After 8 weeks of immobility in a cast from toes to knee, it felt SOOO good to be skiing again. On my second outing of the season, the SCUM waited for me on the Tower loop:
SCUM (everyone was skating today except Poles whose classic skis have skied in the World Cup and Olympic races)–photo by Joanna Fox
Conditions were FAST today but when I fell, I was even faster getting up. However, when Bob fell, he didn’t take time to remove the telltale snow:
Bob after Medevac–photo by Dan Johnson
As I crutched inside for two months, I never expected to be skating in late November in temperatures hovering above freezing. Thanks to the groomers for making the trails skiable for a 74-year-old skier with a fractured 5th metatarsal.
Some SCUM successfully finished their Equinox Marathon (half) challenge:
Robert Hannon finishes his Equinox Half Marathon–photo by Joanna Fox
as did a couple of my FXC Masters teammates. Here, Norma is smiling in spite of her tumble on the trails in front of Robert (who then finished before her).
Norma, Sue, and Darren finish Equinox Half Marathon–photo by Joanna Fox
My Equinox Marathon Day was spent checking the online results of my friends and training buddies while keeping my surgical foot above my hips
My surgical foot with its “rebar” reinforced fifth metatarsal
because 4 days before the Equinox Marathon, I tripped on one of only two steps at my house. I momentarily landed on the top of my right foot, fracturing my fifth metatarsal. I had foot surgery 15 hours before the Equinox Marathon.
I’m non weight bearing for 6 weeks so the SCUM came to my rescue today to help remove leaves from my house’s gutters:
Supposedly, out-of-shape Bernardo did most of the climbing. The rationale was that he was the lightest of the SCUM so would be the easiest to catch if he fell:
Bernardo doing his ladder training–photo by Joanna Fox
SCUM work party on a glorious but chilly fall day
Robert clings to his purple leaf scoops as he steadies the ladder being stabilized by a foam pad wedge.
Robert used his prize leaf scoops to fill Joanna’s garden cart with birch leaves:
and then hauling the leaves over to the composting area:
Mom directing Robert where to dump the leaves–photo by Joanna Fox
Robert, Bernardo, and Joanna made quick work of the leaves in my yard today. Hopefully we’ll get another sunny (or at least dry day) after the predicted snow and rain on Sunday and Monday. Only about half of the trees in my neighborhood have lost their leaves in spite of several days of hard frost conditions.
It’s tough not being able to weight bear on one foot. However, my friends have definitely helped me with activities of daily living in Fairbanks.
5 SCUM take a break after 4 ascents of the FWW alpine hill
With temperatures in the low 50s, drizzle, and a nice breeze, four ascents of the FWW alpine hill (750 m total climb) was easily done by the SCUM today. With the hill fully mowed and the air free of wildfire smoke, we could chat as we ski walked. Lola was the only one to do fartlek ball chases during her ascents:
Lola still has energy to attempt to get SCUM to toss her ball down the hill
We’re always looking for additional companions as SCUM leave town for fishing, hunting, and travel Outside. We meet at Birch Hill at 10 a.m. (maybe a little earlier when it’s wet or chilly) every Friday until snow closes the Birch Hill trails to foot traffic. Tom Helmers and Bill Husby have mowed all the Birch Hill trails, and the Army contractor has done the FWW alpine hill, so conditions are great. No mosquitoes today, either.
HOT SCUM return to Sonot Connector after raking and lopping Black Hawk and part of Chinook trails.–photo by Bill Husby
The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks has a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Trails Maintenance Project grant to improve many of the trails at Birch Hill Recreation Area and on Fort Wainwright. The Happy Trails crew had completed grading and smoothing work with their mini dozer, but additional hand raking and root and brush lopping was needed. Because the contract billing deadline is 31 July 2023, the SCUM work party set off early today on the hottest weekend of the summer to provide some of the required volunteer match work.
Dermot and Pat hand rake to smooth widened sections of Blackhawk Trail
We decided to attack the Blackhawk trail first with Dermot, Pat, and me starting from the end of the trail, and Bill, Bob, Robert, and Mike from the start of the trail. Each group had a couple of rakers and a root and brush lopper, and Bill had a portable hand saw.
Bob, Robert, and Mike do hot, buggy work–photo by Bill Husby
When the two groups joined up again, we hiked out Little Bird trail and together worked on the inbound Chinook Trail until we got to the Sonot Connector:
All of us agreed that the trail improvements would make the trails easier to groom this winter and would offer places to scrub speed on the narrow, winding downhill sections. It was very apparent that Happy Trails is uniquely qualified to do this trail improvement work as all the grading and smoothing work will make the trails easier to groom and safer to ski this winter. Thank you, Jon and Vance Underwood.
We will be organizing a second raking and lopping work party next Saturday morning. Please contact me at contact@sonotkkaazoot.org if you would like to help us out. We will meet at 9:30 a.m. in the south Birch Hill parking lot and walk out White Cub and White Bear to the Sonot Connector to the Chinook Trail. Plan on spending about 3 hours between working and walking to and from the Chinook Trail.
