XC skiing N. Conway

What a great time this weekend! Luckily we had fresh snow up in the Whites to ski on for this trip. Our good friends Geoff and Beth who used to live in North Conway planned this trip for us, and we stayed at the Nereledge Inn that is owned by friends of theirs.

An all-day ski on Saturday, the best weather, and good friends: what more could you ask for? The biggest challenge of the day seemed to be eating with giant down mittens on. Plus, I made rice krispie snacks that were not marshmellow-y enough, so they were very crumbly and made a mess. Ben snapped some pics of that for your entertainment.

We probably skiied about 15 or so miles that day, with a few snack breaks (including a hot cocoa surprise that Geoff made with his camp stove...). Here is a picture that we took on one of our breaks:

We also got to try out some over-booties that Ben designed and sewed with our new sewing machine. They are made of waterproof nylon, synthetic down, and foam. They are designed to fit over XC ski boots and mountaineering inner boots, and will keep your feet warm at low temps (like zero) when you are sedentary back at camp. They are brilliant!

Next, Ben is going to sew some synthetic down over-pants for back at camp when we are winter backpacking. He is planning on hiking some of the Long Trail in VT in March, and the plan is to have those designed and finished by then. Meanwhile, I am working on creating some new backpacking recipes (dehydrated, of course) to replace some of the old stand-bys that we are sick of. We purchased a multi-pack of dehydrated vegetables from Harmony House, and I have made quite a few recipes that have worked out. The best one yet is a stew-like minestone with dried beans, orzo, veggies, and tomato base. YUM.