The perfect winter continues.
I had to work on Martin Luther King day so took Friday off. My friend Jo-Ann also had the day off so we met in the afternoon to ski part of the Tour of Anchorage trail. Surprisingly, I haven't posted any photos yet of the park lands near our house or their extensive trail system; we play here at least twice a week -- biking, walking, or skiing depending upon the season. The Campbell Tract is owned by the Bureau of Land Management and houses an airstrip and the Campbell Creek Science Center. The tract is surrounded by the municipal Far North Bicentennial Park. The eastern boundary of the municipal park is Chugach State Park, the 2nd largest state park in the country. (see blogs from last week, 31 Dec, 6 Nov, and 10 Sep.)
The Tour of Anchorage is an annual ski event with 25, 40, and 50 kilometer courses. The tour trail incorporates half a dozen trails through the city, including the Viewpoint and Old Rondy trails that Jo-Ann and I skied. The Old Rondy trail used to be the course for the sled dog races held during the Fur Rendezvous winter festival each February. But increasing trail use and a diversity of use types eventually led to dedicating other trails just to mushing dogs. Most of the other trails in town, like Viewpoint and Old Rondy, are used by classical and skate skiers, bikers, skijorers, dog walkers, horses, and runners.
On Friday we only saw a few people as we skied through the spruce and birch woods and over various branches of Campbell Creek. We did run into our friend, Diana, also a Wombat, who was skijoring. Her burly Australian cattle dog was pulling her along at a fairly good clip, though she said he's reluctant to pull her. We saw a few other skiers and runners, one biker, but mostly had the route and the 2" of fresh snow to ourselves.
(If my photos look blurry to you, would you email me or post a comment to let me know? I'm uploading high resolution photos but they appear blurry these last 2 weeks. Thanks.)
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