Urban Scavenger Hunt

I've noticed a lack of adventure in my life lately... with so much changing, I have been to sad/busy for fun. Thankfully, in the last few weeks, that has begun to change. The weather is better, I have a fantastic new girlfriend, and I'm getting outdoors again!

I've had success at the new job, and I managed to earn a trip to Madison, WI for an incentive trip. I'm pretty stoked about the urban scavenger hunt they've got setup; well see what the day holds!

We arrived via limo to Madison, and or first stop is the Hyatt Place right downtown. A great start to the day!

We were divided into teams of for, received a list of 22 "Destinations" and 20 "opportunities," and were awarded points accordingly. The Destinations took us along a route within a few block radius of the state capitol, and gave clues like "You would find this bank at the end of a rope tied to a boat." (Anchor Bank). We then had to get a photo of our team giving thumbs up in front of the location or statute, jumping in the air with the capitol in the background, whatever.

The opportunities were a little different. They read clues such as "Get you photo in, next to, our on top of a dumpster" or "get your photo hugging a stranger - that has a beard." We then tested these back to our supervisors who maintained a points spreadsheet.

It turns out that both teams killed it with regards to points & photos. Ultimately, a tie was declared, because of how close and competitive our groups were.

Peninsula SP Candlelight Ski

Last night I went out with a couple of my buddies, John and Josh to Peninsula State Park's Candlelight Ski. The friends group had set up luminaries along a 1-mile loop of ski trail with a warming fire at the halfway point. We hit the trail planning on skiing a little farther than just the lit loop, so we brought our headlamps along. At the halfway point, my hands were painfully cold, so I moved in close to the raised fire pit to warm them. being graceful as I am, I began to slide forward to the pit, then tried to swing my ski tip away, parallel to the fire. I caught the tip of my ski, slid all the way against the pit, banged my shins removing some skin, and managed to fall over backward/sideways rather than falling into the fire. For a brief second I was terrified picturing my synthetic clothes melting to me out in the woods, and managed to get away with simple embarrassment as I picked myself up.

After this debacle, I got up and we headed out on the Orange Loop. One of the things I really like about skiing at night after a heavy snowfall is the "Narnia Effect." The Narnia Effect is where the snow sticks to the trees weighing down the branches, so it looks like you skiing in a scene from C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," or as John thought, "The Polar Express."

Ski Trails in the Land of Narnia!

The skiing was pretty fantastic - the trails definitely get better the farther you get from the parking lot. We were skiing by headlamp; two lights for three dudes. At one point, on a downhill, I flew away from John, who didn't have a light. I didn't really think much of it until we all turned off our lights and tried to ski. For the first few minutes we couldn't see the trail at all. After a bit the trail appeared in front of us and we chugged back to the candlelight loop. 

One thing I can help but think is that I need to carry some pruning shears with me when I ski - I don't think I've ever gotten hit by so many branches. 

We ended up skiing about 2.5 miles that night. We talked about going again, but John & Josh still had dinner and a 2+ hour drive to get home, so we split up about 7:30pm. 

I have really enjoyed getting out on the snow this winter. Just having snow and the ability to get out have given me an appreciation for what I have been largely missing the last two winters!

Potawatomi State Park Ski

"I can do this! Inside foot back, bend the knees, a little lunge...nope. Can't do it." About 2/3 of my way through my 5th cross country ski session of the winter, I ate it. I came up to a slight downhill with a pretty sharp little curve in it. Having knot skied since March of 2011, I know that my skills are rusty, but if you don't try you will never know. Now I know that I need to work on my tele turns.

Snow has been pretty scarce on the Door Peninsula this winter, and we had almost none last season. Beyond the business hit from low snow conditions, it has become a bit of a mental health issue for some of us. Going to the gym is ok, but I need the changing scenery, and to be honest, I'm not much of a hiker.

This trip to Potawatomi State Park was actually a little longer than I expected. I had been running errands in "The Big City" of Sturgeon Bay, and figured that as long as I was down this way, I may as well get in a little snow time. When I started it was 4F with a below zero windchill, so I dressed for the occasion. I'm pretty sure my wool Buff saved me some skin - my cheeks were burning pretty early, so I had to pull it up to cover basically everything but my eyes.

