Finally!! Snow in southern Indiana!!!!

 Oh my, where do I start? Since returning home from our trip to the UP of Michigan we have been suffering from snow withdraw as it has been a snow drought in our area. January was for all purposes snow free and February was looking like it might be a repeat of January. The weather had been cold all month and the ground was frozen so if we could just get some snow I knew we would hang onto it for some time. Then finally around Valentines day the forecast had some promise. Snow finally started falling Sunday the 15th and by noon Monday we had enough to finally break out the xc skis and make some tracks.
 Cindy and myself stopped by to pick up our good friend Libby and off we went to the refugee to give it a go.

 The snow was very pretty, but also very light and powdery. While we had 4" or so in the woods it was so light it could not support our weight and we drug our skis on sticks and rocks in several places. We did get to see a baby otter hopping through the snow so it was not all for loss.
 The next day it was killing me to think that the ground was white with 4 plus inches of snow and it was not good enough to xc ski on. After talking over our options with Cindy we decided to go try downhill skiing at Paoli Peaks. It had been ten plus years since both of us had been downhill skiing and with Cindy having just recovered from her broken ankle I was a bit concerned about taking her.  I sure did not want her to re injure her ankle. Cindy agreed with me that we should stick to the family trails and take it easy to reduce the risk...
 We made a few tame runs down the family runs before Cindy started looking at the intermediate runs. One more run down the easy hill and off we went! We had taken our Go Pro along and used the chest mount for the first time so now know what it feels like to wear a bra!

 I have to admit that it took a while for me to get anywhere near comfortable on downhill skis again but Cindy was doing great from the start. I did feel like that as the afternoon went on I was starting to figure it out, just a little. That is not saying I did not find the snow several times, on the same run a few times!

 

 

We kept at it and before the night was done we had progressed through the intermediate runs and soon we were eyeing the black diamond. Each time we rode the lift back up we were going up over the black diamond run and we both started thinking how hard could it be? We had to give it a try and while we both had unexpected impacts with the snow, we both managed to make it to the bottom in one piece. Not discouraged by our spills, we had to try it again as we both thought we knew where we messed up. Sure enough we made it down without incident! The third pass down the black diamond resulted in myself making a great standup recovery to a nasty spin out, all captured on the go pro!
 As you can see in the video we had a blast and we could not wait to go again!!!

The temps stayed cold all week and while the snow was not ideal I broke out my old xc skis and used them on the trails across the road and managed to ski every day in less than ideal conditions. My birthday was coming up and Cindy asked me what I wanted to do for it. I did not have to think twice as I had so much fun downhill skiing I wanted to go again! About the middle of the week the weathermen started talking abut a big winter storm heading our way for Friday night and just luckily I had already bought our tickets for the twilight ski for Friday night. Cindy and I were both really hoping we could get to ski in fresh snow as it feel down on us.
 Friday came and with it brought more cold temps. By the time we got to Paoli it was 15 degrees with a stiff and cold south wind. Luckily the slopes are on the north side of the hill and we were able to stay out of the cold wind all the time except when we were riding the lift back up. The cold temps must have kept a lot of people away as it was not nearly as crowded as we thought it might be. We continued to make run after run and in my mind we were getting better the more we skied. It was not long before I got probably a bit too cocky and decided to try to take a few small jumps. Lets just say the results were not good! We both had a few wipeouts but luckily we both skied away unharmed. Cindy took a nasty spill on the biggest ski jump as she went to ski over it and had to ride out a gnarly slide down the side of it. I was glad to see her still able to move when I got to her. I helped get her all put back together and away she skied.
 We tried out the pole mount for our Go Pro and got some cool videos from it.

 You have to love how the image Youtube pics for the thumbnail just happens to catch me landing on my butt!!! You have to give me credit for great camera control though. Can't control my skis but the camera hardly moved LOL!!!
 As the night progressed we noticed there were fewer people skiing so before long we decided to go play in the terrain park. As you can see in the following video we both took on the ski jump, all be  it the baby jump that 4 year olds probably cut their teeth on!

