XC Skiing 2020

[patrick]

1/17/2020 Yesterday I went XC skiing on Buskin Lake and it was excellent. 2-3 inches of very dry powder on top of an inch or so of soft crusty stuff that was well-adhered to the ice. I was skate skiing and it was perfect conditions. I beat in a 1-2 K loop around the lake. The extreme ocean end cove is just powder on ice. But rest is all good.
Patrick

[patrick]

1/27/2020 I went skate skiing today on Lake Catherine/Genivieve and it was excellent. Great soft crust over the entire lake. Really quite perfect.
Patrick

[patrick]

1/29 2020 Today I XC skied on the hiking trails at Fort Abercrombie. I entered the park at the Parkside entrance. Excellent conditions on the trails under the trees. The downhills are quite thrilling! I also beat in a track around the lake.
Patrick

[patrick]

1/31 Abercrombie is still beautiful and not windy today at all. Anyone tried Swampy Acres?
Patrick

[patrick]

2/8/2020. Yesterday I returned to the Buskin! I parked at the outlet to the lake and skate skied across the lake and up the river to the canyon. Most of the lake is glare grey ice, but along the southeast shore there is a band of crusty snow that makes for good skate skiing. The lower river a little punchy and icy but OK crust cruising. Up near the canyon there is frozen overflow on the river. It is like skiing through frozen avalanche debris. Also off the river up near the canyon is scary - punch and icy. So stick to the lake and lower river! But pretty good skate skiing. We need snow for the upper river.

[patrick]

2/11/2020 Yesterday I went skate skiing on Lake Genivieve and also tried the swampy acres trails. The lake was OK - on the icy side, but not grey ice. Just a really hard crust. The swampy acres trails were awful. Too icy and bumpy. Then later at night on my dog walk I checked out the ice at Abercrombie and it looks like perfect skate skiing. About a 1/2 inch of crusty stuff on a hard crust. I'm sort of bummed I did not find it earlier and wasted my time at Lake Genivieve and Buskin Lake. Oh well - But Lake Gertrude is where I will go today. Too bad it will not be good tomorrow!
Patrick

[patrick]

3/2/2020 Today after work I went skate skiing at Buskin lake and it was OK. A little punchy in places and pretty windy. The river is definitely too soft for skate skiing and might be OK for classic - especially further up towards the canyon. Then later on I took the dogs and Stuey to Lake Gertrude at Fort Abercrombie and the skate skiing is absolutely perfect. And no wind at all. I highly recommend it.
Patrick

[patrick]

3/3/2020 Today I tried Island Lake and it was pretty good. Some ATV and snow machine tracks and barking dogs, but all in all pretty good. And it is a long loop around the entire lake. Later I went back to Lake Gertrude with Stuey. The lake is a lot smaller but I just like the beauty and lack of tracks better. No barking dogs chasing you either.
Patrick