february vacation, was well timed for a mid-week snow storm, followed by clear cold weather--as opposed to warmer, rainy days as seem to be so popular this winter.
well parked, we grabbed our skis and tracked down the freshly plowed logging road to the tunnel brook south trailhead. interestingly, on the south side of the notch we were skiing up to, we would be following slide brook. tunnel brook actually flowed the other way, toward the north trailhead.
thursday the 20th, was another cold, sunny day so i took my skis with me to work and snuck out early in the afternoon. i headed for the shaker wildlife management area and was on my skis 15 minutes later, pointed toward the potato run to test the snow. it was excellent--fast but not furious.
after locking down, i snapped a smile before pointing down dick's trail. as mentioned it was plenty fast, which made for quick decisions on when and where to turn. at one point i went left to avoid a new snaggle of blowdowns and the big birch i never cut out as it could be skied over with enough snow and some packing.
zigging left took me toward the ravine and lots more fallen timber so i zagged back right around a big oak--directly into a tangle of bushes and branches. i put up my arms and poles, closed my eyes, and plowed through.
out the other side, still with speed, i angled back toward dick's ski tracks and bennie's paw line--i should note that bennie's path was bang on the glade's trail while dick and i were off a good deal. i will also confess that i could feel a gash across the top of my cheek. but, in the moment, with further trees to avoid, i was having fun weaving them--at speed.
i did finally stop just above a huge blow down that pushed dick's tracks into the thicker trees. i took an image looking back up hill showing our relative speeds, today's fast sweeping turn compared to yesterday's slow, fall line cranks.
when i put the camera back in my pocket, i grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it to my cheek. as i expected, it came away bloody. that wasn't a big deal as i was mostly thinking about how wonderful the rest of the glades would be, and equally, the focus i would need to avoid any further injuries.
i was well rewarded and as i popped off the stone wall at the very bottom, rejoining the main trail, skip's "best skiing ever!" came to mind. by the time i loaded my gear into the truck, i had mostly forgotten the cheek. stopping into drummond custom cycles, robbie greeted me with "koby, your face is really bleeding." i was hoping it looked worse than it was, and would clean up--it did ok. i kept my smile!
friday the 21st, dawned clear an very cold, -16°F, which sort of put a damper on going back out for another early whack at it. pam and i were heading to the cape and wanted to leave 9:30~ish--it would not be warm even by then and besides i had to still pack. i bagged the skis and packed my binoculars for some birding with soy and han.
their house is right on the large hamblin tidal pond in mashpee with plenty of water bird activity to supplement feeder action right off their porch. it was going to be good weekend.
saturday the 22nd, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed out for the day. at some point we wanted to get to the beach in sandwich. we brought along the binos to spot some ocean species. the closer to the water we got, the windier it was. we did see some new birds though--brandts and eiders. and we got a great set of pictures of me getting 'blown away' that would make a fine series:
sunday the 23rd, before heading back north, we headed out for a last walk through the woods on will's work road out to waquoit bay. i was hoping to add a couple of woodpeckers. that happened and we also saw a harrier and some terns--wether they were common or forster's we can only speculate--way across the inlet between cassie's beach and south cape beach.
it was a great trip, seeing hannah and sawyer and lots of birds--over 30 species. it was a perfect way to end a week of going outside and playing! there were smiles all around, north & south.
ps--simon, i hope your trip up from the cape was as rewarding as ours down and you got at least one good run in! -- maybe even saw a bird or two...
wednesday the 19th, i met up with adam and we drove up to the glenn cliff side of mt moosilauke to check out the slides he had been to last winter. we found a parking spot on the logging road and started gearing up when a plow truck came out the road and asked us to move to a spot he would snuff out for us on the main road. adam already had his ski boots on and not wanting to take them off noted, "this ought to be fun" as he jumped back in the driver's seat.
well parked, we grabbed our skis and tracked down the freshly plowed logging road to the tunnel brook south trailhead. interestingly, on the south side of the notch we were skiing up to, we would be following slide brook. tunnel brook actually flowed the other way, toward the north trailhead.
no matter, the two brooks meet at a series of beaver ponds at the height of land, below a group of slides on moosilauke's southern flank to one side, and three large clear patches in the other direction. there wasn't enough snow in any of them.
