After skiing most of the Buffalo River Trail on Saturday, I came across a noisy family group enjoying the sunny day.

While everyone was dressed in typical winter clothes, a teenage girl who proclaimed that it was “such a hot day,” was dressed in a sleeveless tank top — a little belly skin showing — a jacket tied around her waist and ski pants. Her arms and shoulders were rosy from the bright sun. “The sun makes it a very nice day,” she said.

It was pleasant in the sun; temperatures were about 20 degrees. Not being a teenager, I kept my jacket on.

I met up with the group on the trail along the slow, shallow river in one of Island Park’s prettiest areas.

“We’re from Colorado,” the mom said. “We’re taking Grandma out for her first cross-country ski.” The Grandma grinned at me.

“It looks like Grandma has the hang of it,” I said. “Are you having fun?”

“Yes,” Grandma said. “I actually tried this briefly once before on Galena Summit near Sun Valley, but only for a few minutes.”

I think the family chose well for a beginner outing. The Buffalo River ski trail is flat and picturesque.

While the family was from Colorado, the grandma was from Pocatello. She rented her skis at the Idaho State University Outdoor Adventure Center.

The rest of the family lives in the Denver, Colorado area.“We downhill ski in Colorado, but we come to Idaho to cross-country ski because the trails are too crowded in Colorado,” the mom said. “Our cross-country trails don’t have any snow so far this year.”

To ski the Buffalo River trail, park in the Ashton/Island Park Ranger Station parking lot in front of the building right off of Highway 20. The ski trail follows a summer nature trail (it features fancy, informative wildlife signs along the way) leaving from the north end of the parking lot.

The Buffalo River Trail is about 2 miles long if you ski the entire loop. A map is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/ctnf/recarea/?recid=53809 or in the local guidebook “Eastern Idaho Sweet Spots.” The trail requires a Park N’ Ski sticker, but as of last Saturday, grooming had not yet begun. Snowshoers are asked to stay off groomed ski trails.

One section of the Buffalo River loop trail follows the power lines and is hidden behind piles of recently logged timber. It can be tricky to follow unless you’ve been there before.

The Buffalo River Trail is often skied in addition to the nearby Brimstone Trails. The Brimstone Trails leave from the south end of the Pond’s Lodge parking lot or from the Island Park Reservoir Dam area. These trails add several more miles of groomed trails (when there’s enough snow to groom) and follow the Buffalo River and Henry’s Fork River with a 10-mile connector to Harriman State Park. (These trails are also found on the Forest Service website.)

The Brimstone Trails offer a mix of easy to more challenging terrain for skiers.

I hope to do a future column about skiing some of these trails.

——

Jan. 6 is Free Winter Access Day at Idaho State Parks and Recreation sites across Idaho. Entrance fees and other fees are waived for the day at Harriman State Park, Massacre Rocks and other state parks.

Harriman State Park generally has a variety of activities going on in the Railroad Ranch Area. Brigham Young University-Idaho Recreation Center has fat bikes on hand to test drive. Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol will also be there in force.

——

There are still many good seats available for the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour coming to the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls Jan. 25-27.

The show will present different adventure and mountain culture films on that Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It’s the place to be that weekend.

A lineup of what’s playing each night can be found on the Idaho Falls Arts Council website when you purchase tickets.

This event is a surefire way to amp up your stoke during the dark days of winter.

The film festival is sponsored by the Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol and is the organization’s main fundraiser for the year.