Jana and I dropped Maya at the Mt. Bachelor ski school then we proceeded to cross country ski to Sparks Lake, and beyond. The day was so lovely that once we reached the lake we kept going south along the creek almost to the end of the big basin. When we spied a road that looked like it might circle back to Mt. Bachelor, creating a loop, we followed it for a mile until it became apparent that it wasn’t going to happen. By this time we had been skiing for more than two hours and I’d suggested to Jana on a couple of occasions that we should probably be heading back.  However, she was enjoying herself so much I wasn’t more insistent when she’d say, “Just a bit farther.” Of course we ended up back tracking and the last two miles was all uphill. It was hot by that time, more than 40, and we’d stripped down as much as we could get without ending up in just our underwear. I’d been planning on a two-hour ski and it ended up being more than five! Though I’d tried to keep my one water bottle filled with snow to melt for drinking water I’d eventually run out with a mile yet to go. I think I got a bit over heated and dehydrated because the last mile I was actually thinking I might have to stop and rest or thumb a ride with a snow mobile. I slowed down and made it okay, but Jana is so fit that she skated up the last incline to the Nordic Center as if we’d just been out for a little jaunt. I was exhausted but, as usual, once I made it back I was grateful for having pushed my limits.

 

We had taken two cars to the mountain because I’d wanted to head home from our proposed two-hour ski, while Jana planned to stay until Maya was done at 4. As it was I only got home a couple hours before them but it gave me time to take a long bath, drink a gallon of water, take a short nap, and make a pizza for dinner. When it was time for Maya to go to bed at 8:30, I was happy to hit the sack myself.