Triskaidekaphobia

Just back from a long weekend in the Great North Woods—22 friends on 27,000 acres behind a locked gate. Lots of good people along—1, 2, 3, 518, Nimbus, Nutmeat, WBG, and many others.

This was the 13th annual iteration of this expedition, and (by ill fate) it began on Friday the 13th. As a result, I imagine, it rained all day Saturday. It had never rained on us before— but this time it sloshed us good, all day long. The snowy dirt road turned to a sinuous three-mile-long skating rink. Just crossing the road on foot took poise and balance to avoid a banana-peel slip. The snowy woods soaked up the water into slush.

That night, though, the mercury began to plummet, and by midnight the rain had ceded to snow. By morning enough had accumulated to make for good skiing. Within 24 hours the thermometer had dropped from 45F to 4F, and overnight down to –5F (which, compared to past years, was still quite warm.)

2 and I drove home together today. When we weren’t talking about life we were thinking about showers. More about showers, perhaps, in the next post. First, a few photos.

Here's the longstanding cabin mascot, guarding my skis.















Here's 2 studying the topo map by the woodstove.









It was Ruby's birthday!










Photos of log drives down the river behind the cabin, in the old days (when trees could fly...)