Featured ski - Leo's Loop and John Howard Memorial Trail
Getting ready to turn on the John Howard Memorial Trail, Nine Mile’s only classic only ski trail.
Although many skiers consider the Birkie the end of the ski season, I find the door wide open for many ski adventures. Thanks to longer days and warmer temperatures, March is my favorite month to ski. Plus I’m able to bring the kids without having to redress them after getting in and out of the carseats.
After a snack break at a shelter, my daughter needed to assess how packy the snow was today.
On my daughter’s first big adventure on the trails beyond the Cookie Trail at Nine Mile County Forest (see my blog post about her prior Cookie Trail adventures here), I decided Leo’s Loop and the John Howard Memorial Trail would be the perfect recipe for adventure (see trail map here). I figured my daughter (and I) would enjoy the side-by-side ski snaking through the marsh in lieu of the slight uphill grind at the end of Leo’s Loop. Unlike the 6k loop, there aren’t any big downhills with turns that may result in a wipe out (from either of us). Rather, the undulations and uniqueness snaking through the marsh would capture my daughter’s attention for miles.
Leo’s Loop
Heading out from the chalet, we continued straight at the first major intersection to make the shortest route to Leo’s Loop. Although this is a two-way trail, I can count the number of times I’ve seen another skier on the trail skiing “backwards” on one hand. My daughter immediately recognized it as the Cookie Trail, but nearly any trail in the opposite direction feels like a different experience. After a small downhill with a curve, we took our first left to commence Leo’s Loop. With the recent snows we didn’t need to take off our skis to cross the Red Bud Road, which is usually the case until late into the season. Leo’s Loop is the only trail to cross a road which segregates it from the rest of the trail system in my mind.
Rootstocks along the trail allowed us to use our imaginations - this one looks like a spider’s web!
As we followed the curvy classic tracks most of the trail remained shaded, so I had surprisingly good kick despite temperatures hovering just above freezing. Often I don’t bother with classic on these days since and just skate ski to eliminate tricky kick wax conditions, but today I wanted to share the tracks with my daughter who learned how to classic ski through Wausau Nordic Ski Club’s Snow Striders program.
I shared with my daughter that I’ve been skiing on this trail since the pines that now towered over me were eye level (which makes me feel old). I asked my daughter to remind me in August of the huge blackberry bushes I spotted. These would be a yummy summer trailside treat while mountain biking.
A shelter along the trail was just in sight as we climbed the steepest hill of the day, motivating my daughter like a carrot on a stick (actually pretzels and leftover Valentine’s Day Smarties that I promised she could enjoy on the trail). After exploring the shelter (my first time using the shelter since having a cookout with my girlfriends in high school), we got in tucks and leaned into the curve at the bottom of the downhill. We propelled halfway up the next hill, got into another tuck, then double poled to our final road crossing.
Pausing for a water break where the snowshoe trail crosses our path.
Soon we veered onto the John Howard Memorial Trail which offers an intimate experience on the classic only trail accessible only during the winter months (even during droughts I have had to turn around when attempting to run through this wetland area). I thoroughly enjoyed classic-ing for the first time side-by-side with my daughter.
The constant mouse, deer, rabbit, and squirrel tracks along the narrow trails gave us plenty to keep our eyes dancing. The rootstocks along the trail also allowed our imaginations to take over, especially when one resembled a spider’s web. When we stopped, we couldn’t hear a single sound except a few oak leaves rustling. It felt like we were miles from civilization with just this special mother-daughter bonding time.
When we turned back onto the main trail system, my daughter looked as fresh as a daisy. Without hesitation, she told me she wanted to extend the ski and climb up B1 rather than head back to the chalet. She inquired the height of the hill and when I told her about 100 feet, she excitedly chirped that was the height of her favorite dinosaur, the Argentinosaurus. I will squirrel this tidbit away for a positive thought that will turn my grimace into a smile on future climbs up this hill. If that wasn’t enough fuel for her to motor up the hill, she was thrilled to be on the “20k” loop. Her ”little engine that could” made me a proud mama as she steadily herringboned up the hill. When she asked how old I was when I skied on this trail for the first time, I sheepishly told her I was double her age.
Upon reaching the top, we took the cutoff to the right as I shared with her we were approaching one of my favorite downhills. Her excitement was contagious as I also felt like a seven-year-old as we wound around the corners in the tracks. When we met up with the lit loop, she excitedly shared that she was still skiing downhill.
A very proud mother and daughter!
As we began the gradual climb from the bottom of main street, her first moment of fatigue (almost two hours into the adventure) surfaced when she asked for a break. She was familiar with this section of the trail and we pointed out some of the spots we had picked blackberries while mountain biking the prior summer. As we rounded the final corner with the chalet in sight, all the other kids rejuvenated her, particularly when she saw some familiar faces.
Upon arriving home, she burst out to share her experience the moment my husband opened the car door. Hopefully, this is the first of many adventures together on the trails.
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