Winter Trails Day is a national celebration of the fun and fitness benefits of snow sports like cross country skiing and snowshoeing.
For the past eight years, the Laurentian Lakes Chapter of the North Country Trail Association (NCTA) has celebrated Winter Trails Day with a full slate of activities held at Maplelag Resort.
This year’s celebration, set for Saturday, Jan. 10, will include a catered dinner (reservations required), silent auction and a special wildlife talk as well as all the outdoor activities that weather will permit.
A decided lack of snowfall so far this winter could curtail some of those activities, but not all of them, says Ray Vlasak, president of the Laurentian Lakes Chapter of NCTA.
“Normally we have a guided cross country skiing activity, where typically two groups go out, one novice and one experienced,” Vlasak said. “If we don’t have snow, what we’ll do instead is go for a hike, where we’ll have somebody identifying different wildlife tracks or something like that.”
Maplelag owner Jay Richards is hopeful that the trails will be open for skiing by Jan. 10.
“We are very excited to host this event celebrating natural environment and trails,” he said.
“Currently our trails are open for hiking and the growing in popularity fat biking. Given the current snow situation there is no skiing or snowshoeing other than our early season loop, which a few skiers have been skiing on,” Richards continued.
“The trails have an early season base coverage and are 2 to 3 inches away from being officially open for skiing. Based on the current forecast and snow models, we anticipate a re-opening for skiing on Jan. 2. We had the trails open for skiing from Nov. 23-Dec. 12 before warm weather melted out most of the snow.
“If we do not receive any new snow before the event, the trails will remain open for hiking and/or any other silent sport activity.”
The guided hikes and/or skiing and snowshoeing will officially begin at 1 p.m. - though those who care to venture out on the trails without a guide can leave at any time, Vlasak added.
“If you’re not up for a day out on the trails, check out all the indoor stuff,” he said, noting that all the day’s activities are open to the public.
Inside Maplelag’s main lodge, guests will find a silent auction featuring a variety of “outdoorsy items,” which will take place from 1 to 6 p.m.
“It’s mainly handcrafted things like paintings, jewelry, woodwork items including lamps, birdhouses bird feeders and wood-turned vases, as well as snow shoeing and skiing packages,” Vlasak said.
All proceeds from the silent auction will go toward building, maintaining and promoting the North Country Trail.
“We are responsible for building this part of the trail, maintaining and promoting it,” said Vlasak. “Right now it’s about 170 miles of continuous hiking trail in Becker, Clearwater, Hubbard and Cass counties.
“Every year, we work on extending it,” he added.
The chapter also hosts guided hikes along the trail at least once a month during the summer months. “We’re basically a hiking club,” said Vlasak.
At 3:30 p.m., there will be a free presentation, “Wild for Monarchs,” by Eleanor Burkett, a water resource educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Service who is also a member of the Brainerd Chapter of Wild Ones.
According to its website, Wild Ones is a national non-profit organization that “promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.”
The day will be capped off by a family-style dinner catered by Maplelag’s talented staff at 6:30 p.m. in the resort’s main dining hall.
Those intending to stay for the 6:30 p.m. dinner are asked to RSVP no later than Monday, Jan. 5, by contacting Vlasak at 218-573-3243, or by e-mail at
llc@northcountrytrail.org
.
The cost for a skiing trail pass and the dinner is $27 per person. The cost for the dinner only is $17. If skiing and snowshoeing are permitted that day, equipment rental packages are also available at $10 for skiing or $5 for snowshoeing. The rental shop at Maplelag opens at 9 a.m.
To get to Maplelag Resort from Detroit Lakes, head north on Richwood Road (County Road 21), turn right onto County Road 34 and then left onto County Road 110 (the distance is about 20 miles). For those using GPS, the street address for the resort is 30501 Maplelag Road, Callaway.
Follow Detroit Lakes Newspapers reporter Vicki Gerdes on Twitter at @VickiLGerdes.
