Participants: Ron Chase and Brent Elwell TC: Kenny DeCoster
Thankfully, the forecast called for several inches of snow (and not rain) on Friday, so I called Mt. Blue to see if the trails would be groomed by midday Saturday. Instead of ideal skiing conditions, I found out the Maple “round the mountain” Trail was closed because of beaver activity. I hastily changed the venue to Rangeley Lakes Trails Center. There, Ron, Brent, and I were treated to freshly groomed trails. Cool temperatures, no wind, and new snow made for incredible skiing. We skied to the northeast corner of the property and did a double loop down Ron’s favorite hill, then climbed for a mile towards the southeast corner to ski down the Larry Hill trail. With Saddleback Mountain shrouded in clouds we cruised through the snow covered spruce forest to the parking lot. The only bad decision the TC made was to follow Brent down a snowshoe trail where it was so narrow that negotiating the turns was comical. I had made an identical error several years before at Mt Blue. Will I ever learn? We skied about 9 ½ miles, and with a drive of 3 hours both ways, it made for a full day.
