new friend.
I remember cross country skiing when my (teenager now) son was 2yo. I had him in a backpack. He loved every minute of it. Of course I stayed on a nice and flat meadow loop. We are both itching now to head back to the mountains to do xc skiing. Maybe sometime this week.
Great idea of blowing water back into your Camelbak. How come I haven't thought of that?
Karen I imagine if it gets that cold at Su and I want to use the Camelback I'll need to keep the whole thing and the mouthpiece close to my skin or something. I will bring an insulated bottle as a backup and/or thermos' with hot water. Hopefully it will work out. And I'd mail you the snow but I'm afraid it might get ugly en route.
Ewa it's hard for me to believe you have a teen! Wow!
I went on a ski trip to a cabin last December and it was -30F to -15F and my camelbak tube froze. It's not much fun carrying the extra weight if you can't get the water out!
Hopefully it doesn't get that cold! A friend of mine did the Little Su in '09 on bike and it was all slush and 40F, so she had to push the bike pretty much the whole way. Hopefully you'll have a nice warm day like that..where all the skiers have the advantage :)
Sweet! Sounds like a fun weekend! I like your one-week training plan. What did you have in mind for next weekend?
Karen,
Forty degrees amounts to a disaster for both bikers and runners in the Susitna 100, so let's hope not that warm. My ideal forecast would include a big storm sometime this week, followed by a few days of thaw, followed by a deep freeze. Then the day of race I'm requesting clear skies and seasonable temperatures with highs in the 20s and lows near 0. Let's hope it works out!
Very nice ski pics - awesome scenery!!! Do you have the winter drinking tube for your Camelbak? With the neoprene cover it usually is good to about 5 degrees if it is close to your body, lower if it's under your top layer. The blow-back works well as long as you don't overdo it and fill the bladder with air!
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