supposedly there was another possible--read skiable--line on the other side of a ridge on moose. we skied along the beaver ponds hoping for a look, but ran into so much downed timber we abandoned the quest. all the slides we could see had far too little coverage to devote any effort to get to another one.
the trail on the map above goes all the way up to moosilauke's summit. we made it to the ponds and then a ways up toward the slides on the left below. there was plenty of snow in the woods to find a line back down through the trees.
we snapped a few photos on the way up as well.
my favorite shot was one adam took up at one of the beaver ponds and edited to black and white. it reminds me of skiing up in the sierras with john muir and ansel adams.
after our little glade adventure, we joined back up with the trail and pretty much bombed down to the road. there were a few deep little cuts with open water that had to be negotiated with some finesse, but it was definitely faster with a gravity assist.
back at the truck, we were both smiling, despite not skiing any of the slides. if we get a bunch of march or april snows, we promised we'd be back.
thursday the 20th, was another cold, sunny day so i took my skis with me to work and snuck out early in the afternoon. i headed for the shaker wildlife management area and was on my skis 15 minutes later, pointed toward the potato run to test the snow. it was excellent--fast but not furious.
i was playing the edges going down and using the middle--with at least one snowshoer track--going up. i have a couple of favorite rock launches and side 'walls' i use to try for some air time. with good speed, like today, it gets me excited.
when i turned to go back up for a second run, i started debating between little sherbie & the glades--which one would be more filled in than the last time when both were so sketchy. when i got to the glades turn off, there was a skin track somebody made the day before. with a set of dog prints following behind, i was guessing dick and bennie. my thought was, if it was good enough for them, it would work for me. i turned and followed them.
after locking down, i snapped a smile before pointing down dick's trail. as mentioned it was plenty fast, which made for quick decisions on when and where to turn. at one point i went left to avoid a new snaggle of blowdowns and the big birch i never cut out as it could be skied over with enough snow and some packing.
zigging left took me toward the ravine and lots more fallen timber so i zagged back right around a big oak--directly into a tangle of bushes and branches. i put up my arms and poles, closed my eyes, and plowed through.
out the other side, still with speed, i angled back toward dick's ski tracks and bennie's paw line--i should note that bennie's path was bang on the glade's trail while dick and i were off a good deal. i will also confess that i could feel a gash across the top of my cheek. but, in the moment, with further trees to avoid, i was having fun weaving them--at speed.
i did finally stop just above a huge blow down that pushed dick's tracks into the thicker trees. i took an image looking back up hill showing our relative speeds, today's fast sweeping turn compared to yesterday's slow, fall line cranks.
when i put the camera back in my pocket, i grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it to my cheek. as i expected, it came away bloody. that wasn't a big deal as i was mostly thinking about how wonderful the rest of the glades would be, and equally, the focus i would need to avoid any further injuries.
i was well rewarded and as i popped off the stone wall at the very bottom, rejoining the main trail, skip's "best skiing ever!" came to mind. by the time i loaded my gear into the truck, i had mostly forgotten the cheek. stopping into drummond custom cycles, robbie greeted me with "koby, your face is really bleeding." i was hoping it looked worse than it was, and would clean up--it did ok. i kept my smile!
friday the 21st, dawned clear an very cold, -16°F, which sort of put a damper on going back out for another early whack at it. pam and i were heading to the cape and wanted to leave 9:30~ish--it would not be warm even by then and besides i had to still pack. i bagged the skis and packed my binoculars for some birding with soy and han.
their house is right on the large hamblin tidal pond in mashpee with plenty of water bird activity to supplement feeder action right off their porch. it was going to be good weekend.
saturday the 22nd, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed out for the day. at some point we wanted to get to the beach in sandwich. we brought along the binos to spot some ocean species. the closer to the water we got, the windier it was. we did see some new birds though--brandts and eiders. and we got a great set of pictures of me getting 'blown away' that would make a fine series:
sunday the 23rd, before heading back north, we headed out for a last walk through the woods on will's work road out to waquoit bay. i was hoping to add a couple of woodpeckers. that happened and we also saw a harrier and some terns--wether they were common or forster's we can only speculate--way across the inlet between cassie's beach and south cape beach.
it was a great trip, seeing hannah and sawyer and lots of birds--over 30 species. it was a perfect way to end a week of going outside and playing! there were smiles all around, north & south.ps--simon, i hope your trip up from the cape was as rewarding as ours down and you got at least one good run in! -- maybe even saw a bird or two...
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