Weekend in Rangeley

By Melanie Brooks

For the past few years, my family has rented a condo/cabin in Rangeley in December. Due to one reason or another, I have never been able to attend -- until this year. On Saturday the whole family (Mom, Dad, Sister, Bro-in-Law, Niece) and I headed to the hills. I took my friend Annie and my dog Miles along for the weekend.

We had a three bedroom cabin all to ourselves a mere 7 miles or so away from Saddleback Mountain. Since Saturday was such a frigid, windy day we decided to hit the condo's indoor pool and hot tubs instead of the slopes. After our swim I challenged my mother to a game of Scrabble while Annie graded papers and my dad and niece watched Dumbo. It was a cozy night and everyone headed to bed rather early to get ready for a day of skiing on Sunday.

While my dad, sis, and bro-in-law headed to Saddleback Mountain for some downhill skiing, Mum, Annie, and my niece, Ayda, and I headed to the cross country ski center at the base of the mountain.

The yurt was cozy and we stopped in to pay and pick up a trail map.


I had rented some skis from Epic Sports for the weekend and was anxious to give them a try.

Annie donned snowshoes and my mother pulled Ayda along behind her in the sled.

There was only one trail opened and groomed, which was a little disappointing but turned out to be ok in the end. The trail had grooves for my cross country skis on the left and enough room that we could all walk side by side. It was a gorgeous day and it felt really good to be outside. And even though my skis were brand new they didn't pinch or hurt me at all -- which was a huge relief.

The only downside to the trip was the price. A half-day of cross country sking/snowshoeing cost us $13 a piece -- even though we were out on the trails for less than 2 hours due to a cold/hungry/tired 2-year-old. We headed back to the cabin for lunch and a nap, awaiting the return of our more daring, downhill skiing family members.