finally...snow to ski on--but note, it was extremely wet!

the day: dec. 17th. cloudy, hovering around freezing--more above than below--a breeze of sorts, the ground is now snow white. a foot and a half of heavy, wet snow fell over the past 24 hours. the snow in the rain gauge melted to 2.45" inches of water. it was hard to push!

the adventure: before making a bigger commitment, skip came over and we skied up and over town hill. the plan was to check out the conditions--to see if it was too wet--and possibly head off to steeper, longer trails. 

the memories: the snow was wicked wet...and super sticky. there were a whole lot of tree branches and sticks littering the trail, with some of the early-fallers buried up good and hard to pull out. forgetting the saw, we had to leave a few large blowdowns in place. skip loaded up a bunch of ice under his boot making it like skiing in high heals. beech and maple saplings and assorted evergreen boughs hung heavy with snow load over most of the trail. we had to put our hoods up to avoid multiple neck-fulls of snow.

did i mention it was wet? despite the less than perfect conditions, skip was ready for a slightly paraphrased version of the day--"best skiing of the new season!"

notes:

• it was sooo wet, those japanese fishing gloves--showa 282-02 temres--would have been the 'cat's meow'...!
• don't forgot a saw--even more important than a camera...!
• if you whack the trunk of a tree just as skip passes under its branches, you can land a good plop of snow on his head and shoulders...!
• paraffin wax will help keep sticky wet snow from clumping on the bottoms of skis and icing up under the foot...!

go outside and play!

a post birthday hike on the 'secret sherbie'

the day: dec. 4th. cloudy, cool, and calm--the three c's. given the date, the ground should be snow white--instead it's leafy tannish-brown. except for beach and a few oaks, the leaves are down, the view is up. 

the adventure: for pam's post birthday hike, i took her over to the 'secret sherbie' to show off the newest line. with two major blowdowns removed--somebody with a chainsaw, tractor and bush hog--we hiked past the usual turnaround, to a high spot with a distant view of goose pond. there was a green mtn coffee truck there and pam got a cup before posing. 

the memories: i'm so hoping that whoever ran the tractor up there is not a skier... besides the trail being long ~ish, stone free ~ish, steep ~ish, the main reason we started going over there was to avoid the 'facebook\insta' crowds at all the usual places in the backcountry. in that respect, though a great break, coffee\snack trucks don't help!

the new 'extension' promises to be a sweet ending. it joins up a couple old woods roads via some challenging pitches where avoiding trees--at speed--will be a prime factor in a great run. and it finishes, right at the truck!

notes:

• hiking is nice, but skiing is better...!
• that there are practically zero rocks on the ~miles worth of trails is even better than better...!
• being outside playing with your best friend--despite their advanced age--is absolutely the best...!

go outside and play!      

a ride with friends in 'i can't believe it's november'

the day: nov 10th. sunny, cool~ish morning start. no wind. by noon, it was getting quite warm~ish.

the adventure: another gravel ride with skip, only this time we added a hike as a dear friend kevin rode with us. (bonus, he came over from maine with some garlic for pam and i to plant. double bonus, mariel insisted he bring four beautiful yellow bell peppers from the greenhouse.) we took him up to the 'secret sherbie' to help coax him over to ski this winter. the ride was 16 miles, a few on pavement, most on gravel roads, with a mile or two on the rail trail.

the memories: clear skies, conversations about mean and angry drivers yelling at bikers to "get the hell off the road", a fine stroll through the woods, linda's molasses cookies at snack o'clock, and a stop at the restored tunis school house...

they leave the door open and have a bit of history on display. skip--dedicated lover of historical makers--read that the building was moved to this site, 1/2 mile, from down the road.

notes:

• simon calls this time of year "stick season"--looking at the bare trees behind the school house, it's an apt call!
• this is supposed to be november--why is it hot enough to get sweaty?
• riding with kevin (and skip too) was great--trying to figure out the clicking noise was a fun challenge!
• people still say "car back"!

go outside and play!      

