...Saturday afternoon at Stormy Lake

THE ROUTE:  Stormy Lake boat ramp road, across outlet of lake, through woods, and swamps.  This is one of our favorite places to ski.
TERRAIN:  Snow covered road, lake, and swamp.
DISTANCE:  2.4 miles RT.

Kids, pups, and skis...a recipe for great fun!

Crossing near the outlet of Stormy Lake.

Alex digs a pit in the snow for our picnic using a collapsible shovel.

Danni and Emily try out the sitting area.  We place our skis upside down in the snow and then put a space blanket over them.  It worked perfectly.

The picnic scene.

Lori helps Danni with the mustard.

THE CREW:  Lori, Laura, Danni, Liz, Emily, and Alex (not pictured:  Wally).

Sunny skies and warm temps for the past few days have had everyone hankering to get out and enjoy the abundant snow which has accumulated over the winter.  So we put our skis on the car and drove for Stormy Lake where we met up with Lori, Alex, and Danni.  We skied down the hill to the boat ramp where we crossed the ice and entered the woods on the other side.  It wasn't long before we were cruising across untouched snow around the edges of stunted spruce to a spot out of the wind in the full force of the sun when we decided to stop for a picnic.  Alex dug a pit so we could sit on the edge of it and dangle our legs while I started a fire to cook hot dogs and 'smores.

Everyone was in shirt sleeves and we all commented on how warm it was as we gobbled the food--sharing some with the pups, of course.  After eating we stood around the remaining flames and basked in the warmth of the sun.  Nobody was anxious to move. 

Following a good rest and some great conversations we packed up and skied back to the cars.  We made plans to go out to dinner at Acapulco's later in the evening and then to the Brown Bears hockey game.  It all followed a great...Saturday afternoon at Stormy Lake.