Kendra and Greg live a short distance from where we skied and know the area.
The forest service road is closed for the winter to vehicles which made it perfect for skiing. We had gotten a few inches of snow a few days earlier so we had fresh snow to ski on. The new snow depth wasn't much and the snow was slippery/fast in some areas. Also the road was not flat for the most part as much of it went consistently up, though at a mostly reasonable rate.
Along the way we saw a tree whose bark had been clawed off by a bear.

We met a young couple who were returning. The man was pulling a green plastic sled which was fully enclosed. A very young child - almost a baby - was inside and sleeping soundly. The man pulling the sled was getting a workout!

Greg and Kendra brought their dog, Max, with us.

At the end of the road the trail to Strawberry Lake began with a simple bridge over a creek. I had been here once before in the 1990s when I hiked up to Strawberry Lake on this trail.
On the way back I did well skiing down the steeper sections and turns and only did one or two controlled crashes where I couldn't get turned correctly and at that speed was heading to go off the trail and into the trees.
Once I got to the less steep areas I was skiing slowly when I crashed. Sure, I make it down the steep sections and crash when it got easier.


When I crashed I almost got run over as Joyce and Kendra were close behind me. I moved and they moved just enough that they got by. Greg ended up crashing.
Unlike the previous time where my right shoe's sole came off I wasn't unable to clip my shoe into the ski. The skis I was using were Bill's and they had a slightly different hold mechanism for the shoe and I couldn't pinch the front of my shoe into the ski.
I had two miles left to ski down hill. I had no choice but to try to ski by placing my shoe on the ski without locking it in. In effect skiing on one and a half skis.
For the most part this worked. However when I encountered rough snow this would cause the ski to leave my foot. Then one time there was a patch of ground and my ski suddenly stopped while I kept going. *crash*

Other than the young couple we saw earlier the only other people we met was a guy on a snowmobile pulling another guy on skis up the road. Naturally I had to meet them when I was pretty much skiing on one ski. Thankfully I was able to stay to one side of the road as we passed each other.
I made it down the mountain but I tell you it was harder than skiing up!
I made it to the parking lot well before the others. How did that happen? "Watch out! Crazy guy on one ski coming through!"
While waiting for the others I noticed a car with a large bumper sticker on the driver's door. I liked the sticker though I wouldn't have placed it on my car door.

After we finished skiing we returned to Greg and Kendra's home to have a meal and chat. They had canned antelope they had made and this made excellent sandwiches along with brussel sprouts.
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