an afternoon cruise through the neighborhood(s)

the day: oct 21st. sunny, cool~ish, and no wind--same as last weekend only not quite as warm~ish. the foliage is getting yellow and golden brown, in the right light a deep orange. and more and more of the leaves are on the ground.

the adventure: another gravel ride with skip, this time with tom in north canaan, a slice of hanover on the east side of moose mountain, and dropping into enfield 'the back way'. i don't have strava or a garmin, but i bet skip could tell us how far we actually road. i will guess 'about 26.5' miles (a classic joke...i'll tell you someday).

the memories: the back roads are getting leafier and leafier. 

tom took this picture with a phone (the one above i took with a camera). it looks like it has some sort of retro filter on. just after this picture, a huge 'carroll concrete' truck met us coming the other way. skip's comment of "he must be lost!" struck me--cement trucks probably don't use strava, but with all the route finding phone aps these days, lost? i don't know how...

notes:

• our 'shortcut' through the woods needs a lot of clearing before i do that again!
• travel apps don't work on a noPhone!
• met dick on the rail trail and he reported another woods road--the one we avoided after the first 'shortcut'--had been much improved. the bridge has even been replaced!
• still true: even post peak, new england in the fall is beautiful!

go outside and play!      

'il gruppo', mostly gravel, slightly post peak

 the day: oct 16th. sunny, warm~ish, and no wind. i don't really believe in perfect, but given the foliage was not that far past peak, this was darn close.

the adventure: a gravel ride with the pendletons, richard, skip, and simon: that's brother, father, and son. richard mapped out a route starting at the dunkin donuts in bradford nh. i don't know this for certain--i was just 'along for the ride'--but i am guessing we rode a tad in newbury, a lot through sutton, maybe a bit in warner, and back into bradford. i do know we were on gravel and woods roads a good deal. all of it was downright beautiful.

the memories: obviously, riding back roads with friends is grand, especially class 6, old paths through the woods, and 'not maintained in winter' ones.

the 'il gruppo' selfie also reminded me how powerful genetics are...the pendleton brothers have a serious straight-lipped smile.

much to skip's dismay we saw a few more roadside historical markers than we actually stopped for, but i got everyone to take a break and enjoy the leaves at this one. i also like graveyards.

i took another picture with skip posing here as well, but i didn't want to put it in because linda would see that he forgot his helmet. obviously, that didn't bother me.

notes:

• it warms the heart to be part of a pendleton 'il gruppo'!
• thank you simon for not breaking completely away!
• helmets are overrated!
• even post peak, new england in the fall is beautiful!

go outside and play!      

friday's are biking days!

 the day: sept 16th & 23rd. both of these fridays were nice and cool. the sun was out, but it was never hot or even too warm. the 23rd was wicked windy, at least out on the paved roads.

the adventures: since i haven't been posting goap! regularly--the last entry was in june--i am combining two friday bike rides, exploring the myriad back roads out in the boonies between rt 4 and 4A. i was especially interested in a path that would take me past the north wilmot church and then piper pond. 

on the 16th i went up and over fowler road and then turned toward the church, but the path got somewhat sketchy so i turned around and continued out fowler town road to 4A. i was tired anyway and figured i could stop, stretch, and sweep at the shop before it closed.

on the 23rd i took a somewhat more direct route to the church and made it with no problems, even on the 1200-1300' of climbing in the 7 miles from rt 4 rail trail. a mile past that, i found piper pond, but a flooded road beyond, stymied my connecting up a loop with fowler town / fowler road.

the memories: i love the challenge of riding past "this road unmaintained in winter" signs. fowler road is a classic example. at one point i got stopped by the significant steepness with plenty of rocks. i posed the bike for two pictures, one looking up, and one down.

the next shot was taken heading down fowler town road toward rt 4A. i am unsure which pond that actually is beyond the gate. maybe next time, i will walk over and check it out.

on the 23rd i forgot my camera, but pam and i went to nearby apple orchard on the 25th and snapped a couple of photos. first the beautiful old, north wilmot church which is having some work done: leveling the main floor, setting stone atop a new foundation--under a new sill, and presumably adding stairs up to the front doors.

the last photo is of the elusive, and also beautiful, piper pond, taken from a public access landing donated by the family pam's 'cross the street' neighbor growing up, married into.

notes:

• roads "not maintained for winter" are wicked exciting!
  
