After a mild start to the month of April, cooler temps moving in this week with morning lows in the upper teens Tuesday morning!! Cold enough to put ice back on the edges of the small ponds and sloughs. The early spring has brought to life the forest floor with the first wild flowers coming up last week. The loons returned a few days after the ice went off which was great to see. Normally you can count on the loons the moment the ice goes off but they didn’t show up until five days later. The ponds are near normal levels of moisture and evident of activity with the sounds of frogs. A nice variety of waterfowl including the might trumpeter swan flying around area lakes and ponds.
The mountain bike trails are in great shape. We have been blowing out the singletrack and working on improving the conditions. The surface is dry with a few tacky spots and very nice riding. A few sticks coming down from wind last week but overall in great shape. We will continue working on the trails to have best conditions possible for the spring opener mtb race late May.
After a warm start to the weekend, Sunday cooling off and more seasonable temps in place. The ice is off the lakes and have been busy with waterfowl. The trumpeter swans are happy to see the open water and excited to tell everyone about it! Waterfowl is flying all over the place as well as other migratory birds. Few trees starting to bud and grass starting to green on some of the ski trails.
The mountain bike trails are open and riding has been fantastic for early season. There is no mud or low spots with water like other years. The recent rains have actually improved the conditions. The dry fall combined with warm temps, and snow cover preventing frost from going very deep allowing for the early opening of mountain bike trails.
Crazy warm weather over the weekend totally wiping out all the snow on the trails. With such dry conditions before the winter, the frost was not down very far and the trails have dried out and are open for mountain biking!! Riding on Sunday was excellent for early season. The lake still had close to 2 feet of ice on Saturday and the surface was amazingly smooth in spots for some late season skating!! The warm breeze rolling off the lake was surreal. The woods are alive with waterfowl with the trumpeter swan leading the way circling around looking for water.
Just enough snow on Suicide Hill Friday morning to log in the last ski of the year. The snow on Suicide was actually the best it had been all week as it froze down overnight. The skiing could be rated poor but just nice to be out in the woods with the May like weather and intense sunshine.With all the labor we put on the trails, it seems only appropriate to ski on the last remaining patches of snow! The Twin lakes mountain bike singletrack is free of snow and open for riding. The dry fall combined with warm temps, and snow cover preventing frost from going very deep allowing for the early opening of mountain bike trails.
Big time snow loss the past 24 hours. Temps staying well above freezing and a little bit of rain facilitating the melt down. Still enough coverage for a ski on Monday, checking out the trails, and we hope to ski the rest of the week. Temps cooling tonight and the snow that remains should freeze down tonight.
A beautiful weekend with some incredible spring like skiing in the morning before getting very warm and soft in the afternoon. Moosejaw participants on trail here and there throughout the weekend enjoying the last weekend of skiing. We are most likely done grooming for the year and will try and log a few more skis before the snow is gone. Thanks to everyone who came to Maplelag this year and made it a great season despite the low snow in December.
Saturday a warm day by afternoon, softening the snow but still good reports coming from the trail. Best skiing mid morning before snow got to soft but folks still out in the afternoon enjoying the beautiful day and snow on the trails! We are still holding on to a good base and folks have been skiing enjoying the spring like conditions. Saturday night cooling down, freezing the trails at dusk. Select grooming Saturday night and Sunday morning. Spring skiing conditions and Sunday should be a fine day to ski!
