Battle Creek

I was up at 5:45 to shovel HOURCARs today and planned an early ski. Based on prior reputation, I headed down to Terrace Oaks. And, it was ungroomed. I was, well, not pleased. I called the office and was assured that they are grooming this year, but hadn't gotten there yet. Since, when it is groomed, it is very sheltered, and the coverage looks good, once it is groomed it may be the pick of the Cities.

So, it was up 35E, across the Wakota Bridge (inexplicable traffic) and up 61 to Battle Creek which was, well, decent. The prairie was not even worth skiing, but the back woods were rolled and pretty solid. Well, they were soft, but coverage is good and the rolling makes it quite skiable. There are a few leafy sections and a bit of mulch, but the work this summer left the trail in great shape. It's best accessed by going up the sliding hill and then 50 yards behind it to the trail. The sliding hill is wicked fun coming down on the way home.

A bit more rolling and it should set up well in the cold weather. Good job Ahvo and friends!

Also, the lights aren't on. With clouds the ambient light was fine, but real lights would be great.

Oh, and on the way back 94 was a skating rink. Funny, when you don't treat the roads when it's above 0, and it drops close to 0, the roads freeze up. Hmm, I wonder if salting the roads dry (melt the snow which then evaporates under tires) would help with this. Perhaps.

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com