• rocky downhills can be every bit as tricky rocky uphills!
• more support for 'no matter which way you go, the wind is always against you!'

go outside and play!                                        

riding along with two pendletons

the day: june 4. we had glorious weather, sunny and in the 60s--nearly goldilocks. i thought there was a little too much head wind going east on rt 4, but in a group the tail end got some pull. at least we didn't get wet.

the adventures: adventures is plural as simon was on a big loop around mount cardigan, via groton-dorchester-canaan-orange-grafton-danbury-alexandria-hebron-groton. at least, those are the towns i know. on the smaller non-loop version, skip and i met him in canaan and rode through grafton and danbury into alexandria. we turned in 'downtown' alexandria--don't blink, you'll miss it--and rode back toward danbury. linda was kind enough to meet us and give us a ride home. that gave us more time to ride with simon, which i assume is what skip planned. simon hugged his mom and dad, then road off toward newfound lake and groton to finish his circumnavigation.

the memories: considering the past few days have been very cloudy and somewhat wet, today was glorious. of course it's the weekend so we had to share the road some. but all and all, the ride was super fine. i did ditch my wool shirt back at the hardware store and actually remembered to pick it up on the way home. we made a few stops but i elected to take only one picture of the pendletons considering the other two times they were peeing.

notes:

• the person who arranges the ride gets to make the decisions--at least most of them
  
• when the sun burned through the fog, it got warm--the shady parts of 104 along the smith river and cass mill rd in alexandria were really pleasant
• no matter which way you go, the wind is always against you
• riding with simon and skip is even faster than riding with just skip--especially when the young one is wearing his team kit!

go outside and play!                                        

closing the loop--to cold river camp and back

the days: may 5-9. it would not be a lie to say, those were five glorious weather days--in a row! goldilocks perfect, not too hot/not too cold, mostly blue sky, windy enough to keep bugs at bay/but not so windy as to blow me off my bike...

the adventures: thursday, biking up to cold river camp in evans notch, 'opening' camp, sunday, biking to kevin and mariels', and then home on monday. to the best of my googling, milage works out to be 90-25-85 ~ish.

the memories: day1: skip rode the first 15 hilly miles with me before turning back to his truck at our start in north haverhill. i kept going--uphill much of the time. besides occasional pictures opportunities, i took 2 major food stops and one water refill break. the north side of evan's notch following along the wild river, is super mellow, gaining about 800 feet in about 10 miles (again google is my source). it loses it all in less than 4 wild miles down! another bonus, i got to go around the biggest hills, the presidentials.

day2: the short ride over to kevin and mariels' was more downhill until the last mile. when i pulled in, i mentioned i stopped and chatted with their neighbor, sitting at the end of a driveway with a cigarette and a PBR. kevin mentioned he had also been down there, only with the fire crew putting out a brush fire. "i think a cigarette must have got away from him..."

day3: it was a day of big hills--2 out of 4 were pleasant. on my first, a truck beeped at me and i went off into the new sandy gravel and had to do a quick dismount--or fall. i chose the first. after a hearty lunch on bh number two, fire and emergency trucks kept zooming by with lights and sirens going. when i caught up to them, they were fighting a fire in the woods and wetting down a nearby house. on about the forth or fifth bh, i stopped counting after the fire, i stopped to talk with and old timer on his tractor who, confirmed i had just ridden by the unmarked road i wanted to turn up. he had a wonderful new hampshire accent to match his smile. then finally, i stopped to chat with a group on lawn chairs surrounding a cooler of beer--and lots of empty bud light cans. i declined their generous offer of a couple of cans to go, but i should have filled up my water bottles.

notes:

• riding long days always brings a few surprises
• drinking beer at the tail end of a long day might not be wise--but staying hydrated is good
• riding with skip is much faster than riding alone--even when you stop to photograph funny signs and snack

go outside and play!

halfway through #30daysofbiking and getting "harder, better, faster, stronger..."

