Cross Country Skiing Cottonwood Pass
That hut trip I mentioned got canceled for severe avalanche danger about a week before we planned to go. Thankfully, my friend Debbie and Sarah’s aunt both offered us places to stay (for free!) in the Salida area. We were still able to do 3 days of cross country skiing and probably honestly got to enjoy it a lot more in this fashion. The hut trip had 3,000 feet of elevation gain in 6 miles, which seemed like a real stretch for us when we had only skied 1 day this year, and at a groomed nordic center. Across the 3 days of this trip, we ended up covering about the same elevation change, just across more miles and broken up into 3 days.
On day 1 of our improvised itinerary, we drove up from Denver and stopped at Denny Creek Trailhead on Cottonwood Pass. In the summer, this road goes all the way through to Crested Butte. In the winter, plowing stops here and it becomes a mecca for snow enthusiasts. We planned to hit this spot on a Thursday, hoping to avoid crowds of loud and smelly snowmobiles that probably come on a weekend. We were pretty lucky and only got passed by a couple of groups. I will say, all the snowmobilers I have encountered here over the years have always been considerate and slowed down. They can’t help their stinkiness after all.
The snow was old and pretty tracked out by the snowmobiles, but we found some fresh, soft stuff on the far sides to glide through. Well, glide is perhaps what happened on the downhill. Uphill was pretty stiff, especially at the very beginning. But it mellowed out and the miles flew by.
When we started out, it was sunny, but the clouds rolled in and it began to snow. We both LOVE skiing while snow is coming down.
We ate a quick snack when we finally decided we had gone far enough. I shared my Skinny Dipped Almonds (lemon flavored), love those things for a trail snack.
The cloud cover really affected my warmth, however, and I had stupidly left behind my warmer Swany Toaster Gloves in the car. So I found myself doing the penguin dance that I learned from a Ranger at a National Park. The key is to lock your elbows and hold your wrists stiff at a 90 degree angle. Then lift and abruptly drop your shoulders. You can actually feel the warmer blood hitting into your finger tips if you are doing it right. I included a video below because I think it is perhaps one of the single best tricks I have ever learned.
My fingers were feeling it on the way down, which lasted way longer than either of us had expected. Turns out we did almost 8 miles total that day!
We certainly earned our sandwiches at Poncha Pub and some cookies and a hot tub soak at Debbie’s house that evening!
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