It was, surprisingly, one of the nicest skate skis of the year: the snow in the skate lane was clean, fast, firm and very controllable. There were no sunny patches to slow things down. There were a few icy patches, but even they were fine. Unlike yesterday there was only one car at P9 and almost no one at P8. I had tucked Garry’s canoe hat in my bag, and for a while skied to the accompaniment of a steady rain pattering on the brim. In addition to beavers, there were rowdy geese and stealthy ducks. No herons, yet.