the days: april 15-17, good friday, saturday, and easter sunday. temps varied, but somewhere between 35 and 45. on friday it did sneak up into the 50s. mostly cloudy, with the sun shining shining, only on friday--oh and sunday after we got home. it also snowed! dry~ish on the rides, at least in the sky. wind everyday, but it never blew me/us off the bike. strongest on friday.

the adventures: biking 3 of the '5 towns' with a side trip into lyme: solo, canaan and enfield; with skip lyme and canaan; with skip, simon, and sawyer, canaan and grafton.

friday, went to the school and then around mascoma lake to stop at the shop where brendon and dustin taught me how to bleed a hydraulic brake and replace the pads. saturday, skip took me on a loop past the skiway and back through north canaan. then on easter sunday with the big groupo, a quick out to grafton pond and back, to get everybody 'hhome' for various eating engagements.

the memories: 

• fixing the rear brake on the addict was fun to learn and fairly straight forward. brendon and dustin both said my shimano brakes were much easier--and less toxic--than sram. 
• baker hill in lyme still had a section closed from mud. there was plenty, but only one section was it a struggle. 
• to grafton pond and back was quick with simon setting the pace, spinning at high rpms.

notes:

• bike repair is good to know, and with the right tools & equipment, not crazy hard
• mud can still be deep~ish in the super shady, cold spots
• riding with other bikers is much faster than riding solo--especially if they are their thirties 
• happy easter
  

go outside and play! (just don't get caught...)

more #30daysofbiking, hiking, with trail & brush work as well

the days: april 3-14. a few days cold ~ish, a few days warm ~ish, a bunch of days in between. the few sunny days coincided with the warm ones. some days wet, some days dry, and some, moist. again, those few sunshiny days correspond to the dry ones. windy days were equally mixed as well. basically, april weather--all over the map and somewhat unpredictable.

the adventures: hiking, biking--it's #30daysofbiking, trail & brush work, here, there, but not everywhere... definitely all the usual spots, and a few exotics on a couple of longer bike rides.

the memories: 

• doing some rerouting down on the school cross country trail on the 4th, i  heard quackers--wood frogs--for the first time. 
• got rained on my ride into the dentist on the 8th--the hygienist was wondering why her chair was so wet and gritty. 
• there was a sudden burst of hail on the 10th. fortunately it was lunch o'clock at the pendletons--linda's squash soup was very tasty! 
• pam hiked and i biked over town hill on the 12th, and we heard the season's first peepers--tree frogs--down at the marsh.  we also 'ran into' two snakes--one of them was "very aggressive--it's sidewinding me!"
• i had been stopping and snapping pictures when i saw significant ice on hidden little ponds tucked into the shady parts of the woods. 
• today, the 14th, skip let out a holler, "there's still ice" when we went by tewksbury pond.

notes:

• april may be the cruelest month, especially if you don't like mud season
• climate change may be making april less cruel--maybe
• skip doesn't like hills--up or down--but he keeps going strong
• ticks are out! found a deer tick latched onto my upper arm in the middle of the night on the 13th
• ice is nice--it will make you smile

go outside and play!

#30daysofbiking

the days: april 1st & 2nd. a beautiful blue bird day! made the mid 40s with a steady stiff wind out of the northwest almost feel warm ~ish. a lot different than fool's day's cloudy, off and on rain/sleet/hail. same 40s with a good stiff wind, but damn it was almost freezing ~ish.

the adventures: out on the bike for #30daysofbiking. at the moment, mostly on the pavement, as a lot of dirt roads are slowly getting over a wicked mud season and deeply rutted. on the 1st, i rode into school, to cut the timber frame for the outdoor classroom at evs, and then onto drummond's, for friday's sweep. today, the 2nd, i rode toward skip's to meet him, simon, and tom. we were headed for mascoma lake again, but this time we went all the way around it in the opposite direction from last saturday. maybe that wasn't the smartest as the wind was in our face the whole of the west side of the lake.  we kept tight to each other's rear wheels. we also kept our smiles!

