Sunday, March 6, 2011

Off Trail Skiing, i.e. Genuine Cross Country Skiing


David harnessing Kalevi...


Savu wants to go badly too.


They're off!


And running!


Savu pulls almost as well as Kalevi, even though he's twenty pounds lighter.


Carl and I skied out to the big hemlocks to see if they were still there.


Fortunately they still were. Whoever owns the land had had it logged right up to this grove but saved the hemlocks. Hemlock is very slow growing and often hollow, making it "undesireable" in a commercial forest. Some foresters even go as far to call it a "weed species". I was pleased to see that the landowner had a soul and could appreciate the value of these majestic trees. Money is not the measure of all things.


Carl fiddling with the controls on his camera after mounting it on ski poles with his gorillapod. By the time he had it figured out and had taken a bunch of pictures, we were both getting cold.


One of the challenges of real cross country skiing is crossing small creeks like this one without taking off your skis.


A big white pine that has survived logging.


Like I said, the landowner has a soul.