I spend a lot of time exercising in the orchard. I go for runs, I weave my mountain bike in and out of small peach trees, I do boot camp workouts and I take our dog for walks in the dark through the tree rows. My absolute favorite though, is cross-country skiing in the orchard. In fact, I would rather ski in the orchard than eat peaches in the orchard. I love orchard skiing that much.
During a good winter of snow, I can ski in the orchard 4-6 times. My skiing goes in fits and spurts, depending on how much snow we have. We’ve been blessed with a good 8-10 inches in the last week and I’ve been tooling around as much as I can. Mind you, this is a different type of skiing than being on a groomed track somewhere. Orchard skiing involves old skies that can smash through grass, the occasional hill of mud and numerous rocks that haven’t quite been covered.
It’s a quiet, peaceful way of exercising and something I wish I could do year ’round. I had planned on hitting the groomed trails up on the Grand Mesa today, but the highway is closed for avalanche control. Wonderful, for now I can go ski in the orchard without feeling compelled to ski quickly or particularly well. Just one of the benefits of having a 100 acre yard in the winter time.
