More Skiing! Iola and Minocqua Winter Park

Over the March 16-17 weekend, we were able to do some late winter skiing. As usual, it was lots of fun. We started the weekend in Iola, WI, at Iola Winter Sports. The temperatures were warm, and we skied on a alternately icy and slushy track, but it was a beatiful day to be outside, so we just enjoyed ourselves and the relative quiet. At Iola, we never know quite how far we ski, but we were out for an hour and 25 minutes.

Iola Winter Sports Man, Iola, WI

After skiing, we headed north through the countryside on Wisconsin Highway 49. In Wausau, WI, we took advantage of happy hour and an early dinner at Red Eye Brewery. We visited last year, so it was nice to stop in again. After dinner, it was not dark until nearly 7:30pm, so we got really lovely sunset views heading into Minocqua.

Susan & Frank at the top of the VO2 Max Trail at Minocqua Winter Park, WI

The temperatures dropped a lot from Saturday to Sunday, and it was below 0 when we got up on Sunday morning. We waited a few hours before heading out to the Winter Park. By the time we got out on the trails, it was a whopping 15 degrees! After one of our longer ski jaunts of 2 hours 25 minutes and ~13 km, we made our way south for lunch at El Mezcal in Wausau, WI (a second visit of the season), and onward back to Chicago.  

Weekend at Minocqua Winter Park

Trail views at Mincqua Winter Park, Minocqua, WI

For our (likely) last ski destination of winter 2013, Frank and I decided we couldn’t miss Minocqua Winter Park. We left Saturday morning and ate lunch in the car to arrive at the Winter Park by early afternoon. We left behind the throngs of snow tubers and headed out on the trails. Likely because Saturday was also the “Birkie” race, the trails were quiet…so few skiers and skate skiers in particular…it was lovely. As we started out, snow began to fall, and it was incredibly picturesque and pleasant even though we had to stop periodically to scrape ice off our skis. We got out for just over 2.5 hours (and ~12-13 kilometers) adding some of the outer trails -- the Yukon and C&D Express -- to our Minocqua experience. On Sunday morning, we capped the weekend with a 1hr 45 minute (and almost 12km) jaunt of nearly perfect ski conditions up to the top of the Squirrel Trail, across Windy Ridge, down Nose Dive Alley, and back to the Chalet. To and from Minocqua, we also tuned in to Wisconsin’s Big Cheese radio station. A superlative from 2012, it was good to hear the Northwoods radio station again!

Trail view from the top of the Squirrel Trail, Minocqua Winter Park



Frank at Minocqua Winter Park

 

Iola Winter Sports and Greenbush

This past weekend we tried two new ski areas: Iola Winter Sports Club in Iola, WI, and the Greenbush area of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Northern Unit.

Frank skiing at Iola Winter Sports, Iola, WI

On our way to Iola, we stopped at Too Dars Diner on Main Street in Iola, WI, and sampled reuben sandwiches for $2.75 each and a side of fried cheese curds for $3.50. I think that price difference tells you about the value Wisconsinites place on their cheese curds! So fortified, we headed out for 2h 15m of skiing at Iola. The XC trails crisscrossed the Ice Age Trail and had some great hills and fantastic striding. It was cold, but mostly sunny most of the day, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

That evening we drove to Appleton, WI, and luckily we came into downtown for wifi from the public library because Appleton's downtown is really beautiful with lovely neighborhood homes and views of the ravines and cliffs around the Fox River. We tried the Stone Cellar Brewpub, which was the most popular spot in town for a Saturday night.

Frank & Susan on the trail at Iola Winter Sports

On Sunday, we finally found the Greenbush area after driving around lost for about 30 minutes. (We left our ski map at home!) The skiing there was nice too. We took the purple loop (5.1 miles) + a short 1/3 of the brown loop to get us close to 5.5 miles in 1h 20m. Though we enjoyed the skiing, we were out with people who zoomed like race car drivers past us. Our theory is that they're training in for the "Birkie," cross country's premier ski race of 50K in the Wisconsin Northwoods scheduled for next weekend.

