Saturday I joined the Adventurous Young Mazamas for a Cross Country Ski trip at Old Man Pass. We crossed the Bridge of the Gods and passed through Carson on our way to the trailhead. At this point there was snow on the road, but not enough to hold us back. That changed with the Wind River Road started to head upwards, as the road had not been plowed and to continue farther did not seem prudent. So we parked the cars and found another place to ski. First we toured Government Mineral Springs, then we skied to the Trapper Creek Wilderness Trailhead and then on to the Falls Creek Trailhead. Our mileage was somewhere between 8 to 11.5 miles, depending whether or not you believed Keith's GPS.
As started the drive back home a hear of Elk crossed our paths.
To relax our muscles and our spirits we stopped at the Carsons Mineral Hot Springs Spa for a hot soak in their mineral waters. The facility dates from the 1930s and could be described as funky or rustic, depending on your point of view. I enjoyed sliding into a bath that I could fit my long legs into without having to fold them like a pretzel. After the bath they cocooned you in a swaddling wrap. It reminded me of the hibernation capsules from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyessy. Unlike those poor murdered scientists from the film I emerged from my wrap to finish off with a sauna. Very relaxing.
