Wapiti Loop – Catching up on skis

As I mentioned before, I am currently in the middle of a divorce.

I don’t need to get into the details. Not important.

But a very notable silver lining is that I am being invited to social functions more and seeing friends I have drifted from a bit.  My former partner did not get along well with some of my friends, their spouses, or most people in my social circle in general.

I’ve been invited to holidays, hut trips, and similar recently.

I am seeing more of my friends in mixed social settings again.

One of these friends is d-low.

D-low and I met on the Pacific Crest Trail back in 2002. He later moved to Boulder, joined an outdoor group I was active with and married a friend many of us in Boulder had known for years. Being a fellow Northeast transplant, d-low and I tend to share the same cynical and sarcastic humor. Our nicknames even both derive from shortened version of our last names.  Many hikes, skis, backpacks and pints of beer were shared over the years.

Overall a good friend.

But as sometimes happens, our wives did not get along. Made gatherings in our social circle awkward over the years.

Not an issue anymore for obvious reasons.

This past Sunday we caught up by skiing a classic lollipop ski tour. We skied. We talked. We enjoyed the scenery.

Just an enjoyable trip with an old friend.

It was good.

A solid ski with the typical Colorado sunny winter weather esp once we were in trees and out of the wind.

With enough technical challenges at times to make for some enjoyable skiing.

The only wrench were the fat bikers who may need some education on backcountry winter etiquette. In particular, regarding post-holing on single track.  And perhaps, most importantly,  a crash course on winter safety, gear, and clothing. There are volunteer mountain bike patrollers in the summer who assist newer users with etiquette, proper clothing, and safety. I suspect as more people use limited resources (trails and parking) in the increasingly busy Front Range, something similar will be done during the winter.

But for the fat bikers who had their gear, clothing and outdoor sense dialed-in, it sure looked like fun!

All things change.

More people in a set area, new activities are available and relationships ebb and flow or even end.

But it is good to keep a friendship active for these past fifteen years.

I suspect there will be more coffees and ski tours shared to come.