Snow ripples at Greenbush XC ski area, near Greenbush, WI

Kettle Moraine State Forest - Lapham Peak

On Saturday, we headed out for an out-and-back day of skiing. Lapham Peak is one of our closest ski areas and one of my favorites. I love the downhill fun of "The Big Slide" and "The Magic Carpet," in particular, but after all the great descents, you have to go back up, and with hills called "The Wall," you can imagine it's pretty tough! After a total of 9 miles around two loops (black/blue & purple), we headed to lunch at the Delafield Brewhaus, which hit the spot, and then back to Chicago for a nap and cozy night at home!

Beautiful snow views at Lapham Peak, Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI

Frank & Susan at Lapham Peak

Look closely - yes - a deer frolicked across the path at Lapham Peak

Kettle Moraine State Forest - Zillmer & Pike Lake

Great skiing this weekend, and we only had to drive 3-ish hours...so nice!

On Saturday morning, we headed north from Chicago through snow flurries to the Zillmer Trail in the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. We took the yellow trail (5.4 miles) and then headed out on the green trail (1.8 miles). It was a cold day, and we were glad to warm up at West Bend's Mexican restaurant, El Tapatio de Jalisco.

In the evening, we re-charged at the Country Inn and Suites in Germantown, WI, with carryout from Hung Hao - pretty tasty.

Sunday morning took us to the Pike Lake area of Kettle Moraine State Forest, and after driving around looking for the nature trail parking, we finally found the groomed area. We took the brown loop once (1.8) and blue loop twice (1.3 x 2 = 2.6) with spurs around the campground twice (maybe 1 mile) = ~5.4 miles. The downhill area at the end of the blue and brown loops was awesome. Definitely fun!

Views from Zillmer Trails, Northern Unit, Kettle Moraine State Forest

Susan & Frank, Pike Lake Unit, Kettle Moraine State Forest

Superlatives 2012

Thanks to all of you who sent me Christmas greetings in 2012. 

You inspired me to write this post!

Travel (See this blog for full details on all travel!)

• Skiing adventures including Little Girl’s Point and frozen Lake Superior
• Adventuring in Michigan and Northern Ontario – more Lake Superior! See picture below.
• Spring trip to TN/NC

Michipicoten River view, northern Ontario, Canada

Family Fun

• Fall colors on Lake Geneva, WI
• Barry Manilow concert at Wolf Trap
• Downton Abbey marathon
• Family time in Michigan

Friends

• Ft. Happiness project (a regular phone call to keep in touch with friends loosely organized around staying on track to do more of whatever makes us happy)
• VISTA Re-Connect (a similar model as above, but checking in with connections made via national service)
• Lewes, DE – Uber weekend
• West Virginia (pre-snow) – Uber weekend
• Snowed in in WV – continuation of the Uber weekend

Dining Out – Notable Meals

• Sunday Dinner Club’s Chinese American Dinner in December
• Kingsbury Street Café’s Croque Madame
  

 Recipes

• Zucchini bread (see above - Yum!)
• A Homemade Life’s scones can be found on the blog, Orangette
• Gov’t Mule cocktail
• Zucchini hash
• Pasta-making cooking class inspired ragout with eggplant and fennel

Best New Music (or new to me)

• Alan Doyle’s Boy on Bridge
• Turnpike Troubadour’s "The Funeral" – link to hear it on YouTube

Fave Podcast Story: TAL’s Neofuturist story on Tate Donovan– transcript here.

Best Movies

• Susan - The Way (a great musical interlude from the film can be found on YouTube, check it out - here), Like Crazy, Skyfall, Argo
• Frank - Skyfall, Argo, Bourne Legacy, and foreign thrillers on Netflix

*Also interesting in the movie category was an unintentional study of Ryan Gosling. Over 12 months from 2011 - 2012, we saw Blue Valentine, Ides of March, All Good Things, Drive, and Crazy, Stupid Love.

