Jenna, at eighteen, had started her freshman year at Idaho State in the fall on full academic and athletic scholarships. Dell was extremely proud of her. In high school she had been an exemplary student, a cheerleader for the football team and a striker on the soccer team. At Idaho State she went right into both these same activities, devoting the rest of her time to her studies. She planned to become a medical doctor, specializing in sports injuries.
Dell mused; "She's so pretty. Takes after her momma, bless her soul." Dell's wife, Sarah, and Jenna's mom, had died two years ago in an automobile accident. Skidded off the road during a blinding snow storm and bounced over the guard rail, landing upside down a hundred feet below. The car was a pancake.
Jenna took it very hard and almost went into a deep depression, but Dell was able to comfort her and worked very hard to be both mom and dad for her. Dell and Jenna got very close during this time and the neighbors all remarked at how well the two were doing, considering...
Now, it was Jenna's Christmas Vacation from the university and she and Dell were sitting in their kitchen thinking about what they'd do that coming weekend. They always did things together, now that Sarah was gone. And the things they did often were more slanted toward Dell's interests, but that suited Jenna just fine. She liked to do the things that her dad liked! In this regard, given that Dell was only thirty-eight, the two of them found it relatively easy to share mutual interests. And this time, it seemed to Jenna that it would be such great fun!
Dell had suggested they go cross-country skiing. They both loved to ski and were both very proficient at it. Dell had been an athlete in high school and had skied since he was a young boy, living here in Idaho all his life. He was a logger by profession and, thus, was in excellent physical condition. Jenna, too, was an excellent skier. The soccer season had recently ended, so she, too, was in excellent physical condition. Some might say - 'luscious' condition, but that's another matter.
They got up early on Saturday morning. As she soaped over her lovely, high, firm, round breasts in the shower, she could picture some man doing this for her, caressing her firm athletic body, making love to her with his slippery fingers, softly cupping her breasts, kneading them gently and swirling round her engorged nipples. She could feel her arousal growing, her juices beginning to flow from her nether mouth. Her soapy fingers slid across her tight tummy down to the top of her thighs, swirled around her hips to her firmly muscled buttocks. She moaned as her hands returned their stroking to her thighs. She spread them and brought her fingers up to her pussy. She came, squirming her whole body around; her hands pressed tightly against her sex, the breathtaking feeling washing over her entire being. She moaned again, her chest heaving as she came back to present time. She smiled dreamily and finished her shower, washing away the last vestiges of her encounter with her own emotions, except for places she didn't reach, places she didn't want to expunge of their residual feeling.
After Dell and Jenna dressed, they wolfed down a breakfast of hot cereal (microwave Instant Quaker Oats) and coffee and were ready to go. They had packed their 'survival' gear the night before. They dressed in their 'mountain skiing' garb (down pants, down parkas, woolen face masks, their custom ski boots and thick warm gloves). They put their parkas in the back with their packs and tossed their goggles on top. Dell kept a snow shovel in the SUV all winter, just in case. He had clamped their cross-country skis and poles on the roof rack of his SUV the night before, so all they had to do now was get to the trail head and start skiing.
Dell had verified with the weather service that all would be well for the next two days - no new snow expected partly cloudy and light winds from the northwest. These were perfect conditions for a perfect day with his lovely daughter, of whom he was so proud. Dell doted on Jenna. She was so full of life today, chattering and laughing about things she was telling Dell about her life at Idaho State. Every so often they would happen to look at each other at the same moment and both broke into wide grins. They were so happy to be with each other again for a while before Jenna had to leave and go back to school. But, because of Dell and how he had nurtured her at a critical time in her young life, she was able to do that, leave him for a while, and come out stronger in the end. Their love for each other was limitless.
They drove northwest out of Ketchum into the Sawtooth National Recreational Area to a point where one of their favorite cross-country ski trails crossed the main road. Dell was glad he'd tossed an extra set of chains in the back of the SUV as the road conditions definitely required chains and he couldn't be certain one set would be enough - sometimes they broke and without a second set, one might be stranded for some time. Cell phones were nice in a lot of situations but there were areas up here in the mountains, especially in the more remote spots where there really was no effective service - couldn't get one bar! It was awesome country! Mostly pine covered in summer and snow covered in winter, but in winter the smell of the pines was still strong, if it wasn't too cold that one's sense of smell was muted.
Once in a while there'd be a big break in the trees indicating a meadow in summer, where cattle would graze on the open range leased from the forestry service. Now, in winter, such open spots made for easy travel, crossing over on their long skis. Dell found the trail crossing the road by the tall sign which posted the trail, sticking up about a foot above the snow bank left by the plows some days earlier. It hadn't snowed for about four days, but it had been windy and cold, so there had been a lot of drifting in spots as they'd ascended into the Sawtooth area. It looked to Dell like the plows hadn't been up this way for a number of days, but his 4X4 with chains on all four wheels had handled the road easily.
Because of the wind, the snow had been cleared from a small spot just in front of a rock outcropping on the right hand side of the road about fifty yards up from the trail crossing. The wind had also reduced the level of the berm left by the plow almost to road level, so Dell could easily back into the clear area far enough to be off the road by a good ten feet and still leave them access to the back of the SUV to unload. Perfect!
Outside, the weather was exactly like the weather service said it would be, except that the wind direction had changed. The wind, what there was of it, was now coming from the southwest. Dell made a mental note that this was the wind direction from which many of their worst storms emanated. An alarm flag went up; but, they'd only be there for the day and he was confident they wouldn't have any problem they couldn't handle. He felt they were prepared for any eventuality. He had even given Jenna an extra set of car keys should she come to the car and he wasn't there - heaven forbid! She was a licensed driver and was a good driver, he felt. But, he thought, better safe than sorry! Especially where his Jenna was concerned! A broad smile came across his face as he looked at her unloading their gear from the back of the SUV. She handed him his parka before putting on her own.
Jenna looked at Dell and thought,
"Oh, how much I love you, daddy! You certainly are my best friend!" "What would I do without you?"
she pondered and then shivered, perhaps from fear, perhaps from memory of loss.
They were smiling at each other as they dressed for their trek, helping each other into their big, thick, down parkas. Dell had unclamped their skis and poles from the roof rack and handed Jenna's to her when she had put on her gloves. They picked up their skis and walked back to the south side of the trail head.
There they put on their skis, pulled down their goggles and Jenna cried out, laughing, "Last one to the trees is a rotten egg!" and shoved off, taking long, sinuous strides with her legs and thrusting hard with her ski poles.
They had been on this trail before and knew it lead across the open meadow where they'd parked the SUV, to the west, where it threaded its way between a stand of tall fir trees coming out on another meadow just below a ridge to the north. Some of this area had been logged in the past (Dell estimated about twenty to twenty-five years ago, judging by the re-growth that had occurred). They had to be careful not to run into or over stumps that might be only lightly covered with snow.
However, the area they were traversing now was an open meadow, not a logged off area, so Jenna tore out as fast as she could, with Dell very close behind her. He admired her athleticism very much. He and Sarah had only her and he was grateful she enjoyed doing so many things with him that girls often didn't care to do at all, let alone with their
dads
