Report from the Birkie Trail

My folks were in town and after a day in Minneapolis (a long day: ski at Wirth, shower, tour of the Purcell Cutts house, Art Shanties, Guthrie, late dinner) we made for the Birkie Trail. In 2006 my dad had business and swung through town for a weekend and I took him to the trail, since there was no skiing nearby. (Had there been good skiing in town we would have gone to Murphy or Wirth or Battle Creek or Woodland.) I'd been hoping to show them around the great trails in the Cities, but, alas, it was not to be.

So Sunday morning we packed up and made for the Birkie Trail. We skied from the North End Cabin, then striding, me skating. It was firm and a bit icy, but perfectly groomed of course (after a couple days of closure to ensure the best race conditions). I skied to the bottom of Powerlines (so daunting from the top) and then to Boedecker and back, and then striding to the 8k mark to find my parents slowly going up the hills. They loved the trail, but it kicked their butts. As it probably will mine next week.

My report from Skinnyski:

It's a testament to the grooming of the Birkie Trail that we were wondering about snow conditions until just about Hayward. The trail, however, has fantastic conditions, with an inch of new snow combined into the icy base to make the trail hard but with an edge, and very fast but definitely not scary. From the bottom of the Power Lines (boy, does that hill look daunting from the top—and the bottom) to Boedecker Road the trail was in fine shape, and talking to some folks at North End Cabin they say the rest is good, too, although Lake Hayward is supposedly icy.