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SVV here. I haven’t been cross-country skiing since I was 10 years old. It’s a sport that I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with because for the most part, it often feels like you’re doing a boatload of work for very little effect. Slide, slide, push pull, pinch strain release and it all comes to naught!
But then there are those moments, the freeing effortless moments when the skis glide and the snow swishes and the birds and the sky are illuminated with a crystal clarity against perfectly framed cedar trees and you’re like, okay, I get it.
This was one of those moments. Don’t get me wrong, there were still times when my legs and arms got all confused about which was supposed to do what and I ended up with a slick of sweat and three feet of forward motion but still, this part of Washington state—the Methow Valley, Mazama specifically—is nothing short of spectacular in its grandeur, and experiencing it on manicured trails of flawless corduroy is about as close to heaven on earth you can get.
The Cascade Mountain Range is a massive complex of peaks and rugged terrain that extends from the top of California to the edge of Canada, bisecting these states with extinct volcanoes, glaciated valleys, alpine lakes and pristine landscape, prettier than a picture can provide. It feeds rivers of salmon and trout, provides an outlet of endorphins for countless adventure activities and is an essential slice of life buttressing North America against the Pacific Ocean.
The boys who invited us out to this hidden treasure are fitness fanatics. Anything that gets their heart racing and the blood flowing and the mind concentrated on something else, anything else, but the moment and rhythm of the body is pulled into their orbit and incorporated as a life-saving, healthy routine. And I get that.
I haven’t been bitten as hard as they (or Kristin) have by the fitness bug, but I do enjoy the self-centering effect of using my body to its upper limit, testing my muscles and just hitting that wall and going through it, pumping and thumping and grinding in time to achieve a timeless there and here that always transcends anything else going on in the world.
It was a nice way to kick off 2017. This year promises to be a big one for our business and family, and I’m beyond excited to see how it evolves. There are fun road trips and even more interesting projects and this will mark the first year that Kristin and I will be working together full-time. There’s much more to come on that front that we’re stoked to share with everyone but in the meantime, I’m going to take a page from the NVR Guys’ playbook and make the best of the here and now because it’s only going to happen once.
The post Falling for Nordic Skiing in Washington’s Methow Valley appeared first on Camels & Chocolate: Travel & Lifestyles Blog.
Source: camelsandchocolate.com