Nancy Lakes Ice Skate and Skate Ski
16 miles, 3 hrs
Cold temperatures and little snow set up very good ice skating opportunities around Anchorage in early November. We grabbed the chance on Sunday to test the conditions on Nancy Lakes. And we were not disappointed. Perfect ice under 3 inches of fluff.
Flash starting out on Tanaina Lake. Nice form!
Trond Flagstad on Tanaina Lake.
Sunshine and perfect conditions.
We made a 16 mile loop where we crossed some 20 lakes. The lakes are quite close together and trails connect the lakes making the "portages" very easy.
Even skate skiing was pretty decent, although the snow had not bonded to the ice so the conditions put a premium on riding on a flat ski ... good for early season technique work.
Flash making a turnaround on one of the small sloughs.
Trond F and Flash coming back across Echo pond.
Equipment malfunction: Trond F had to one-skate the last 3 miles when a binding came off of one of his skates. It didn't seem to slow him down much though. I still had a hard time keeping up on my skate skis.
