This runner’s training log entry for yesterday: “Ran about 16 miles from Donner Lake up to the PCT, then followed the Crest Trail to Summit Lake and back down Negro Canyon to the lake to finish. It’s November 11th, and this might have been the best running weather/trail conditions of the year.” 

A local skier’s take on the conditions this past weekend at a just-opened-for-the-year local resort: “It was fun enough to stand in lift lines and slide on some white stuff for an hour or so.”

I’m as fired up to go snowboarding as the next guy, and will sign on whatever dotted line needed to remind winter that Lake Tahoe exists and is a place where people enjoy snow. When winter gets here, I’ll be one of the first in line at the resorts with a huge smile ion my face. I’ll even start complaining about the lack of snow if Thanksgiving hits and our favorite trails still look like they did in July.

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Until then, though, I’m going to run and bike and hike and paddle like it is July. I don’t think it’s foolish to go skiing or snowboarding the first chance we get, but I do think it’s a little silly to force the transition to our winter sports when our trails are in great shape and it’s 65 and sunny out in the middle of the day.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade (especially when those lemons are world-class trail systems). Take a deep breath, everyone, and opt for rolling with Mother Nature’s punches and enjoying a few more days on the trails before it all goes nuclear (I’m manifesting).

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When it does, we’ll all be looking at our trail shoes and mountain bikes and reflecting on those great days this past summer and fall. Why not add a few to the archives before the snow flies?

— Author Chris Cloyd writes on behalf of the Donner Party Mountain Runners, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to informing and inspiring mountain runners in the Truckee-Tahoe area. More information can be found on their site, http://www.donnerpartymountainrunners.com.