anatomy of a disappointing snowfall...

looks beautiful, but is so fast and furious to ski in the backcountry, i should be wearing a helmet. and if you know me, that would be just wrong. but hope reigns supreme, and those forecasts linda gave me--see the last post--had me drive over to kevin's and poise myself close to the whites, with my poles crossed.

i left for the north country right after work on tuesday and got there in time to help trim mariel's new skins to fit her new skis, and dinner. we finished both those things, cleaned up, and headed off to bed. it didn't start snowing until my first wake-up-to-pee and it felt kind of wet, not a great sign, but it was snowing. in the morning, there was only about two inches, another less than wonderful sign. but it was still snowing and after we cleaned up the drive to help the boys get off, it was quickly covered again. hope was alive as we loaded up our gear and headed out.

i had brought up my notes on the nh 4000 footers and after looking though the maps, we headed toward the top of crawford notch with mt jackson in mind. the roads were bad enough to keep some hope going, but the more i looked the less new snow i saw atop the old. as we passed attitash ski area, there were some folks out on the slopes, and it was still snowing. when we pulled into the parking area at the trailhead, i ran across the road and over the plow pile onto the trail. two, maybe three inches of new snow covered a well packed trail up to jackson--i convinced myself and kevin and mariel it might be doable.

we booted up, attached skis, and started skinning toward my third 4000 footer. soon enough i stopped and turned to my partners, "this is definitely thin, icy, steep, and will not be pretty coming down--how about trying mt willard?" kevin was basically already turning around as he wholeheartedly agreed. we crossed back over the road, the railroad tracks, and went through the woods toward the willard trail. the coverage this side of the tracks was not much better, but it was not nearly as steep and should be doable. 

of course i had said that before. but after getting up about a mile we came into some long gentle sections that i convinced myself would even be fun. a bit more than a half mile of that, we came out of the woods to the top of the willard cliffs. i had not been up here in a long time, and not by the trail approach. back in the 70's i worked with a mtn rescue team and we did a few practices on these cliffs. we always climbed up from the railroad tracks below. i remember playing the injured climber once and getting a free ride down, lowered in a litter. 

the view today was not nearly as good as the one i had then, but we enjoyed a snack and planned to have as much fun on the decent. at least i was thinking that. kevin and mariel were a bit more skeptical of the lack of coverage and narrow passage, especially where it got steeper on the bottom half. i hoped to use the woods where i could to slow myself and avoid rocks. they were thinking taking off their skis and booting down.

turns out, we both had some of the answer. we all had some fun swooshing down the wider and gentle parts. the pictures show some of that joy of just being out in the woods in a winter wonderland--minus a foot of snow, but wonderful.

then it got narrow and steep. while i kept my skis on and used the woods, it was sketchy at times and not "the best skiing ever!" as skip would say. kevin and mariel still smiling, were more comfortable with skis in hand and walking out, only a little tempted to follow my tracks. at one point, i turned around and went back up and tempted them some more. we all skied out glad we outside and playing.

at one point on the way up, the two of them offered to go up willard together and let me go up jackson, summiting a 4000 footer, whittling away at the winter's goal. i stayed on willard thinking that maybe i would give it a try on the way home thursday. that idea, made more and more sense to me, as it kept snowing into the night. it was not really building up, but it was still snowing on my first wake-up-to-pee. the sun and fresh snow in the morning was so beautiful, i convinced mariel to come along for a second try--she on snow shoes and me on skis.

as we drove back up the notch, the peaks all around were socked in with clouds. but it was definitely clearing. unfortunately, there was barely any more coverage. we geared up and started happy enough, but didn't get much higher than the day before. this time, it was my third slide-fall off the trail on the bulges of ice that lurked under the three inches or so of fresh snow that stopped the effort. mariel would have been happy to keep going while i went back and got boots and spikes, but i was not in the mood to hike, especially with my cold.

two attempts, two bails, two words--more snow! the goal of summiting all 48 nh 4000 footers was being inverted, but i had little interest in being reckless and getting hurt. as we headed back down the notch, i naturally turned to the next best thing to being outside playing, taking pictures of the outside. this one's for you sawyer, maybe you and i can get out in that coming storm forecasted for next week...

skating away...

two days, two lakes, the two of us, and two others. so last weekend, i started hearing about a forecast for some significant snow tuesday night and into wednesday. after two days of flagging the shaker trails, any snow would be much appreciated and help there actually be a snowshoe fest in two weeks. at that moment things were extremely thin and very icy. saturday, pam went with me and was really thankful to have her micro-spikes on. sunday i marked another trail on a cautious solo loop, spending some time cutting a couple of large blowdowns.



when i got home there was still plenty of daylight left to coax pam to grab her skates and go out for a glide around canaan street lake. we met linda and skip already out on the lake and linda repeated the hopeful snow forecast, throwing in noah's confirmation of 3-5 inches, maybe even emphasizing the 5. the ice was marginal, but as the sun was going down coloring the sky pinkish-orange, we were happily flying around a large smooth area over in the cardigan bay.


we headed back toward the town beach and our boots (about "street" in canaan street on the google picture) and discussed a possible skate for monday--martin luther king jr. day. pam would be home and skip and linda would not have school. skip suggested grafton pond which sounded good, possibly smoother ice. it would be worth a try it at least.

pam finished her salad lunch and we loaded the skates about one o'clock. as we got to the dam on the pond a car came at us with the "bearded" driver wildly waving. at least that is what pam described, i was trying to stay on the narrow road. turned out it was colin, who had just had a fine skate and was headed home. so the pendletons, already out on the ice, came back and reported when they saw us gearing up. 

grafton pond is much larger and convoluted along the shoreline, as well as around the many islands scattered about. it is one of our favorite places to skate, and today only cemented that bias. the ice was indeed fine, smooth and with very few 'bad' spots. i tend to fly about faster than the others so i was able to swing around many of the islands and bays, circling back to pam and linda. skip was circling his own path, his hockey skates not as long as my nordic blades, and hence not as speedy.

but, speed was not the reason we were out there. the sun was shining and the surface as smooth as could be expected given our winter so far. it was a perfect day to circumnavigate pretty much the entire perimeter, which made for a wonderful afternoon and big smiles. we met another skater skating a large oval along the furtherest end of the northern cove (the top right of the google picture), the ice there zamboni smooth. we joined his loop until our legs said time to get back to the dam and our boots (the middle left where the road meets the dam on the google picture).

of course there was one other very large, and quite smooth, cove to circle. going in well ahead of the others i lowered my back, put my head down, and pumped hard. i felt like hans brinker as i cornered, my inside arm tucked behind the back, the other swinging with each crossover and clack of the skate snapping back. linda and skip were taking a rest when i lapped them. i whizzed past and shot out back into the middle of the pond. toward a little island that i thought i spotted a rope swing hanging over the ice. just visible on the far side of the island in the picture below.

true enough, as i approached the rope i thought this might be fun. dodging a few ice fishing holes i took aim and grabbed ahold swinging way up off the ice and turning in midair. as i whipped back onto the ice i was laughing aloud and planning to go at it again with a bit more speed maybe. the second time up and down, i saw skip coming over--i encouraged him with a "faster" or two. we traded a couple more goes each when pam went at it. i didn't know if it was for real, but gave a whistle and clapped when she grabbed ahold, launched--ever so slightly, reversed, and came back toward with her own little whoop. it truly is the little things in life that make us happy.

by the time we got back to the dam the sun was dipping behind some clouds moving in. linda announced them to be the "weather" that was to bring us snow. if indeed they were, we were all ecstatic to have gotten in a few hours of "the best [skating] ever!" at least that is what skip would say...