or at least everybody was smiling when i cut off the rail trail at perry lane. from simon's picture, it looks like they found some ice further on and had to walk a bit. it's pretty though.

the memories: the weather in new hampshire is always sketchy in april, at least if you are trying to ride a bike everyday of the month. for example, with temps and winds about equal, yesterday's precip was fairly uncomfortable, even when it was a light drizzle. today's bright sunshine was maybe a little warm on the long uphills, but never unwelcome. the other thing i will remember is riding in a group of four today vs solo yesterday. maybe that was because no one else was wishing to be a 'fool'.

notes:

• mascoma lake is still ~80% ice covered south of the bridge, and maybe 50% to the north--i.e. it's cold with a strong wind blowing off that surface
• my front tire--not the wheel--looks awfully 'woobly'
• again, riding in a group offers 'drafting' opportunities--take advantage of them
  
• remember to grab the camera off the kitchen table where you put it so you would remember it
• a linda cookie from "the magicly refilling box" is a real treat at ~20 miles

go outside and play!

out on the bikes in march

the days: march 18th, 25th, and 26th. the 18th was by far the warmest, up in the 50s, and the windiest, with a steady blow of around 20mph. it was also sunny. the 25th & 26th were both somewhere in the 40s, not too windy, nor all that sunny. i'm pretty sure i felt a couple of drops today, the 26th, but rain was at best, a low risk.

the adventures: on a bike! and except for one time today, going out to rt 4 on the dirt half of our road, riding pavement in canaan and enfield. if you are a map nerd, we snuck into lebanon for about a mile.

the memories: fridays are my 'sweep the shop' days over at drummond custom cycles. the last two were pleasant enough to ride over. after the recent rains washed most of the salt off the roads, and the warm~ish weather has melted most of the snow, my thought was basically, get the bikes out pump up the tires, and start pedaling.

today's ride was a bit longer, with a couple of good hills thrown in for good measure. skip and tom were also game to come along. i rode over to meet them at tom's and we took off. about an hour and two good hills later, we went by laura's house and saw her out burning brush. we took a bit of a break before looping back around mascoma lake, at least the half of it with the paved road.

my first three rides of the season! may they all be at least that good. 

notes:

• be prepared for it feeling really cold with a strong wind blows off a frozen lake
• if your bike is tuned up at the end of last season, it rides really nicely in the beginning of this one
• riding in a group offers 'drafting' opportunities--take advantage of them
• start remembering to keep a camera in the frame bag

go outside and play!

playing the edges, before it got sticky

the day: march 14, early~ish . getting sunny with temps rising through the 20s heading toward 40°F --warm, too warm for still being winter. no wind. and a big flake snow drifting down for the last couple hours, as blue sky pushed out the clouds.  6-8" of fluffy snow on the trail, except where yesterday's sun and last night's cold combined to leave a bit of crust 2 inches down.

the adventure: skip picked me up around 8:30 and we headed up to moose mtn and our secret stash. since nobody else goes there--yet--i figured it would be in really good shape for a couple of morning runs--before today's sun got on it and made it sticky.

the memories: and in fine shape it was! even better than what i thought it would be!! skinning up through a fresh couple of inches, plus friday's storm below that, was like heaven. at least such fluff under the skis is how i envision terrain behind the pearly gates. as we gained elevation the coverage got even better and i started eyeing some of the special features along the edges, a couple of big rocks to launch off, a few small hemlocks to scoot around... we hit it right.

notes:

-  skip got us going in plenty of time for two runs (before i had to get to an 11:30 mtg)
-  it was warm enough to keep skip's hands warm but not so warm that our skis were clumping (until the very end heading back to the truck)
-  the whole day made skip smile (not unusual. always fun.)

go outside and play!

enjoying whatever we get!

the day: march 13. mostly sunny with temps rising through the 20s °F --warm, as long as you were out of the stiff wind. not blowing as hard as yesterday, but still strong. the snow storm left 4-6" of new fluff on top of the slim-to-none coverage existing after another annoying mid winter warm up.

the adventure: up, around, over, and down, town hill--another out the dooryard adventure!

