Lisa writes:

On Saturday I set out to do my 20 km Sonot.  Since the river was unsafe, I decided to deviate from the norm and do a 20 km “race” of the four classic only trails: Classic Bear, North Star, Chinook, and Blackhawk and then keep skiing until I have my distance.  Because temperatures were well in the 30’s I slapped on some Toko Red wax and was on my way. Turns out my vision of swishing through peaceful and beautiful forests didn’t quite go that way for the entire course. 

I started off with Classic Bear, which was in good shape and as I was going along, I noticed ahead a momma moose and her calf were lying down in the middle of the trail.  Both gave me the look of “yeah, what about it”. 

So, I hopped off onto White Bear and made my way to Fort Wainwright (had my ID in my pocket) and did Chinook.  This trail hadn’t been groomed or skied on in a very long time and I found myself breaking trail.  It was rough and I was happy to finish.

I then mistakenly got back on Chinook and skied until deja vu set in and I hopped over to Blackhawk and did the second half.  I then skied down Aurora Run to do North Star and conditions were perfect.  As I got back on Classic Bear for the return, I heard what I thought was evil laughter.  Turns out, as the afternoon warmed, my red wax started picking up snow and my skis turned into platform snowshoes.  So, I had to stop at 10 miles/16 km as I walked into the stadium.  Overall a nice day.  Next Saturday I’ll skate 20 km.

Total time was, er, lets just say I didn’t break any records!

Thanks, Lisa for adding 16 km and 3:16:04 to our virtual Sonot Kkaazoot.

Hopefully your entry contribution to the virtual Sonot Kkaazoot will allow Ken and Bill to groom the North and South classical trails again. I bet you saw the same moose and calf that Norma and I saw on the Sonot Connector. I’m also glad to know that I’m not the only geographically challenged skier.