Cross Country Skiing at its Best

By Jamie Stewart

With the glacial speed of a cross country skier, crash and burn is more bark than bite. The skis begin their asymmetrical journey with the legs following the trapped feet in a slow and agonizing ?Tiiiiimberrrrrr?!! Culminating in a thump and a snow-buried face plant. The downed and helpless skier is contorted into a twisted pretzel yoga pose. ?HELP!! I can?t move!!? Sprawled out on a perfectly groomed trail, among some of the most beautiful Nordic skiing terrain in the country, near Winthrop Washington, I?ve laid waste to the moment. My partner chuckles at my ice peppered face and bruised ego. ?Come on!? she says without a sign of sympathy, ?Let's finish up and I?ll buy lunch at the Rocking Horse Bakery?. Ah, it?s the little things that help us get through the day.

Stephanie and I were offered the use of a small mountain cabin on Stud Horse Mountain just outside of Winthrop for the weekend. We gladly accepted our hosts? generosity and packed up our skis, food and wonder dog Sonny for the trip East to the land of dry snow and breathtaking views. We?ve enjoyed downhill skiing for a number of years but have never done much in the way of Nordic ski adventures together before. Here was an opportunity to explore the Methow Valley and some of the easier trails that this amazing outdoor recreational area has to offer.

The trail system is organized and maintained by a volunteer non profit group, MVSTA. All of the trails were beautifully maintained and groomed while we were there. Snow fall had been limited since Christmas but temperatures were low enough to maintain ample snow for the trail system. We decided to explore four main trail areas and started our first day near Sun Mountain and Lake Patterson. As drove to our trail head, we saw ice skaters out on Lake Patterson?a unique sight in the Northwest. It was brisk. Temperatures were in the mid 20?s. At the trail head, we ran into some old friends manning a table for the Methow Conservancy. They fed us hot tea and cookies and after a bit of catching up we were on our way up the trail.

All of the trails we used were wide enough to skate ski easily with parallel tracks laid down to the side of the trail for classical style. Steph and I were both on classical style skis. Stephanie had modern equipment, mine was somewhere between prehistoric and ancient. I prefer to call it ?classic antique?. Some were a bit wary of the bamboo baskets on my ski poles until I showed them how well they could work in deep powder snow. We enjoyed our Sun Mountain trail and then headed back to the cabin to make a delicious dinner followed by a ?24? Jack Bauer marathon.

Our second outing took us along the Methow Community Trail just across the bridge from Winthrop and then on to the dog friendly Big Valley Trail, along Highway 20 toward Mazama. At the Big Valley Trail it was pretty easy to tell who was having more fun between dogs and their people. Dogs were leaping and running and sniffing out other dogs and having just a dog?s life. Their associated humans followed in a glazed ?I can?t believe my dog just did that? mode. Sonny ?the wonder dog,? our English Springer Spaniel, took off without a leash to join a dozen or so other dogs half a mile up the trail. By the time Stephanie caught up to the patiently waiting wonder dog she was in need of oxygen, gatorade and a postponed martini. She didn?t think she would see her beloved companion again. The freedom rider was put back on leash and willingly pulled Steph back along the trail. Mush Sonny, Mush!! Both dog and humans rested soundly that night.

For our last expedition we took the ?dog team? out for a run on the Rendezvous Trail system. The Rendezvous is just north of Winthrop along the west side of the Chewuch River. This incredible system of trails meanders through tall, Ponderosa pine forests and into the surrounding hills and valleys. There are a series of huts one can ski into and spend the night or have a guide service transport all of your food and equipment in for you. It offers a wide variety of terrain from easy, gradual trails to the more extreme and challenging for the mountain goat type skiers. We chose the easier, life sustaining, Cougar Bait trail. Though we didn?t see many cougars, the scenery was still inspiring. Tall trees against a back drop of clear blue skies, and crisp, clean, mountain air, along a trail just for skiers. There were very few people and we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Peaceful.

As we said good bye to our mountain cabin and friends we stopped off at the gas station in Winthrop to fuel up the car and discovered one of the most complete chocolate bar displays on the planet. Take me home Toto, this has to be a chocolate lover?s oasis. I guarantee you will find something you can?t leave with out eating. Mercy!

We look forward to heading back to the Methow for another beautiful ski trip. Only the next time, we plan on bringing a real harness for Sonny the wonder sled dog for his next great outdoor adventure. On King ! On you Huskies !