 Cindy was not going to let that monster of a jump get the best of her and before long she stuck her landing!!!!
 Our hopes of getting to ski on fresh snow as it fell down on us started to look like it might work out as about 11 it started snowing while we were inside warming up. Just as we were heading back out to start skiing again it changed to a really wet sleet!!! Sadly our skiing for the night was done so we headed for home.
 It sleeted the whole way home and I really did not think we would get to ski anymore as I was worried the sleet would beat down the snow. As we laid in bed and laughed about all the fun we had skiing that night Cindy noticed it was snowing outside! I woke up early the next morning and raced to look out the window. We got snow!!!! Letting the boys out I was able to see we got another 4" on top of what already had and this snow was much better snow for xc skiing.
 I knew Cindy was wore out so I let her sleep in a bit. After a yummy breakfast we finally headed out about 11.We headed over to ski one of our favorite trails at a woods we named Remy's woods in honor of the little raccoon we raised a few years back. We released Remy by Buckskin pond in this woods so it will always be known as Remy's woods to us. We had a great ski as the snow continued to fall down around us. After a very nice 4 mile ski we returned home to discover that Juicy the Jeep would not climb our driveway. Finally after 3 tries we made it up and I got busy installing the snow blower on the tractor so I could clear the snow off the drive. I had intentionally not installed it earlier in the season when it was warmer as I did not want to jinx our chance to get any snow.
 Sunday found us driving up to Indy to take Cindy's grandson sledding on the saucer sled we had gotten him for Xmas. Luckily Miles did not seem to remember his last sledding adventure with us as it did not got so well. He was a bit apprehensive about the whole sledding idea when we arrived and he saw all the people sledding down the hill. Fortunately we were able to convince him to give it a try so we started him off on a small hill.

 It just took a few passes down the small hill and Miles was having a blast! Soon he was ready to take on the big hill!

 We were very glad that Miles had a good time and enjoyed his saucer sled.

Hopefully we get another chance to take him sledding again this season. Maybe next time he can even try out the skis we got him last year.
 After arriving back home we grabbed our skis and headed across the road to ski before dinner. Temps had warmed up a bit and with the sunshine the snow had softened up a bit. In an attempt to keep the snow from sticking to our skis I had applied Rain X to the fish scales on our xc skis. After Cindy fell for the fourth time she asked me not to put anymore Rain X on her skis!

 The next few days the temps remained in the deep freeze and the snow was lasting much longer than we were typically used to. Monday evening we got to go back to Remy's woods and ski again. This trip we skied down to Buck Creek pond and enjoyed the sunset as we skied back. Yes, it was cold, but a birthday evening ski with my fiancé was well worth it!

 That Tuesday we were finally able to get the Gang out to Remy's woods for a ski. The snow was much softer than it had been the night before, especially on the drive into the parking area. I think everyone really liked the trails, especially since Cindy and I had already made two sets of tracks so we could all ski side by side most of the trail.

 We all had a great ski and then played dodge the deer as we took a Jackson county short cut to the Brick in Jonesville. We all filled up on delicious burgers and chili. Always a great time with Gang!!!!
 Wednesday finally saw Cindy heading back to work as the roads had gotten good enough to have school again. I had to ski the next tree days by myself as Cindy had to work late. It is just is not the same skiing without my best friend. I downloaded the Endomondo App to my new phone to track my ski and discovered that the trail across the road at Dottie's was exactly 1 mile long. The other surprise was that it took me 14 minutes plus per lap. The trail has some pretty good hills that we have to herringbone up and it seems like no matter how many downhill sections there are I just could not make up the time lost climbing the hill. So the next two days I spent my time skiing trying to beat the 14 minute lap time. Finally Friday evening I only had time to make one lap. The snow was not as soft and the tracks had survived the sunshine very well. I felt like I was running I was skiing so hard. I made it back to the starting point in 13:47! I felt like I had won the Olympics LOL. I actually had a better time than that as I had forgotten to step into my ski bindings before I started the app timer.
 We rose early yesterday morning and despite it only being 8 degrees outside we headed back to Remy's woods to ski the trail before the temps warmed up. the temp was forecasted to get into to the mid 30's which would make the snow too soft to ski on. Cindy and I had a great ski and we were getting some really nice glide out of our skis. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Lincoln Square restaurant with Cindy's soon to be new daughter in law.
 Wanting to make the most out of the snow while it was with us, Cindy and I dusted off our snow shoes later in the afternoon and headed west to the Hickory Ridge trails near Maumee IN. We had hiked the trail once before and we were both curious if we could ski those trails. We had only snow shoed once before and did not really care for it but this time we both really enjoyed it and discovered it to be a great workout. We shoed our way down to Grouse Hollow lake

 By the time we got back to Juicy the back of my pants legs were soaked! Lesson learned, don't wear blue jeans while snow shoeing!! I had forgotten how much snow flips up on the back of your pants legs.

