Wilderness Lodge Wattsburg, PA

This past weekend Amy and I headed east to Wattsburg, PA for a weekend of cross country skiing with Terry Smith, Glenn Beachy and a nice sized group of other COP'ers at Wilderness Lodge This year I believe we had about 34 folks in our group which made for a fun weekend.

Some of the group out on the trails

We were on the road early Friday morning and had smooth travels until we crossed into Pennsylvania and neared Erie. As the snow began falling and the road grime started to cover the windshield we realized the windshield washer on the drivers side was not working. A few extra stops along the way to clean off the windshield resulted in only a short delay and we arrived at Wilderness Lodge early Friday afternoon in plenty of time to get out on the trails for a few hours.

I've made the trek to Wilderness Lodge many times over the past 10 years or so and this year's snow conditions were among the very best I have ever seen. All the trails were groomed and there was tons of fresh, white powder. This year my friend Mike Rebuck and Cheryl, his fiancee also joined us on the trip. Mike is an old KA team mate of mine who now lives in Harrisburg. We had a great time and it was really great to catch up.

Mary Maloney & Mike Rebuck showing how it's done

On Saturday we spent most of the day out on the trails, including an early morning ski through the woods in time to watch the sun rise - very nice! After we finished up skiing on Saturday we joined all the COP'ers for a big spaghetti dinner. After dinner the group played cards, sat by the fire, listened to the music provided by two musicians in our group, or listened to Nancy (the original inn proprietor) share her stories and the history of the lodge in her Welsh accent.

Terry Smith, Glenn Beachy and Nancy pose by the fire

We enjoyed great music on Saturday evening

On Sunday morning Amy and I took snow shoes and hiked through some wooded trails that were freshly covered with the snow fall from the night before. We then had breakfast (pancakes and french toast with real maple syrup) before packing up and hitting the road that afternoon. On the way home we stopped and I was able to unclog the windshield washer using a sewing needle Amy had in her glove box. This made for a much easier drive home.

Snowshoeing on fresh powder

Good times and good friends made for an excellent weekend. I can't wait to go back next year!