On December 12th, Bill, Rachel, Kate, Danielle and I headed up to Willow to ski the same loop that, coincidentally, we skied exactly a year ago. I say that it was a coincidence, but the Su Valley rivers usually don’t start freezing up safe for travel until early December, and we’re always itching to get out ther as soon as we can. So it’s no surprise that it was December 12th two years in a row.
It was a chilly day, with a high of -10 F in Willow, and definitely colder on the river, so the glide was very slow. But the trails were in great shape. It was a great ski with great people, marred only by the fact that I bonked hard 3.5 hours into a 6 hour ski. It really took me by surprise. I’m definintely not in shape right now, but usually on these long workouts I can survive on base endurance alone. But not this day. Those women (and Bill) put the hurt on me. Thank god for Kate, who saw what was happening and quickly went to the front of the group to adjust (read: slow) the pace so they could drag me home.
Here are a the only photos taken during the whole ski (by Kate) on account of the cold weather.
I love this picture of me. Usually when I get really tired, the camera goes away. I stop taking pictures. So this might be the only picture of me in full-on bonk mode. This was after crossing the Big Swamp, which was my low point. I am utterly exhausted, dazed and glazed, and ready to just curl up in a ball. But this was also the point where I knew I could make it home. The worst was over. Only another hour or so of suffering and I’d be done.
