Springing into Spring

 What a fun weekend to be in the mountains: a little trail work, a little birthday party, a whole lotta sunshine!

Saturday: Trail Work

Kongsberger members have put in many many hours of volunteer labor over the years, cleaning and clipping and chopping and getting the trails ready for the next winter.  This year we're adding something new: at the groomer's suggestion, we're getting out on the trails while there is still plenty of snow on the ground, to get a groomer's-eye view of overhanging branches and flood-prone culverts, rather than waiting until all the snow is gone and we're left with a ground-level view.

So a subset of our stalwart trail crew headed up to Cabin Creek on Saturday to tackle those overhanging branches, check out the culverts, and take a tour around the trail system, flagging snags and leaners for the Forest Service to take out later this summer.  The result: piles of branches that will be chipped or burned later, and dozens of trees marked for demolition.  There will be more work parties like this one coming, so stay tuned!

First two pictures are mine; all the rest of the trail work pictures were taken by Frank.

(A tribute to the Norse god of trail work?)

Sunday: Birthday Party

Paul turned 90 on Sunday, and what better way to celebrate 90 trips around the sun than gathering at the cabin with your friends and family?  There was laughter and conversation, lasagna and salad and cider, multiple cakes, singing in two languages, catching up with old friends and chatting up new ones.  It was a splendid day!

First picture is mine; the rest are from Rob, our roving photographer.  Somehow Pat's niece Ann and Keith managed to escape Rob's camera, but they were there, too!

(I love this picture; that's a lot of KSC history sitting around the wood stove!)

(Rob captioned this photo: every party needs some goofballs!)

And before lunch, a couple of us went out skiing, just because it was April 30 in this never-ending La Nina winter and there was still snow, however debris-dusted, to ski on and we just hated to say goodbye.