Artsy/Intellectual Pursuit

• PCR’s Service in an Age of Inequality
• Roy Lichtenstein lecture at Art Institute
• MC Escher-esque Hubbard Street Dance performance at Art Institute
• Shawn Achor’s TED talk

Reading – Susan’s List - Join me on Goodreads.

• One Drop
• Nothing Daunted
• A Homemade Life
• American Wife

TV

• Breaking Bad - Frank too
• Modern Family, Season 1

Concerts

• Stephen Kellogg in Asheville
• Sister Hazel in July at Lincoln Park Arts Festival
• Alan Doyle at Schuba’s in May
• Reckless Kelly @ Joe's Bar
• Carbon Leaf at Bell's Brewery in October
• Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers at Park West in November
• Peter Bradley Adams at Schuba’s in December
• The Killers in December
• For Frank: Jazz and blues, especially the Deep Blue Trio at the Green Mill

Exercise Fun: Skiing, roller blading, running, swimming, walking, canoeing, and the regular regime

Work
For Susan:

• conference presentations of work of volunteer management work, especially a volunteer program benchmark assessment tool
• Mutual admiration society with GREAT volunteers. They’re amazing.  
• Board Source conference and Daniel Patrick Forrester’s presentation on reflective thinking
• Veggie potlucks with Yvette
• Jackie’s holiday party

For Frank: getting lots of quality data after a hefty development cycle and moving toward papers

Unexpected Fun: Wisconsin’s Big Cheese radio station, 107.9

Coldest Skiing Weather Yet

View of Lake Superior from Marquette, MI

Susan & Frank at Blueberry Ridge near Marquette, MI

This past weekend, January 19 - 21, Frank and I headed north to Marquette, MI, to explore a new area for skiing. We stopped along the way in Green Bay, WI, for lunch at Titletown Brewing Company.We got in late to Marquette and unpacked the car in blowing snow squalls. The next morning we made our way - cautiously - to the cross country skiing area off of Forestville Road just west of town. The cross country ski hut has a great wood burning stove for warming up, so we took advantage and bundled up for several hours (~8.7 miles) of good skiing. On Monday, it was even colder, and we had to start even earlier. Luckily, we didn't freeze but after about 1.5 hours (4.6 miles), we called it a morning and headed back south to Chicago!

Guess What? It's Ski Season Again!

Frank & Susan at on Meadow Valley Trail, Governor Dodge State Park, WI

Cox Hollow Lake from the Lakeview Trail, Governor Dodge State Park, WI

Shocking, yes, we've started seeking snow. Last winter showed us that we can't count on plenty of snow near Chicago in January and February. So, because of heavy snow before Christmas in the Madison area and consistently low temperatures throughout the holidays, we drove 3 hours to Governor Dodge State Park and thoroughly enjoyed three of their classic cross country ski trails: Meadow Valley (5 miles) and Lakeview (1.25 miles) on Saturday and Lost Canyon Trail (3 miles) on Sunday. The Saturday skiing was some of the best we've encountered!

In between skiing, we had pizza for lunch at the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub in Mt. Horeb, WI, recommended by Heather, and dinner on Saturday took us to Great Dane Pub in Finchburg, WI. 

Making the Most of Fall, Part 3 and Winter Begins, Part 1

Friday: After a good drive of clearing skies and nice leaf color, we arrived in Davis/Canaan Valley. Met Todd and Kathleen for the traditional dinner at Hellbender Burrito (delicious!), and welcomed Kate and Tristan later that evening.

Saturday: Misty and foggy, but dry. We headed up to the ridge on the edge of Dolly Sods National Wilderness area. The crew hiked about 3.5 miles, ending up with some cairn art and rock throwing, which sadly led to the demise of Tristan’s lego man. Alas. Back at the house, we carved pumpkins, toasted seeds (shaking salt, shaking salt, shaking salt…), danced to The Killers (yes, there’s a video), and welcomed Sam to the party.

 

Sunday brought the rain, but we were ready. The ubers headed back up to the ridge for an 8 mile loop. The evening brought hot showers, a farewell to Sam (just before the snow too L), and Mary Kay’s first viewing of The Princess Bride.

