Trails 53 ****/51 ****/50 ***/52*****
This was the same trip as Garry's with the difference that I turned back at Herridge thus avoiding the need to carpool! I think I may have had the most fun of anyone on the trip, too, because my wax was AWESOME! It was worth staying up an extra hour last night. It was one of the most fun skis so far this year with fast tracks and no problems climbing. That said, conditions were variable. The tracks on 50 were more glazed than the most recently groomed trails, and my skis picked up a lot of nuts and berries. I had planned to retrace my steps to get in some extra mileage, but trail 52, with it's fresher grooming was irresistible and I hadn't skied it in a couple of years. Such a delight! Perfect conditions! This trail was up to recently one of the most beloved by classic skiers - double track heaven through undulating hemlock and pine forest. I think it is a flawed shadow of it's former self now that it tries to cater to everyone. The tracks appear here on one side, there on another, apparently random and in many many place they are simply not there as they used to be. I had no problems as few skiers were out, but on a busy day it would have been more than irritating to have to constantly exit the only available tracks to allow skiers with right of way to pass. There is really not adequate room to share the trail, as the two skate skiers I met can attest: I pulled over on the last downhill to let them ascend, and they still had to ski over the single set of classic tracks to make room for me. We were all trying yet it was still crowded.
Anyway, it was a fabulous ski!