The winter of 2011-2012 will be remembered (except by those who'd prefer to forget it) as the Great Snow Drought.  But somebody forgot to tell Craftsbury, which had all their trails open most of the winter, including during our 3-day visit.  They even hosted a college cross-country ski race that wasn't originally on their schedule, but that got relocated there due to lack of snow in upstate New York.

True, the snow wasn't as deep as on last year's trip, and, on Friday, it was a little icy in spots.  But we woke up on Saturday morning to a couple of inches of fresh snow, and all was forgiven.  With all the trails open, we seldom encountered other skiers.

Of the 6 people on the trip, 4 were returning from last year's trip, but, due to the lousy ski season elsewhere, only 2 of us had done significant skiing this season.  So we spent most of Friday getting back our ski legs, skiing on the nearby trails until we got the hang of it.

On Saturday, we set off on the longer, more scenic trails that make Craftsbury a special place for cross-country skiing.  The whole group stayed together for the first couple of hours, as we made our way, through forests and meadows, to downtown Craftsbury village, stopping along the way for photo-ops.  After we ate our bag lunches, which we had ordered in lieu of eating lunch at the Craftsbury dining hall, we split into two groups.  2 of us just returned back on the same trail.  The other 4 continued on an even longer trail, to the neighboring town of Greensboro.  The Craftsbury touring center grooms this long-distance trail on weekends and provides a free van ride back.  The trip totalled about 20 km and included a climb of about 1000 feet.  (We're thinking of revisiting this trail next year, in the downhill direction.)  One of the higher clearings gave an unexpected view of Mt Mansfield, from 25 miles to the east.  We made it to the end 5 minutes before the van was scheduled to drive us back (although they would have waited for us, because we told them in advance that we were coming).

On Sunday, after breakfast and check-out, some of us got in an hour or so of very easy skiing, on nearby Big Hosmer Lake.  The touring center grooms a "trail" on the perimeter of the frozen lake, but, since the whole lake was snow-covered, you could also make your own "trail."  At the far end of the lake, we had the option to go up (literally, up a big hill) to the new warming hut, stocked with cookies and hot chocolate.  But, despite the tempting snacks, we decided to stick to the very flat skiing on the lake.  Maybe next year we'll hit up the warming hut.

We stayed, for our 3 nights, in a pair of 2-bedroom suites, each with its own living room and kitchen.  Not luxurious, but spacious, and we did have the luxury of having the ski trails right outside the building, truly "ski-in/ski-out." We didn't really need the kitchen, because we had all our meals (except the bag lunches) at the dining hall across the street, but, despite the all-you-can-eat feature of the dining hall, we managed to eat (and drink) from our own supplies.

After dinner, we hung out in our living room, watched DVDs, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and/or just relaxed.

We're already thinking of repeating this trip next year.

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