Beaver Tails Nordic Ski Club

We made the right call last week to switch the destination from Far Hills (Val David) to Gai Luron (Saint Jerome).　 Being just 30 km further south made a big difference in the weather.　 Sure, it was still cold at Gai Luron, with a temp of -18 C at 10:30 am.　 But it was -21 C at Val David, and the entire region north of Ste Adele was under an “extreme cold” weather advisory.
When the initial four of us arrived at Gai Luron, it was indeed a bit chilly.　 But it was sunny and, as usually seems to be the case at Gai Luron, the wind was much less than what was in the forecast.　 At 11 am Mickey, Glenn and I set out on the L trail, while Sharon stuck to the shorter loops.　 As soon as we got into the woods, the wind ceased to be any sort of issue.　 Indeed, when we paused briefly on the trail 2 km into our ski, Glenn exclaimed, “It’s not so cold!”　 Please note, I did not do or say anything to elicit this statement.
The trails were in the perfectly groomed condition we have come to expect at Gai Luron.　 At the 3-km point, we opted to take the first extension to the L, called “Boucle B”.　 It’s a single track that lopes through the woods for 2.5 km.　 It has lots of dips and curves, but all the short, sharp descents are followed by enough of a straight runoff stretch, and so there is never any cause for concern.　 We then did the rest of the L, for a total of 10.6 km.
When we got back to the chalet, Den and his son Chris had just arrived and were ready to join us for the next go around.　 Mickey and Glenn were up for more skiing, but not me.　 I thought taking six days after doing the marathon would be enough to get “back on the horse”.　 Boy, was I wrong.　 I had to drag myself around the L trail, and came off it feeling tired and hurting.　 I promptly prescribed myself another week off from skiing!　 But the remaining five stayed a while longer to enjoy more of the great conditions.