and yes, given the ups and downs of this winter temp-wise, that is indeed a good thing.
last week, thursday: it had been snowing most of the night and 6-8~ish inches of fresh, wet, but fresh snow, lay atop what i have been lamenting all winter as a sketchy base. area schools were all shuttered, so i called skip and arranged for him to stop in, with his skis, on his way home from the dentist. considering myself lucky that my teeth cleaning wasn't until tomorrow--post a forecasted heavy rain--i decided to go scout out conditions first.
in no time i was over to the shaker wildlife management area clicking into my skis and sliding them up the trail. as i went along feeling some chunkiness underfoot, i devised a plan to test the 'potato run' first and depending on those results, head for either the 'little sherbie' or the 'glades'.
the potato was fine, fast enough to be fun, but not at all furious. on and just off the main trail, coverage was adequate and there was enough base to keep things running smooth. every once in a while, turning on trail, i could definitely feel that frozen crunchiness where people had made tracks in their boots and it had frozen. staying in the fall line caused no problem, so on the way back up i weighed the choice: fast through the untracked trees, or fast down a potentially tracked road.
given the crazy run through the 'glades' last week, i made the choice to go down the road we call the 'little sherbie'. in spite of knowing better, i didn't expect things would get dangerous. about half way down when i started carving across the fall line to dump speed, i started thinking damn, this is whacked. with every turn, the frozen chunk took hold of my edges and only let go reluctantly, under brute force. it was an exciting descent.
only, when i got back home and skip showed up, he heard the story and chose to avoid any 'edgy' run, as well as the rain that was starting to fall. he went home. i went up town hill and made a last run for the day, zipping up & down, dooryard to dooryard--wet, but smiling.
friday morning: it was pretty depressing hearing rain hit the roof all night. i had made a date to hike cardigan with lisa and maybe dick, but after scraping a 1/4" of ice off pam's car and my truck windows, i wondered if i would see anybody. they both showed and brought benny too!
on the way up, rain kept falling, as frozen pellets, as super wet snow/drops. a front was due to blow in and drop temps. i was predicting we would see the precip turn to pure snow sooner or later--we were all hoping for sooner.
up above treeline, the a cold wind started blow the wet and clouds into our faces. lisa's and dick's snow shoes kept them afloat, while had to pick my path carefully to keep from sinking into the soft snow below a 1/2" inch layer of ice. i had been thinking of bringing my skis up, but the solid crust made that idea seem ridiculous. dick called it "ankle breaking conditions"! none of us felt a need to summit, so we took a couple of pics at the quarter pipe rock and turned down.
on the way down, the precip changed to all snow and got heavier and heavier, though back in the trees, without the wind, it was really pretty. by the time we got to the vehicles, we were all smiling.
saturday morning: the sun was shining brightly on the 3-4~ish inches of fresh powdery snow that the cold had wrung out of the clouds when the front blew through overnight. i was scheduled to guide snowshoe hikes over at swma at 1:00 and 3:00. two people, sharon and stu, showed up and we headed out. as we walked across the highway and went into the woods, i queried them some to get an idea of where to lead.
they seemed game for just about anything, so i took them up the 'potato run' and turned up toward 'lost lake'--now with years of eutrophication, was barely a tiny pond. the stone dam though was still somewhat visible and offers a good path to walk over and get a 'local' view, as well as a picture.
sharon was really pleased coming down through the 'glades' but glad to be on snowshoes as opposed to skis. with the crazy, breakable crust just below the surface, i had to agree with her. given a decent snowfall, with no rain involved, i would certainly be back--with just as big a smile!
sunday morning: pam and i woke to another sunny day and after breakfast, we headed up town hill to stomp a trail through the crust. as i trailed behind the yellow jacket, i thought the snow in the trees, made for a nice picture especially with brilliant blue sky in the background.
we trooped up and over the other side and went on to the marsh. instead of stopping at our usual spot, the tiny beaver dam at the bottom of the road, i cut across the marsh over to the large damn and stopped for a picture.
with the nh primary in two days, pam had the clever idea we should track out a huge "WARREN FOR PRESIDENT" message in the white expanse of the marsh. i might have considered it if her name been shorter or more than just local pilots and birds been able to view it. for the sake of helping a women get elected, i should have been more motivated, and just stomped out "WARREN". anybody who actually saw it would have gotten the message.
someday, when i have something important to say--like 'go outside and play!'--i'll go back and stomp... until then, i am headed out to enjoy the big fluffy flakes of snow which are still falling and actually starting to bury last week's crust. and oh, did i mention, it is not raining?!
