It’s days later and I still can’t quite begin to find the words to describe Saturday’s adventure. I’ll start with the color of the sky – rich and cloudlessly blue. The strength of the sun rivaled our own as we skied 12+ miles over a few hours on a cold Saturday afternoon.
It was spectacular.
As a person who didn’t grow up skiing and always considered it an activity for people with far more disposable income than I had available, cross country skiing came as a surprise. My introduction to the sport came just about twenty-five years. I was about 7 months pregnant with my oldest son and my then husband and I, along with friends, spent a day up at Garnet Hill. Despite being a tad ungainly, and never imagining I would prematurely delivering my child a mere two weeks later, I gamely took to the trails and fell in love.
I received my first cross country skis that Christmas and haven’t been without a pair since.
One of the things about about cross country that I really love is how easy it is to get out there. No lift ticket or chair lift, necessary. When there’s snow on the ground, my skis are in the car and my dog is perpetually happy to join me for a spin or two around the golf course.
When we don’t have snow locally, there are options for those seeking some time on the trails in every direction. Go east and experience Pine Ridge over in Poestenkill. Head west and find your way to Lapland Lake. Drive north and give Garnet Hill a shot. Or, as we did on Saturday, hit the thruway south and get yourself to Minnewaska State Park, outside of New Paltz.
The forecast was for a cold day, with highs in the mid teens expected. Believe me, I never imagined the day would come when 15° would feel comfortable for me to spend hours outdoors, but cold wasn’t the slightest factor Saturday. Between the lack of wind and the sun, it felt perfect.
Just like the beautifully groomed trails.
While this was my first time skiing these carriage paths, I’ve run them a number of times, including with my friend, K, who had joined me for Saturday’s outing. One of our favorite races, the Summer Solstice Run hosted by the Shawangunk Runners, takes place here in June and we’ve enjoyed the summer scenery, complete with mountain laurel and shimmering lakes. Winter was equally lovely.
We had accepted a trail map when we paid our admission ($10 each, including parking) and mapped out a route. Sort of. Turns out neither of us is particularly great at reading trail maps, which wasn’t a problem on such gorgeous day but could have been an issue on a less benign day. Not that it’s remote really, but the trails were lightly populated and if I went out alone, I would have been more concerned with knowing where I was.
On Saturday I knew where I was – cross country skiing paradise.
In the quarter century that I’ve been skiing, the conditions at Minnewaska were, perhaps, the best I’ve ever experienced. The grooming and tracks are on par with any of the commercial ski centers I’ve ever visited and the views are absolutely phenomenal. There were times when we felt alone in nature in the most glorious way and much of our conversation was related to how amazed we were to have all of this majesty for ourselves.
A few hours, and about 12 miles, later we were hungry. Heading down off the mountain, we made our way to the Gunk Haus in Highland where we sat at the bar and thoroughly enjoyed our meals of a shared house salad, perfectly grilled burgers, fries and beer.
It was exactly what we needed after an incredible day of skiing – and I can’t wait to go back. How about you? Any recommendations for wonderful places to ski with 90 minutes of Albany?