The forecast for Saturday night was all over the place. Some were saying we were going to get rain, some said 2-3" of snow, while others said 4-6". But it seemed that everyone was saying that temps were supposed to rise above freezing by dawn. I was really hoping we could get one more ski in Sunday as that would make 14 straight days we had skied locally. When we finally went to bed about 1 am it was snowing lightly with maybe a fresh inch. I went to sleep hoping to wake up with enough snow to ski on. Luck was on our side as we wound up getting almost 3" overnight. Temps were just below freezing and it was still snowing. We hit the trail early and skied one lap at Dottie's. The thing that surprises me about xc skiing is how much the snow conditions affect the skiing quality. We had plenty of snow on the trail but by the time we started the second lap the new snow that fell while we skied the first lap was super sticky and starting to stick to the bottom of our skis. We turned back around and by the time we made it home we were ski walking  due to all the snow stuck to the fish scales on our skis

 One of the many things I love about Cindy is how willing she is to do things at the spur of the moment. By the time we walked from the garage to the house we had decided to take a Jeep snow adventure to see what kind of snow conditions we could find.We loaded Juicy up with our skis, snow shoes, and a sled so we would be ready for whatever we found.
 I let our boys, Edward and Wilson, out to play for a bit before we headed off. There is no way you cannot enjoy snow with a goof ball like Wilson running around acting silly in it.

 While Wilson loves to play in the snow you have to keep a close eye on his paws as he has really larger pockets between the pads on them. He develops snow toe pretty quickly in wet snow. He will keep playing till you make him stop and that is usually when he realizes he has some issue with his feet. If it is very bad I have to get the ice ball out between his toes and I have seen them get as big as ping pong balls. He sounds like he has tap shoes on when he walks in the shop. If he is tapping across the floor I know I have to help him get the ice balls out.
 With the boys fed and resting comfortably inside we headed west back to the Maumee area of the Hoosier National forest. I had always wanted to drive Tower Ridge road all the way to 446 and today seemed like a good day to do that. I really wish that road was paved as it would be a awesome short cut to Lake Monroe. The drive was beautiful and pictures just did not do it justice. It is called Tower Ridge Road because it leads to the fire tower south of Lake Monroe. Never having driven this road I did not realize it went right past the fire tower. Once we saw the fire tower we had to climb it!

Cindy and I had to take a selfie up in the cab of the tower.

 We both were feeling the burn in our legs as we climbed the stairs up the tower and we both blamed the snow shoeing the day before. I was very glad Cindy mentioned feeling it first as I did not want to seem like such a big weenie but I sure was feeling it. The view down from the top looking down at Juicy with our skis on top of her was pretty cool.

 

By now the temps had risen above freezing and a steady drizzle was falling. We both knew that meant our chances of playing in the snow was over but neither of us admitted it. Turning north on 446 hunger pains were making themselves known to both of us as we were in such a hurry to hit the trail this morning we had skipped breakfast. Luckily, the Log Cabin was open and we both ate like we had not eaten in days. When they set the first platter down in front of me I thought it was a lot of food then they set down the other platter down in front of me! We both made valiant efforts to eat all the food they brought us and somehow we had enough room left over to split a big dish of blackberry cobbler with ice cream.
 By the time we made it back to the lodge the temps were still above freezing and we could tell the snow depth had really taken a big hit. Rain is forecasted for Tuesday with warmer temps to follow. I am not ready to put the skis away for the season but we both know living this far south it could be the end of our ski season. If it is we have had made a lot of fun new memories and discovered we both love to downhill ski. I am not giving up hope just yet though, as back in 2013 we skied the day after Easter, so here is hoping we get to ski again in March!!!!