Monday: snow! The forecast said it would snow until 11am and then turn to rain. Well, it didn’t turn to rain, and it never stopped snowing for 4 days. My mom, who emailed me about 2 feet of snow BEFORE we left has requested a cross stitch piece from me that says, “You were right.” I think there should be snowflakes as accents. To be fair, we did think about leaving, but Hurricane Sandy blocked the path of the rest of the crew back to Baltimore, so we took a long walk along the snowy roads of Timberline. Afterwards, Todd and Frank went into town for the beloved Sirianni’s pizza. The ladies stayed at Mile Failte and watched Dirty Dancing…all of Dirty Dancing and no Frank and Todd…. They called to let us know they’d been delayed because of an accident on Rt. 32. By the time the road opened, snow chains were necessary for driving, and when they got to the gate house at Timberline, the guard helpfully suggested, “…you’re going to Mountainside 183…you might make it.” Fortunately, they did make it, and we had a cozy and warm night with pizza and a fire, a first viewing of Star Wars Episode IV for Mary Kay, and it kept snowing….

Tuesday: Still snowing and now no internet; Mary Kay and Kathleen cooked and baked everything we’d brought in anticipation of losing power, which happened around 12 noon while the crew was out sledding. Luckily over the next 46 hours, we had running water, a gas stove that could be lit to heat up food, plenty of snow for keeping food cold, a landline to receive calls (thanks to all family and colleagues who called!), and a well-insulated house built for winter with a great fireplace and plenty of wood.

Wednesday: Still snowing. We thought Wednesday might be our day to leave until the rental agency let us know that the governor of West Virginia had declared a state of emergency until 6pm. The plows had run out of gas, and the gas stations had lost power. The plow guy for Mile Failte could not be located. The forecast showed continuing snow turning to rain and ice later in the week. The roads in Timberline were plowed, so we needed to shovel our 40 yard driveway. No problem. Four hours, 5 adults, 2 adult shovels, and 1 kiddie shovel = ~12 “man” hours. Whew. During our Halloween dinner, we lit up our jack-o-lantern, carved by Frank, and had the equivalent of 1 slice of pizza each with pepper slices for dinner. Fortunately, there was still wine and beer!

Thursday: Still snowing and Departure Day aka Day 7 of a 4-day vacation. With our Timberline road clear, we did some final shoveling, packed and organized, and got all three cars out of the Mile Failte driveway and up and off the Timberline roads. Go team! The road was still pretty dicey for several hours, and then pretty suddenly and remarkably, the snow disappeared. Quite an adventure. Check out more photos here.

Making the Most of Fall: Part 2, Saturday in Michigan

Hiking trail in Fort Custer State Recreation Area, Augusta, MI

Okay, so yesterday = perfect Saturday in fall. We left Chicago and drove on back roads through southern Michigan from Sawyer to Berrien Springs to Dowagiac to Three Rivers and finally up to Battle Creek. The day was blustery and the leaf color perfect. I did not realize the extent of the scenic rolling farm country in southern Michigan. Really lovely. We finally made it to Arcadia Ales Restaurant/Pub in Battle Creek for a late lunch. They have a favorite brew of ours - the Loch Down Scotch Ale. They specialize in barbecue: pork, beef brisket, and chicken, and they make their own sauces - very tasty. After a great lunch and good conversation, we took at 20 minute roller blading jaunt on a piece of Battle Creek Linear Park. Probably better for biking. The segments cross roads and require using sidewalks or the road a little too frequently to be great for blading. So, we journeyed on to Fort Custer Recreation Area. A little bit of an odd place. There were ROTC members doing training exercises and lots of camo. It reminded me of an interesting encounter with army jeeps in West Virginia one time.... So, we found another trail in a different part of the park and took a 1.5 hour hike that ended after dark, not intentional, but night hiking is actually kind of fun. The evening ended with a tasty dinner at Water Street Coffee Joint and the BEST Carbon Leaf show we've ever seen at Bell's Brewery's Eccentric Cafe. The crowd was awesome and enthusiastic, and the band sounded incredible. Pretty much a perfect day.