Initially I set our for a little 2.4 mile loop (Blue). When I can to the first intersection, I evaluated how I was feeling, and decided to push it a little further - the Black Loop at 4.3 miles. I followed the Black loop until it split off from the Red - and foudn no tracks where they were supposed to separate. Rather than make my own tracks on the skate deck, I stayed on the red loop, and got in a little extra mileage, bumping my total to around 5.6. Th trails were in great shape - the pole plants and tracks were firm, and everything was pretty even.

It was more exercise than I had planned on, and gravity seems to be affecting me differently these day - I feel like I am crushing my skis into the snow, but man, am I glad to get back out and ski! It's like mountain biking - sometimes it is hard to get motivated to get out the door, but I always feel much much better physically and mentally when I do!

Golf Course Skiing

Looking out over Eagle Harbor from the golf course. Ephraim is out there somewhere!

Breakin' trail & skiing in jeans!

We've had very, very little snow here in Door County the last two winters. To so

me it may not seem like much, but I've gotten to ski for three days in a row now! Today it was about 34 all day, and it started snowing right before I left work - around 4pm. I slapped a little Grip & Glide on a set of Rossignol EVO Action no-wax skis, and hit the local golf course. I broke trail for about 45 minutes - it was tons of fun; I skied up and down Hill 7, our local sledding hill a couple of times, and just generally skied a lop around the course. It was really great to get out and be active in the snow. I will definitely be back out for more ASAP!

Hopefully some of the local parks can get their groomers out tomorrow. It began snowing around 3pm, and 9 hours later it's still coming down! Hooray for winter!

BOOOOO!

These has been almost nothing going on in my area as far as winter sports are concerned for the past few days. We has a great base, and then some rain and 40deg. temps came through for a day and washed it all away...better news and more reports soon...

SKiing at Barkhausen

I'm always on the quest for new trails to explore, so I've been on Skinny Ski a lot lately looking for cool places nearby. Yesterday I had to go to Green Bay anyway, so I decided to check out Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve. According to Skinny Ski, Barkhausen is groomed 15k for skate and classic. I arrived to find the trails in great shape, and groomed exclusively for classic. As I was looking for a 2-2.5 hour diagonal day, this worked out really well. The trails were very well groomed with pretty minimal trail debris, and were groomed double-wide with perfect tracks. In my 2h20m on the trail, I saw only two other skiers, both within the first 15 mins.

These trails are pancake flat, but in very good condition, and with some great scenery through the woods and along the shorelines of some small ponds and inlets. I would highly reccommend the area to anyone heading that direction.

First Snowshoe Day!

The snow has been coming down in Northeast Wisconsin since last night, hitting Door County right around 6:15pm. Since I didn't have to work until 11 this morning, I thought I'd get out and explore the woods surroundng my home. I live on the campus of a folk art school called The Clearing, but I have never explored the grounds so I figured that there is never a better time than right now. I started out off-trail, but pretty quickly ran into one. I hiked around for about 45 minutes on and off-trail, and it is really a great place. Campus is closed in the summer, but in the winter, when there are no students, it is available fo use all day every day.

There is at least 8-12" of snow on the ground, but it seems like a lot more in the woods; snow seems to have drifed and made some pretty big pockets, and since it's light and powdery its SOOPER fun to jump into.

I tried out some Crescent Moon Gold 15s for the first time today...sweet snowshoes. The 15s are technically in the women's series, but I fall well within the weight limit, so I figured why lug around the heavier Gold 9s. The binding on these shoes is really simple, just a ratchet for the heel and a loop that pulls across the toe and midfoot area with a real secure fit. The Redfeathers that I used last season have a hinge on the binding so the shoe is always dragging in the snow behind you, but on the Crescent Moon shoe, the binding is mounted directly to the decking so it remains closer to your foot and remains a little bit more nimble. Also, the teardrop-shape fram is easier to walk in that the traditional ovals...I didn't step on myself once. My only complaint about the Crescent Moons is that the binding seemed to splay a little bit when I put my size 11.5 boots in, but I really didn't notice any slop once they were tightened down.
Crescent Moon Gold 15 Snowshoes - Women's