Last January, on MLK day I think, me and few other guys got together in Sturgis and ran the Centennial trail. It was friggin cold....maybe 10-15 degrees with a windchill flirting with negative digits. And there was a good 4-6 inches of fresh snow on the trail, so we were breaking trail the whole way. With the wind at my back, I was comfortable enough, but by the time I'd reached the open area adjacent to the Black Hills National Cemetery, I was getting tired of snow plowing, so decided to turn around...straight into the wind. Almost instantly, my sweaty clothes flash froze around me. It was tolerable again when I got back in the timber, but when I finally got back to my car, I had to turn the floor heat on full blast to thaw out my shoes before I could untie them.
Today, I met up with a couple of guys and we ran the same section of trail, except we went a little further. I wore shorts and while I started out with a hat and gloves, I ditched the gloves eventually and the hat was feeling a little warm by the end. It was in the mid-40s by the time we finished and there was less than an inch of snow on the trail and several sections were totally clear. 20 miles total in weather conditions you don't often experience in January in South Dakota. Or in March, for that matter. I could get used to winters like this (but I probably shouldn't).
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