Porkies Nordic Skiing - day 2

The second day of our ski vacation, we woke up even earlier than the first day, checked out of the motel, and were the seventh car in the parking lot at the porkies (the other six were probably there for the downhill).  We were headed for a loop of the ski-able park, just a few kilometers shorter than Saturday, and we had to be done in time to drive home before it got too late.

Climbing gradually

Once again, we started the day with a climb (or several climbs, as the case may be).  The air temps were a little warmer, but the snow was a little cooler and better packed early on.  We once more had a spectacular tour of flora and forest composition.  In addition to the bunny tracks from Saturday, we found traces of deer and possibly wolves (or some other wild canine).  When we got near the top of the downhill mountain, we turned onto an untouched trail with ginormous sparkly trees (and a hefty final climb).  I was munching on snow from mouth-height trees just to feel slightly more refreshed, but the climb was well worth the trouble.  We had decided to go with a more intermediate-temperature kick wax, the untouched snow was once again super-sticky.

Trudging upwards

We popped out of the woods right next to the operational chair lift (there are several lifts built to service the downhill slopes, but there aren't enough people to warrant operating more than the one closest to the chalet), and spent a kilometer skiing along the (quite well groomed/maintained by a community college course) alpine slopes.  We were treated to some lovely views of Lake Superior but were routed back into the woods in no time.

First time on a downhill run!

Superior from the Ski Hill

The next kilometer (to the West Vista) seemed to take forever.  The hill was tougher than expected, and though we were past our halfway point for the day, we hadn't eaten.  One of the friendly guys down at the chalet claimed that the West Vista could fool you into thinking you were in the Rockies.  While the view wasn't quite western, it was lovely.  There were a few of the mountains the Porkies are named for in the distance, with beautiful slopes covered in snow-etched trees.  It was a great place for a large brownie and a few cups of tea (even if I had just slid into a snow bank trying to make it to the bench).

West Vista Outlook

Laying Track

After a 5-10 minute break, we were feeling reinvigorated, and we took off down the hill.  On the way back down the West Vista Trail, we met the first of two people we saw on the trail the entire day.  He was headed off through the woods to backcountry ski his way down the hill, and our chance encounter explained why there were only perfectly parallel tracks going up (even though xc skiers like us had to snowplow like mad to stay at a reasonable speed going downhill on the trail).

Pristine and untracked

Lovely woods

As soon as we made it to the Big Hemlock Trail, we realized no one had touched it since at least Friday.  There was no sign of any ski tracks, and Ali (bless her) ended up breaking at least 5km of trail (probably closer to 12km for the day), sticky snow and all.  Worth the trouble?  Absolutely!!  For one, this batch of forest might have been even more glorious than the bits we had seen before.  (I'm probably just biased by the fact that no one had touched  it recently.) The likely wolf tracks that we found were in this segment, and the rolling terrain was a pretty pleasant change.  There were a couple times that we would turn a corner and just stand in the middle of the trail for a bit, admiring the scenery.

Found at one of the trail intersections

Unfortunately, this didn't last for too long.  Once the trail turns back toward the chalet, it shares a fair portion of its route with the (closed to cars) main park road.  While the road may be closed to cars so far into the park, it isn't closed to snowmobiles.  There were many more snowmobilers out Saturday (making a racket), but there's nothing quite as unpleasant as being on the far side of a snow-berm from a pack of snowmobiles.  The northwoods area has plenty of snowmobile trails between towns, and I'm not a huge fan of lingering gas fumes in a park.  Oh well.

I dragged a bit on our way in.  One brief break helped.  One faceplant into a snow bank did not (nothing horrible - just toppled by rutted, icy snowshoe tracks from the lantern ski).  We made it back to the parking lot and were on our way home by 2:30 or so.  All in all, a lovely trip.  I can't wait to go back.