but more snow, only tomorrow it's supposed to rain. wtf?! ok, i won't complain, much...today, my second day out in the backcountry this week/winter, already surpassed all the woods skiing i did last year. nobody gives out snow guarantees around here, so i take it when it comes. but i am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow's meltdown never comes.
today's six inches was not melting at all, given i never saw it get out of the teens. i made a few calls this morning trying to interest somebody in going to moosilauke but no takers. i mulled over a solo adventure but choose to stay local and loop the shaker trails again--a bit of play time in powder.
when i pulled into the la salette parking lot i had to put it in 4wh as all that powder was unplowed. i had first tracks and thought of spinning a 360° but thought the guy who would be coming to plow, wouldn't take too kindly to that. it would probably scare the two skiers and their dog going into the big hay field as well. as they turned up hill i recognized ann and andy--i don't recall the dogs name--so when i got out of the truck, i gave a hello. i booted up as they skied off. after fiddling around with my bindings and settling my pack, i took off after them, following their tracks.
i caught up with them at the top of the first hill and we talked a bit before i headed up further in the fields and they went off into the woods toward the canal trail. i got to the top of the upper hay field and went into the woods on a trail the same ann, sawyer, and i had cleaned up years ago when we started the shaker snow-shoe-fest. a quarter mile up earned me a quarter down. at the height of land, on that trail at least, a click out of free pivot put me into flow mode. the snow was silky and the turns came easy down the narrow path. no rocks kept it smooth, without any 'bottom' entanglements.
as i turned back onto the caleb marshall dyer and worked my way up over long stretches of barely covered rocks, i realized why i chose going counter clockwise. this way my route would avoid hitting these rocky sections on the downhill.
avoiding rocky sections was a good thing, as i found it often pretty thin under the hemlocks and pines. as well as rocks, there were plenty of blowdowns to negotiate--i would have to bring a saw out before this year's snow-shoe-fest. on monday, kevin and i had actually met kyle the new shaker museum educational director who would be working with me on trails for the event this year. he was out in the snow wishing he was on skis with us, unfortunately, he was looking for a snowblower in one of the barns. beyond the obstacles, i came over the second height of land and clicked into downhill mode.
as i pushed off and let gravity take over, i was hoping i wouldn't be sliding at speed if and when i met any blow downs on this section. there were a couple of steeper, very narrow sections ahead that didn't allow for much turning to brake. i was equally weary of the rocky section at the bottom of the trail. to my enjoyment, it was mostly deep and fluffy and made the skis go fast. i avoided all the junk i saw and when i got to the gullied, rocky part, i met up with a snowshoe track that looked rather obstacle free. i used that as a guide and pleasantly glided down to the junction with the james jewitt trail.
kevin and i had skied this section, both up and down, but today i was just going up to catch the moses johnson or what we call little sherburne. i was still following the snow shoe tracks which made the going easier. whomever was packing this out was following our ski track which made for a solid trail.
up at the 'potato field'--15 or so acres the fish and game had cleared for rabbit habitat--the snow had blown back into the tracks and i imagined the mj/ls would be nice and deep. i locked down again and tightened the boots back up for the longest run we have at la salette. one nice feature on this section are the water-bars that when things are fast offer some air time. things were fast enough today, and i got in some good unweighting as i turned of the crests of several. the rhythm was coming and sweeping back and forth across the fall line kept feeling better and better.
i stopped before the final pitch and took a picture of the interplay of ski and snow shoe tracks. when i took off again, i started playing on the banked edges until i hooked a rock and scrambled a bit to rebalance. i could be imaging it, but often when i push the 'edge' i end up thrown off--maybe that's the nature of the beast.
i recovered well in time to launch the last two water bars, bigger than most and with steeper landings. when i reached the trunk trail at the bottom i turned uphill and thought--i could go back up for some more of that! i unlocked, the bindings, unbuckled and unstrapped the boots and went for one more downhill. i decided to go up to the loop off the cmd and ski down into the upper hay field. that would be opposite of how i started, but it was a good run and would point me at a final finish on the big hay field.
up top again, i tightened everything back up, emptied the bladder, and drank some water to replenish. the other day, i read how students do better on tests when they drink water. that was my plan--to do well on this last run. while i did slow way down in a few flatter spots i don't believe i ever stopped, from top to bottom the ride was worth it. i made figure eights with my monday tracks where i could see them and found another snow shoe track to follow at the bottom to keep a little speed as i headed for the truck.