SCUM ready to head to FWW in rain without Dan Johnson
When the SCUM workout schedule calls for ski walking on the Fort Wainwright alpine hill, we don’t let a little rain deter us. (Note to Dan Johnson, we’ve got to give the National Weather Service a little slack on when the showers will end.)
By the time we had hiked to the top of the alpine hill, the rains stopped and the blue skies returned:
Eric takes selfie of SCUM before first ascent (note that we’re all still dermotized from the rain)
We shed our jackets and bug dope on the bench at the top of the hill before heading down:
Robert who had missed last week’s 4 ascents because he was driving through 110 deg heat moving his daughter from New Mexico to Oakland, CA, was prepared to carry the medium rock as the large rock had disappeared over the winter.
Robert and his soggy pack ready to carry the rock down and up the FWW chair lift trail
So we did our first ascent, wishing for a breeze or less clothing. For the second ascent, most of us shed additional layers except for Lola whose fur coat wasn’t removable:
Eric goes topless while Lola still carries her stick
Dave flexes as he prepares to lead Lola up the hill
With the 93% humidity, it felt much hotter than the actual temperature, so we opted to do just two ascents today.
Soaked and muddy feet after our workout
So Dan, what chores did you do instead of joining us today?
4 SCUM ski walk 4 ascents of FWW ski hill--photo by Dermot Cole (who only did 2 ascents because of a medical appointment conflict)
Tim Woster had ski walked 4 ascents of the Fort Wainwright alpine hill on 9 June with Mom. Today we paced ourselves so that we kept our effort in level 2 for the most part going up the hill. The FWW contractor was hydroseeding the bottom and top of the alpine hill today so we couldn’t take our usual route at the very bottom. However, Dan and Bill still started next to the ski lift hut:
Dan and Bill at the start of their 4th ascent–photo by Bill Husby
So Bill Husby, Dan Johnson, Bernardo Hernandez, and Mom did 4 ascents today in honor of the 4th of July and the FWW frog:
Frog who was enjoying the extra ponds after our recent rains–photo by Bill Husby
We took the ascents leisurely today since some of us plan to do the Golden Heart Trail Run tomorrow. Before heading out to FWW, Dan and Bill had already moved all the newly refurbished and painted ski racks back to the Start Mesa area.
We ascended 740 m this morning, not a bad morning’s effort for a bunch of old geezers.
SCUM may not be in the lead pack in Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks ski races, but they do volunteer their time and efforts to improve skiing for all of us. Today 9 SCUM fed hungry mosquitoes while removing roots and other debris from the Relay, Medevac, and Roller Coaster trails that have been widened and reshaped to minimize erosion.
Before the trails are seeded, roots and other debris needs to be removed. Trail work has also been done on White Cub and White Bear so volunteer efforts are needed there, too. Work has begun on Blue and Black Loops, too, so volunteer effort is needed as part of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks match for the RTP grant funding these trail improvements.
Volunteer work is fairly straightforward. All roots on the trails and trail banks need to be removed if they are larger than the diameter of one’s pinky. Sharp loppers are the most useful tools although we used saws and pulaskis, too.
Contact Tom Helmers at trails@nscfairbanks.org and he’ll direct you to the appropriate trails. After you’ve finished, let Ann Jamieson know what trails you worked on and how much time you spent. She can be contacted at: treasurer@nscfairbanks.org .
After our work party, we examined the ski racks that Dermot and Dan had repaired. These SCUM demonstrated that their versatility extends to carpentry as well as root removal.
Bill leads Dan and Carl up FWW alpine hill on ascent #3
Robert smiling during ascent #3 on a day when he went for perfect technique not speedMy heartrate monitor data for our 4 ascents
Two SCUM did 4 ascents, one did 3.5 ascents, four did 3 ascents. Dermot did just one ascent and one truck load of firewood.
Dan (after 3 ascents) and Dermot (after 1 ascent and one truck load of birch logs loaded into his truck)
Dermot’s workout will generate the most heat in the long run. However, Tim and I ski walked 715 m of climb today in our 4 ascents of the FWW alpine hill. The hill averages a 19% grade over 0.84 km. I burned 864 kcal for my workout but looking at Dermot’s t-shirt, he may have burned significantly more.
Snow on my fleece top after removing my gloves and poles so I could access my phone
Today we were grateful for car heaters after doing our three ascents of the Fort Wainwright alpine hill. Bernardo started an hour early so finished before the rain changed to snow. Likewise, Bob decided to do just one ascent. However, Tim, Robert, and I did three ascents (because Bernardo had already set the bar that high).
Here we are before our last ascent:
We wouldn’t have done this alone!
After our three ascents, when we were walking back down to the Birch Hill stadium and our cars, we noticed streams flowing down the trail. Seeing as our feet were already thoroughly soaked, we didn’t need to waste energy dodging the puddles.
One SCUM travels out of town to have cold and wet adventures:
However, we were content to dodge the construction in the Birch Hill parking lots, and get our workout done. Some of our fellow SCUM were building fences, teaching paddling, waiting for furnace servicing to be done, or waiting for a flight into Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. We missed them, but our dryland training will continue for 4 or 5 months yet.
Sonot Kkaazoot 