It has become a personal tradition to go for a cross country ski with the mountain club on New Year’s day.  New Year’s day in Colorado is typically a cold day and this day was no exception.  It was four degrees outside when we reached the Jim Creek trailhead.   It had snowed the day before, and the trees were covered with pillows of white powder.  At times, the trail narrowly separated the walls formed by the towering, snow-covered spruce trees.  It felt like the nave of a cathedral.

We stopped for lunch in a large clearing.  Because of the cold and the deep snow, we ate standing up.  Then we climbed steeply for another quarter mile to the turnaround point. The first half of the return trip was fast, speeding down over the fine powder.  Lower, down, the terrain was flatter and we skated quickly on our skies down the gentle grade.  What a wonderful way to start what I hope will be a good new year.