Matsell Bridge

The temperature this morning started out at 15 deg F below 0, the wind was mostly non existent, and sun was shining.

There was a group of 6 of us to be the first to ever ski on groomed trails at Matsell Bridge Natural Area.

The grooming was excellent with a well formed and consistently level classic track and smooth skating area. As you can see the classic track was somewhat centered on the groomed area for for most of the trail. This worked fine for us since we were all on classic skis, but I am sure skaters wood prefer a classic track closer to one edge. I will say that there was minimal room to skate if one so desired.

I had never been to this location before, but the rest of the group goes there quite often. I can see why. Part of the timber is made up of pine trees which are rare in Iowa, you could hear the turkeys gobbling in the woods, and last week the group saw three eagles. They all felt that the grooming was a great plus. Thank you Linn County groomers.