The Big Meltdown?

Earlier this week, Appleton was enduring overnight lows of -8 to -10 F with daytime highs of less than 10 degrees. But in the last 24 hours, a warm front has moved in, sending temperatures on Sunday up to an almost balmy 41 degrees. Here is the forecast for the rest of the week.

A lot of snow melted today. A lot more is going to melt in the next few days. I went skiing at Plamann Park on Saturday, and there were a few spots where the snow was pretty thin--a base of just a few inches. After today, that has to be bare ground. And in the next few days, there will be a lot of bare ground. It looks like ski season may be over. Unless we get another major winter storm hat drops 6-8 inches of snow, I think it is time to hang the skis up. Last year one could ski until the end of February, but this early thaw will leave us with little snow, even if it does cool back off.

So now the question becomes when can one get out on the road bike. Wednesday and Thursday both look promising. I won't be able to get out both of those days, but I'll try to get out probably on Thursday and do about 20 miles to warm up the legs. And then maybe next weekend, with highs around 30, it may be possible to get some short 10-15 mile rides in. Not much, but it looks like it is time to start thinking about the bike again.

Nordic Skiing - Reforestation Camp

Probably the best place to ski in the Appleton-Green Bay area is the Brown County Reforestation Camp. At 1600 acres, it is much larger than either Plamann Park or Bubolz Nature Preserve here in Appleton. The result of this is that there are 15 miles worth of trails. Furthermore, once you get about half a mile away from the parking area, you really have the feeling that you are out in the woods all alone.

There are 4 main trails at Reforestation Camp. They are

• Pines - 1.8 miles - Intermediate
• Oaks - 4.8 miles - Advanced
• Birches - 4.9 miles - Intermediate
• Maples - 7.4 miles - Intermediate

Each time I have been there, the trails have been in excellent condition. Brown County does a superb job of grooming the trails and keeping them in top notch shape. This facility is popular with folks in the Green Bay area, but unlike Plamann park, where the cross country tracks seem to take a beating, the tracks at Reforestation Camp always seem to be in great shape. They also have a lot of signage to remind skiers of the right way to ski as not to damage the trail, so this probably helps too.

There is a $5 daily fee for the trails at the camp, but the sign says all of this money goes into supporting cross country skiing in Brown County. Given the quality of the trails, this fee is very fair. An annual pass is also available, but since I live in Appleton, I have not really looked into one. There is also a lodge building at the parking lot that is open daily until 4:00 PM. Inside there are restrooms, tables and vending machines. What is nice about this is that if one wants to make a day of it, they could ski, take a break in the building and then ski some more. I can't recall, but I may have seen a microwave in there too.

I have now been to the camp three times, and I have done the "Oaks" trail twice. I have also done the Pines trail a couple times and the Birches trail. The Birches and Pine trails are similar. Some moderate hills, but nothing terrible steep for either and up or downhill. The Oaks trail is my favorite. This trail is rated advanced and does contain a couple of steep downhills. It also contains several good uphills--and longer uphills than what you would find at Plamann park. It is an excellent workout. One other difference, Birches is groomed for both skating and classic, where as Oaks is groomed jut for classic. So you have even fewer people on Oaks.

I think my only disappointment about the camp is that it is about 45 miles away from my house, so I can't go there more often. While our places to ski in Appleton are good, the camp is just a couple notches above them in terms of length of trails, variety of terrain and trail conditions. It is the best place I have been to ski in NE Wisconsin so far.