Conditions: Very good, safe for my best skis.
Christmas weekend at National Forest Lodge. We were worried when we went thru Duluth, but pleased to find very good skiing an hour north of the lake. Blue sky, tall pines, sparkling snow, good food and friends!

(Mark Mellstrom)

Conditions: Better than expected given how little snow had fallen.
I skied on the good gear out of the National Forest Lodge. For map readers, I went from the Lodge across the lake and up the hill at marker #3 to #17. From there it was an out and back directly between #12 and #1. All this adds up to around 13 k with a couple of side trips. The double tracked area was the best section of the trail I skied. I saw wolf tracks, possibly coyote tracks, deer tracks, and sunshine in wild country. There was no wind. Other than skiers, the silence was profound. The gradients were gentle. I had to switch tracks or ski out of track to bypass washouts since the trail is highly crowned in low snow. Kick wax was Toko green binder alone. Glide wax was Fast Wax HF Tan. Fresh snow kept the trail speed about normal for the wax set up. Do not ski down the hill to the lake on either side, walk. Its just one little blind left turn from the Lodge side so I went for it on fast skis without looking. Around the turn was the sauna, boilerplate hard snow, a dock, and frozen slush among other objects. Ski, eat healthy and well, socialize, repeat all weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing this trail system in full snow cover and exploring the single tracks.

(Jeff Bolte)