and then we got rain...lots of rain

over christmas eve into christmas day, we got just about 1.5 inches of rain. it was a heavy wet present santa brought down the chimney. unfortunately it melted all that snow we had gotten the week before!

i am calling the mass melting of two feet of snow, an 'all shovels down' event. the red one was down by boxing day. the grain scoop out back toppled over as well. in a proper wintery world, all that rain would have been feet of snow. it would have been one of the deepest decembers i had ever been in. it would have given kevin ample reason to warn me of avalanche danger--he would-ah, he could-ah, he should-ah!

along with the snow, any dreams of backcountry skiing also melted away. all that water was now puddled atop the frozen ground. it also essentially re-flooded the ice on the lakes. as the temps fell over the next couple of days, my hopes rose. there is going to be some incredible skating if the cold keeps up.

outdoor winter recreation doesn't have to begin with 's' though. skiing, skating, and sledding are definitely my first choices, but there are other opportunities, like a moonrise-sunset hike up our local mountain. 

cardigan makes a perfect viewing spot to see far to the way northeast--that's the south end of the franconia ridge with the snow peaks. it also has a clear view to the west--the high peaks across vermont are easily spotted, when they aren't silhouetted at sundown.

the cold did get colder and i got out skating several times on canaan street. it's a spring fed lake though and over the years, i have built up a 'library' of places to avoid early on. the day after justin, olivia, and her friend, grace, skated around the entire lake with me, two good friends, priscilla and elise, went through the ice in a thin spot. it was pretty horrific, but thanks to officer matt who just happened to see them, them not see them, canaan's cold water team pulled them out about 25 minutes later.  

as traumatic that was for the two women, i was relieved that it wasn't any of us that went in. turns out justin's mother had forbid him to go skating when he went around with me. it would have been pretty awkward telling angeline and patrick i was involved with his getting very wet and extremely cold.

several cold nights helped the ice add thickness, enough that i could convince pam to try it out--on mascoma lake's new skating loop. i had skated there--after the fire chief asked folks not to skate on canaan street--and talked to ice fishing people. they were measuring between 5 and 7 inches, with a super smooth surface. we got to skate some with billy, and joan, cofounder of the mlsa.  it was a glorious day.

we went back a couple of days later after a snowfall. the mlsa is trying to keep a loop plowed so there was a good long track to circle. it was incrediblely windy that day, which made skating north nigh on brutal. of course going south was easy peasy. i took a series of pam skating along photos, just as she turned out of the wind.

that is a big smile on her face, as it starts to warm up after being wind blasted. not long after this day there was a snow rain event and while i have heard the ice isn't that bad i have not been back.

i switched to hiking, keeping an eye on the coverage as it snows here and there. we are forecasted to get a nor'easter  february 2nd--if that comes and leaves some significant snow, i will be the one smiling while going outside and playing!