every year on april fools' day, the outing club gathers as many hardy souls as we can and head over to canaan street lake. in years past we have jumped through a hole in ice that was three feet thick. it is not as much fun to 'run in' but unfortunately, in the last six years, we have had to do just that three times.
in the picture above, a fifth dipper is yet to run in. olivia is just behind us, still out of the picture. not that this actually mattered, but she had just moved here from tennesse and it was her first cold water experience. the student taking pictures got a great series of her deciding enough was enough and she turned and 'ran' out. if i remember right she was saying something like, "it's so cold...i getting out...i can't feel my legs or feet...this is so insane..." all through chattering teeth!
we all came out finally, with smiles on our faces! it was a good time--definitely cold--but everybody warmed up under their own power.
the fast squad ambulance was heated and standing by, just in case. the rescue squad likes to come out and suit up for practice. so far we have only needed them once to warm up a slightly hypothermic student with less than zero percent body fat. it is always great to have them join us, year after year, ice or no ice.
besides people swimming in april, how do you know winter is finally over? the temperature drops down to the single numbers and it snows six inches... it is crazy when last week we were up in the 60's and even above freezing over night. on wednesday i rode out 4A and teamed up with pete for a tour around mascoma lake. i was wearing a light long sleeve shirt and my tights and had an extra top in my pannier. during the ride, i was pretty warm pumping up hill, comfortable cruising along the flat, and only a little cool flying down hill. even though the sun was setting when i turned back at proctor's as pete pedaled off, the extra layer stayed in the bag all the way home.
i put on a warmer shirt, jacket, and hat and headed over to lasallette to cut the remaining flagging tape from our snowshoe festival in january. as i crossed the causeway over mascoma lake it was starting to snow and the wind was blowing substantial white caps out on the lake. leaving the parking lot, the snow was getting thicker and blowing everywhere. as i got to the recently cleared 'potato field' at the height of land, the ground was solid white and the wind was now buffeted me from side to side. crossing back into the woods things got a little more comfortable. ten minutes downhill and the sun actually burst through the clouds. maybe that was why it was so windy, a front was blowing through.
i got over to the top of the upper big field and was clipping a couple of markers when i heard a huge crash off to my right. a huge old tree blew over about a hundred yards off the trail. i wished i had the camera as it would have been impressive (maybe i will come back and get a shot). as i got back to the truck with my pockets full of flagging tape, it was definitely getting colder with the sun tucking behind the ridge even though the wind was dropping.
monday brought a whole different weather system. a soft snow fell all day, starting about six in the morning and not ending until after i went to bed. it was cold enough to stay dry and fluffy, covering the frozen ground, and building up anywhere from 3 to 5 inches. waking early tuesday to the clear and cold, i decided to hike up cardigan after my third grade stint.
the winter gate was still up and there were no tracks in the lower parking lot. hiking up the road i could just make out a single set of boot tracks going up and coming back down. they were made during the snow as they were almost totally filled in. i remember last week i stopped and took a picture going up the road so i did that again. the sky was practically cloudless and a deep, crisp blue. the snow was equally crisp and showed countless tracks where various animals scurried about dealing with this 're-wintering' their landscape.i kept track of the different tracks and counted eight species: two types of small rodents--a mouse and perhaps a shrew, squirrel--probably a red, rabbit, ruffed grouse--actually flushed one, deer, fox, and coyote. tracking was good as the animals were most likely out looking hard for food to fuel them through the cold. the birds were doing the same, with several wintering species--juncos, chicadees, and at least two downy woodpeckers flitting and pecking about.
up top i could see a long way, north, east, south, and west. i took pictures looking from each side of the tower, along those compass lines.
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| east |
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| north |
north, one could see the snow covered tops of the common white mtn. peaks: moosilauke, liberty, and washington. east, the big lakes were all free of ice similar to the sky free of clouds--save for that one little spot. south, another lone cloud above and three ski areas stuck out--white contrasting with blue and 'black' respectively. to the west, several more ski areas way off on the horizon, along with a bank of incoming clouds.
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| south |
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| west |
the wind, coming out of the west, was blowing hard on three of the four sides, but it wasn't all that unpleasant. i packed things away, tightened my hood, pulled my face scarf up, and pointed my feet down.
once into the trees and out of the wind, the sun was warming. at the bottom, some of the snow was even melted on the lowest part of the road. i had seen a new set of boot prints join the west ridge trail coming in from south ridge. somebody and their dog were headed down in front of me. when i got to the winter lot, they kept going down the road towards orange. i was impressed with their motivated stroll.
three things that i have been thinking about while out and about in the last week:
a: pre-planning your path will restrict you, stay open and the 'real way' will present itself to us in all its variability... deliberately encourage change--don't become complacent with yourself as is, let experience guide you to make yourself new tiny bits at a time. (from michael puett's and christine gross-loh's talk on the diane rehm show)
2: a long term relationship is not set in stone but full of change--commit to working at it. (a long held belief pam and i share and applies to a: above)
III: "...i would have spent the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if..." seems to be a common motivator, but more and more i find it simplistic, maybe even false. you could bring this up over an infinite number of 'missed opportunities' a creative mind could invent. i have long assumed we do what we do because, at least at the time, it is what we wanted--for comfort, for joy, for thrill, for growth... (from the book, now a movie, janapar by tom allen, subtitled 'love, on a bike')
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