Cabin Ski Trip

Cabins are one of my favorite places to hang out, especially during the winter. There is something about the heat of a wood stove warming you up that can’t be beaten. And being able to have incredible views out my window as the first thing I see each morning is a real treat. My family recently bought a small cabin near Island Park that we have spent a couple of weekends at this winter. Many others in the area snowmobile into their cabins, but we choose to ski. It’s only about a half-mile to a mile into the cabin, so it doesn’t take too long, and if the weather isn’t foul it can be quite pleasant.

The last time we skied in, however, was not as enjoyable as previous times. We left later than we would have liked Friday evening, and we had the strangest weather driving up. Idaho is generally considered a desert, but on this particular day, we got freezing rain. Now, if you have never experienced freezing rain consider yourself lucky because I think that it is just about the worst type of weather you can get.

My first experience with freezing rain was out in Virginia a couple of winters ago when I was serving as a missionary for my church. I was with another missionary, and since we didn’t have a car we biked everywhere. The temperature was right around freezing and the rain started in the late morning. We were already several miles away from our apartment. We walked around in it until lunchtime when we biked back home. It almost felt like hail, but instead of bouncing off it stuck to us, and by the time we got home we had the beginnings of icicles on our bikes and helmets! We decided that biking was not the best option given the weather, so we walked the rest of the day.

Fast forward to when my family was driving up to our cabin: the temperature was around 10 degrees when we left home and -5 degrees when we got to the parking lot and started our ski. The fact that it could rain, even though it was freezing rain, when it was 10 degrees was past our understanding, but it certainly made the drive more interesting.

Fortunately, when we reached the parking lot from which we would ski into the cabin the rain had cleared and the skies had cleared. It was dark and cold, so we were anxious to get moving. After putting our packs on we started the short trek to our refuge from the cold. I say refuge, but it was still only 20 degrees inside the cabin. That being said, 20 degrees actually feels quite balmy compared to -10! We quickly started a fire and after a few hours, it became comfortable enough to take off some of our layers.

In the winter cabins are great for sleeping in and simply chilling. However, we didn’t make all that effort to get there just to sit around all day, we came to enjoy the beauties of winter. We skied out to the Buffalo River and went along it before looping back to the cabin. It was only about 4 miles, but we had a great time and the scenery was amazing.

When we drove back home the sun was out and reflecting off the snow-covered trees and ground, it always amazes me just how bright the snow can be!