the plow guy was there and he waved when i was taking off my boots. it had been a fine day even though i didn't go up to moosilauke and score my first 4000 footer. a little more time, a little more snow, and maybe a partner and i would start ticking the big ones off. for now, i was happy having soloed a little one...
today's six inches was not melting at all, given i never saw it get out of the teens. i made a few calls this morning trying to interest somebody in going to moosilauke but no takers. i mulled over a solo adventure but choose to stay local and loop the shaker trails again--a bit of play time in powder.
when i pulled into the la salette parking lot i had to put it in 4wh as all that powder was unplowed. i had first tracks and thought of spinning a 360° but thought the guy who would be coming to plow, wouldn't take too kindly to that. it would probably scare the two skiers and their dog going into the big hay field as well. as they turned up hill i recognized ann and andy--i don't recall the dogs name--so when i got out of the truck, i gave a hello. i booted up as they skied off. after fiddling around with my bindings and settling my pack, i took off after them, following their tracks.
i caught up with them at the top of the first hill and we talked a bit before i headed up further in the fields and they went off into the woods toward the canal trail. i got to the top of the upper hay field and went into the woods on a trail the same ann, sawyer, and i had cleaned up years ago when we started the shaker snow-shoe-fest. a quarter mile up earned me a quarter down. at the height of land, on that trail at least, a click out of free pivot put me into flow mode. the snow was silky and the turns came easy down the narrow path. no rocks kept it smooth, without any 'bottom' entanglements.
as i turned back onto the caleb marshall dyer and worked my way up over long stretches of barely covered rocks, i realized why i chose going counter clockwise. this way my route would avoid hitting these rocky sections on the downhill.
avoiding rocky sections was a good thing, as i found it often pretty thin under the hemlocks and pines. as well as rocks, there were plenty of blowdowns to negotiate--i would have to bring a saw out before this year's snow-shoe-fest. on monday, kevin and i had actually met kyle the new shaker museum educational director who would be working with me on trails for the event this year. he was out in the snow wishing he was on skis with us, unfortunately, he was looking for a snowblower in one of the barns. beyond the obstacles, i came over the second height of land and clicked into downhill mode.
as i pushed off and let gravity take over, i was hoping i wouldn't be sliding at speed if and when i met any blow downs on this section. there were a couple of steeper, very narrow sections ahead that didn't allow for much turning to brake. i was equally weary of the rocky section at the bottom of the trail. to my enjoyment, it was mostly deep and fluffy and made the skis go fast. i avoided all the junk i saw and when i got to the gullied, rocky part, i met up with a snowshoe track that looked rather obstacle free. i used that as a guide and pleasantly glided down to the junction with the james jewitt trail.
kevin and i had skied this section, both up and down, but today i was just going up to catch the moses johnson or what we call little sherburne. i was still following the snow shoe tracks which made the going easier. whomever was packing this out was following our ski track which made for a solid trail.
up at the 'potato field'--15 or so acres the fish and game had cleared for rabbit habitat--the snow had blown back into the tracks and i imagined the mj/ls would be nice and deep. i locked down again and tightened the boots back up for the longest run we have at la salette. one nice feature on this section are the water-bars that when things are fast offer some air time. things were fast enough today, and i got in some good unweighting as i turned of the crests of several. the rhythm was coming and sweeping back and forth across the fall line kept feeling better and better.
i stopped before the final pitch and took a picture of the interplay of ski and snow shoe tracks. when i took off again, i started playing on the banked edges until i hooked a rock and scrambled a bit to rebalance. i could be imaging it, but often when i push the 'edge' i end up thrown off--maybe that's the nature of the beast.
i recovered well in time to launch the last two water bars, bigger than most and with steeper landings. when i reached the trunk trail at the bottom i turned uphill and thought--i could go back up for some more of that! i unlocked, the bindings, unbuckled and unstrapped the boots and went for one more downhill. i decided to go up to the loop off the cmd and ski down into the upper hay field. that would be opposite of how i started, but it was a good run and would point me at a final finish on the big hay field.
up top again, i tightened everything back up, emptied the bladder, and drank some water to replenish. the other day, i read how students do better on tests when they drink water. that was my plan--to do well on this last run. while i did slow way down in a few flatter spots i don't believe i ever stopped, from top to bottom the ride was worth it. i made figure eights with my monday tracks where i could see them and found another snow shoe track to follow at the bottom to keep a little speed as i headed for the truck.
the plow guy was there and he waved when i was taking off my boots. it had been a fine day even though i didn't go up to moosilauke and score my first 4000 footer. a little more time, a little more snow, and maybe a partner and i would start ticking the big ones off. for now, i was happy having soloed a little one...
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