the memories: pam was headed out for a walk, so i suggested if she was up for looping town hill, i would ski along. she was. i did. it was the proverbial winter wonderland in the woods. since the snow originally started as rain, a significant amount stuck onto branches.

notes:

-  it's amazing how little snow you need
-  ... for beauty
-  ... to play in
-  ... to make one smile

go outside and play!

friends, with benefits

the days: march 8 & 11. tuesday was mostly sunny but cold~ish in the teens °F with a very stiff wind: ~20mph above treeline with gusts towards the 40s. the rain on sunday made for a solid, often icy trail. friday, mostly overcast but much milder in the mid forties °F with barely a breeze blowing. the trail was about 70/30, bare/softening ice.

the adventures: d1: up cardigan, via the west ridge trail, down mostly on the ski trail. d2: up the AT, leading to smart's mtn, down the same, leading to the truck.

the memories: d1: billy and tracey were up at billy's brother's house in new london. billy, an old amc pinkham friend, always likes to get out and hike, preferably up above treeline if possible. tracey is always game for adventure--if she has the proper kit. tuesday, on cardigan, she was all set for comfort at low temps and high winds, but the creepers she borrowed did not inspire much confidence under foot. 

d2: billy and tracey came back on friday for a second trek up a section of the AT with a fantastic outlook a bit more than a mile up. with much softer and far less ice--plus a better set of microspikes under tracey's feet--the trail was far more hiker friendly. the mild temps also allowed for many few layers at times.

notes:

• good creepers/microspikes are your friend 
• such bare trails in early march are not so friendly to lovers of winter
• friends who hike together smile together--especially for selfies of a wee coorie at the summit

go outside and play!

snow today--rain tomorrow

the day: march 5. beautiful sunny day, somewhere in the 20s, but feeling much warmer because of that sun. a bit of wind when it can get down through the treetops, but not at all uncomfortable. the ground and most obstacles--ie stones--covered, with about 4~ish inches of fresh stuff on top. all around, pretty perfect to celebrate WORLD TELEMARK DAY!

the adventure: up and over town hill, all the way to the marsh, and back.

the memories: all around a very pleasant day, enough coverage to avoid major ski bottom damage and sticky enough that i didn't need skins, even on the steepest parts. going to the marsh with pam is always fun--and sometimes funny. like when she stops to check her stocks. i usually end up skiing away, glad to not have a phone.

notes:

• when the snow is good, go outside and play! -- before it rains
• a little paraffin can go a long way--backwards if you aren't careful
• people who get outside together, smile together

go outside and smile!

a snow storm and skiing with friends

the days: february 25 & 26. a good cold~ish snow all day friday. a bright sunny cold~ish day all saturday. no wind in the woods.

the adventures: d1, friday earlier: town hill, to top of east steep and back. d1, friday later: shaker wildlife management area, up and down 3rd left with a finish on the big hill. d2, saturday earlier: up and down 3rd left, up 2nd left, down 1st--glades. finish on the big hill. d2, saturday later: 'secret sherbie', east side of moose mtn.

the memories: the d1 storm was not a huge dump, but it's steady build was very welcome. our first go out--skip and i--was right from the dooryard, in 4-5 inches of light stuff. not quite enough coverage and fast, turned us at the steep, rocky section, before descending to our deaths. coming back down to the house was mostly dreamy. 

when we got over to swma, coverage still seemed thin, but coming down 3rd left was maybe even dreamy-er, the big hill even creamy-er. 

d2 morning was super fun with laura and simon joining skip and i. the snow 6-8-10 inches--depending on exposure--was still super light. a warm up run on 3rd left got us excited. but going up 2nd left, we opted to skip the down there and head for the glades. still totally bummed the state dropped those trees at the best section, but a good time was had by all. the finish on the big hill was sweet.

simon, skip and i then over to moose mountain and took a run down the 'secret sherbie'--

--it was super fast!

notes:

• the sun on the snow made things really fast--especially in the afternoon
• if we hadn't had the two big warm spells with rain, this winter's snow pack would be stellar
• in fast snow, on narrow trails, leave a good amount of time/space between other skiers

go outside and play!