last week, thursday: it had been snowing most of the night and 6-8~ish inches of fresh, wet, but fresh snow, lay atop what i have been lamenting all winter as a sketchy base. area schools were all shuttered, so i called skip and arranged for him to stop in, with his skis, on his way home from the dentist. considering myself lucky that my teeth cleaning wasn't until tomorrow--post a forecasted heavy rain--i decided to go scout out conditions first.
in no time i was over to the shaker wildlife management area clicking into my skis and sliding them up the trail. as i went along feeling some chunkiness underfoot, i devised a plan to test the 'potato run' first and depending on those results, head for either the 'little sherbie' or the 'glades'.
the potato was fine, fast enough to be fun, but not at all furious. on and just off the main trail, coverage was adequate and there was enough base to keep things running smooth. every once in a while, turning on trail, i could definitely feel that frozen crunchiness where people had made tracks in their boots and it had frozen. staying in the fall line caused no problem, so on the way back up i weighed the choice: fast through the untracked trees, or fast down a potentially tracked road.
given the crazy run through the 'glades' last week, i made the choice to go down the road we call the 'little sherbie'. in spite of knowing better, i didn't expect things would get dangerous. about half way down when i started carving across the fall line to dump speed, i started thinking damn, this is whacked. with every turn, the frozen chunk took hold of my edges and only let go reluctantly, under brute force. it was an exciting descent.
only, when i got back home and skip showed up, he heard the story and chose to avoid any 'edgy' run, as well as the rain that was starting to fall. he went home. i went up town hill and made a last run for the day, zipping up & down, dooryard to dooryard--wet, but smiling.
friday morning: it was pretty depressing hearing rain hit the roof all night. i had made a date to hike cardigan with lisa and maybe dick, but after scraping a 1/4" of ice off pam's car and my truck windows, i wondered if i would see anybody. they both showed and brought benny too!
on the way up, rain kept falling, as frozen pellets, as super wet snow/drops. a front was due to blow in and drop temps. i was predicting we would see the precip turn to pure snow sooner or later--we were all hoping for sooner.
up above treeline, the a cold wind started blow the wet and clouds into our faces. lisa's and dick's snow shoes kept them afloat, while had to pick my path carefully to keep from sinking into the soft snow below a 1/2" inch layer of ice. i had been thinking of bringing my skis up, but the solid crust made that idea seem ridiculous. dick called it "ankle breaking conditions"! none of us felt a need to summit, so we took a couple of pics at the quarter pipe rock and turned down.
on the way down, the precip changed to all snow and got heavier and heavier, though back in the trees, without the wind, it was really pretty. by the time we got to the vehicles, we were all smiling.
saturday morning: the sun was shining brightly on the 3-4~ish inches of fresh powdery snow that the cold had wrung out of the clouds when the front blew through overnight. i was scheduled to guide snowshoe hikes over at swma at 1:00 and 3:00. two people, sharon and stu, showed up and we headed out. as we walked across the highway and went into the woods, i queried them some to get an idea of where to lead. 
they seemed game for just about anything, so i took them up the 'potato run' and turned up toward 'lost lake'--now with years of eutrophication, was barely a tiny pond. the stone dam though was still somewhat visible and offers a good path to walk over and get a 'local' view, as well as a picture.
sharon was really pleased coming down through the 'glades' but glad to be on snowshoes as opposed to skis. with the crazy, breakable crust just below the surface, i had to agree with her. given a decent snowfall, with no rain involved, i would certainly be back--with just as big a smile!
sunday morning: pam and i woke to another sunny day and after breakfast, we headed up town hill to stomp a trail through the crust. as i trailed behind the yellow jacket, i thought the snow in the trees, made for a nice picture especially with brilliant blue sky in the background.
we trooped up and over the other side and went on to the marsh. instead of stopping at our usual spot, the tiny beaver dam at the bottom of the road, i cut across the marsh over to the large damn and stopped for a picture.
with the nh primary in two days, pam had the clever idea we should track out a huge "WARREN FOR PRESIDENT" message in the white expanse of the marsh. i might have considered it if her name been shorter or more than just local pilots and birds been able to view it. for the sake of helping a women get elected, i should have been more motivated, and just stomped out "WARREN". anybody who actually saw it would have gotten the message.
someday, when i have something important to say--like 'go outside and play!'--i'll go back and stomp... until then, i am headed out to enjoy the big fluffy flakes of snow which are still falling and actually starting to bury last week's crust. and oh, did i mention, it is not raining?!
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