The last ski (again, and again, and again)

A couple weekends ago we met up with some pals for a ski at Lebanon Hills. I was convinced that it would be the last ski of the winter- after all we have been treated to highs near 40 under sunny skies for weeks here and the gigantic potholes on our streets are evidence of serious snow melt. So we got out that day and found the trails in excellent condition. We toodled around for over an hour soaking up the sun, but I couldn't shake a bittersweet notion that this was going to be it. Then I got out again the next day, and a couple times the next week. And then last weekend we met more friends at Lebanon Hills and again soaked up a few hours of sun out on our skies. But there was more ice, and even grass and weeds starting to stick through. And down by the lake there were outright puddles.

And then on Sunday, Jon and Theo were going to head over to Theodore Wirth to go snow tubing (Theo's christmas present to Jon) and I got the idea in my head that maybe I hadn't missed my opportunity to ski from Lake of the Isles out to Wirth this year. I try to do it atleast once a season- but a combination of a broken bone, a wily intestinal virus, and weekend committments had kept me from completing my quest this winter. I quickly talked Eli into joining me- clearly he wasn't quite conceptualizing the distance we were going to have to cover, and I didn't enlighten him. Jon dropped Eli and I off at the Isles channel around 2pm. As he drove off, Eli and I stood by the side of the road with our skies in hand and were nearly drenched by a passing car sending out a wave of water from a huge puddle. Not an auspicious start to a ski. But we crossed the road and picked our way down to the channel. We joined a parade of late season skiers out to Cedar, through the culvert (where a woman skied by us in just a bra and pants- was it that warm?) to Brownie lake, up over the 394 overpass and into the 'quaking bog'. We had to remove our skies to cross Wirth parkway in order to get over into the wildflower garden trails and then again to get on to Wirth lake. But we covered around 10k in the cities, traveling from downtown Minneapolis out to the suburbs, skiing over one highway and under another, with only two quick road crossings. It is fairly amazing. As we skied west, Eli gave me an overview of the upcoming plot twists in the novel he is writing, and then we plotted out bike and canoe trips we are hoping to take as the snow recedes and spring arrives. We reached the Wirth Chalet by 3:30, soaked with sweat, our gloves ditched around the second kilometer and tied to our pants. We were delightfully tired. I think it was probably the last classic ski of the season, but what a way to finish off a fabulous winter of fun on the snow.