Nordic Fox Ski Club

January 5, 2003 Trip Report

Love Creek Ski - No Snow but...

Mother Nature has again lured the Nordic Foxes with the Christmas Eve snowfall. The January 4 evening and early Sunday snow was not enough for the January 5 ski trip to Love Creek in Berrien Spring, Michigan for a local ski outing. With no snow within an easy drive, an alternate local hike was made.

On Sunday Jan 5 at 10:00 AM Hal and Ellie Felts, Bob Haegle, and Jim Adams met at Route 56 in North Aurora across from the library and hiked up the East side of the Fox River trail to Batavia. The hike weather was outstanding. The temperature was about 32 degrees with a beautiful light snowfall. It snowed the entire hike with a total snowfall for the day of only about an inch of snow. We made a quick stop and inspected the Indian cave and read the story of the young Indian who was banned from the tribe which was a mistaken tragedy for the tribe. (The cave and story board is only a short distance North of Route 56 on the East river path and is a fun spot to visit with the family or friends.) In what seemed like a short time (we were talking and looking) we arrived in Batavia and stopped and had a leisurely lunch at Panera Bread. The great food was almost as good as the wonderful stories and conversation.

The group decided to return down the West side of the river trail after lunch. Shortly after we started our return, we were spotted by one of the core Nordic Foxes, Clyde Means. We chatted with Clyde and learned that he is now managing the Batavia Food Pantry. Clyde invited us to the panty since it was next to the trail. The Pantry was spotless and cleverly arranged for efficient food distribution to the Batavia needy. Clyde told us about his large buying volumes and his managing responsibilities. We left the Food Pantry with a hardy good by. We were all impressed with Clyde’s managing skills and his passion for the work he was doing which we had all experienced before from the ski trips and outings that Clyde has led.

We returned to our cars about 2:00 PM with a great 8-mile hike completed. It was a great day to enjoy the almost winter weather. I have a strong feeling that January and February will still provide great skiing weather even though it’s another EL NINO year!

Jim Adams