two days with skip...

day one--wolfboro road and five or six inches: right from the get go, i was having fun. when i got to linda and skip's on sunday, i went in and had a cup of tea with a couple of linda's "best cookies ever" right out of the oven. munching and sipping helped us come to a consensus on the best trail for the conditions. we loaded the truck and headed for moose mountain, that was our decision and we were sticking to it. the trailhead, right at the bottom of at least a mile 'uphill' pretty close to "cemetery" on the right side of the map, had a fine two-truck parking area all plowed out. four or five fresh inches lay atop the solid base--that half inch of icy crust i have written about--and it was still snowing hard. i had my 'fast', no-scales, skis with skins for going up and good slide-ability for coming down.

i had told skip of the late fall hike pam and i took up to the south peak and over to the AT shelter--something else i wrote about--and about how they had 'graded' the trail. it was probably with a tractor and bucket, but it did make things a lot less rocky, which the snow would only make it smoother. as we headed up to the height of land, where the AT crosses the road--at the red dotted line going from pink highlight to pink highlight--i convinced myself that it would be worth taking my skins off and linking some turns on the hanover center side. it was long and steep enough to get me excited. skip had his scaled skis and would only need to click his bindings down, so he was all in when i suggested it.

going down was indeed well worth it, at least for me. we stopped where the steep ran out, right where the two dotted lines center left on the map crossed. skip was feeling his skis were pretty slow and he had to schuss down more than linking turns. but after i passed him with a whoop, he traced my track and was satisfied with the speed. and when we got to the bottom and i had to put my skins back on, he just clicked out of downhill mode--what's to complain about that!?




we got back up to the AT junction and turned toward south peak, again at the red dotted line on the map. the almost filled in herringbone tracks of a skier from friday or saturday that we had been following up the hanover side, turned with us so we kept on following. the snow on the trail seemed deeper here than on the road and looked like it would be a fine time coming down. at the summit i snapped a picture before tucking into the woods to take off the skins once more and have a snack. the tea in the thermos was still plenty hot, and another of linda's 'best' cookies was another high point. we tightened boots and bindings up, pointed our skis down, and shoved off.





from those high points, i was smiling all the way until i stopped at a good spot to catch skip in the action of turning. again with his scales under foot, he was moving slower and tracing my tracks except for where it got steep enough to keep some speed. he wasn't complaining anymore, as it was a sweet run. when i stopped again back on the road, i noticed it was getting much colder and the wind had really picked up. when skip pulled up he agreed and put on his goggles.


the road back down to the truck was moderately pitched, with only a few steeper spots, so it was pretty much gliding along looking for something to spice it up: skiing up banked edges and jumping off or popping off rocks. i had stomped out one launch on the trip up, and when i finally reached it, i was not going all that fast, but i took a leap anyway--and toppled forward on the landing. skip, gliding along even slower behind me, lept as well, but he landed it.

as we got back to the truck, having fallen or not, we were both satisfied. enough to plan out another day of it, just in case there was a snow day monday.

day two--cardigan and more than a foot: and snow day it was! i made it over to skip's after helping pam get off to work. we had gotten maybe ten inches total in the storm, but the snow seemed to be stopping. i was sort of hurrying skip as i figured we were not going to be up there first. that was ok with skip as he did not want to break trail. as we came up the last hill to the winter parking lot, he asked his usual "how many vehicles are going to be in the lot?" i guessed three and he went two--there was one. but, i saw tracks of two others that had already left. on the trail up, there were plenty of tracks coming down which must have belonged to those that had already come and gone.

as we booted up, a lone skier came down to the other car. he had started at 6:00a and crossed paths with the others--two pairs--they had started even earlier. having to go to work will make dedicated east coast skiers do crazy things for powder. all five had skied both the east side alexandria ski trail, and the west ridge trail, with a few bits of the ski/fire trail thrown in. that was our plan too. we tracked up any of the sections that were untracked, as the foot of powder would really slow us if left fresh in the less steep areas. for fun, we cut over to south ridge at clifford's bridge.



when we got to the bare ridge, the wind was pretty wild. what we could only hear in the woods, was in our face and we had to put our hats and gloves back on and zip up. we couldn't find the trail right away when we got to the 'stone wall' on cardigan's south peak. finally, a little white blaze pointed us into the woods and we went for it. we passed the amc high cabin and went on to the top of alexandria where we buckled up boots and clicked bindings for the downhill. i watched as skip pushed off and noticed the snow was really deep and there was plenty of it even though it had been skied already.


as we went down, i swear there were drifts two feet deep or more. at one point my skis submerged deep and i couldn't turn it out, stalling just as i went into the woods. i had to back myself out from under the load and crust. skip went by thinking i was just peeing. i zipped by a bit later as he was catching his breath, feeling a good rhythm, blasting through the unskied puff balls in between the tracks already laid. all of a sudden i dropped into a dip that threw me mostly over, one ski still in full contact with the snow the other pulling some ballet move behind me. that went on for maybe twenty yards until i gave up trying to get it back and somersaulted into a lump of fluff. skip came down laughing about how he thought i was going to pull it out, but the crash looked really good.

i don't remember stopping the rest of the way until i hit the clark trail junction, pulled up, and waited for skip. we put the skins back on and started up, very happy. as skip announced on his arrival, it would qualify for some of the "best skiing ever!" the sun was shining and made it quite pleasant in the woods, even with the wind roaring ever loader up in the canopy. any snow left up high was blowing loose and swirling like crazy. as we went along, i couldn't help but want to ski back down again, only this time i was going to come right down the clark trail. it was so beautiful and the snow seemed perfect for it.

unfortunately, it was well past lunch o'clock and we stopped to fuel up at the high cabin. i drank my full thermos of tea as skip ate his sandwich. i had to search his bag for the "best cookies ever" when he attempted to pass off linda had not put any in. by the time we finished that he confessed that he was too tired to go down the east side again, climb back up, and then finish on the west side. it was only his second time out this season, so i put the clark trail on my to do later list and we took off to look into skiing the chute.

as we approached the top of the chute--formerly a secret little stash that very few people outside of us knew--i saw tracks, both snowshoe and ski, headed in. oh well, we were here, lets just go for it. we took the skins off for the last time, buckled up, clicked in, and dropped over the cornice. it was not the best, but there was enough snow to make it fun. we kept on finding more snow as we went and soon enough got onto the upper section of the ski/fire trail. i know this is a repeat, but it was sweet.

and it just got sweeter as we went. i was pretty surprised how much snow was available even tracked as it was. there were a couple of sections that nobody had tracked that were extra special. and the parts that were tracked, had plenty on the edges. we met back up at the summer parking lot where i told skip i would get down faster so i would set up for pictures at the gate. i was ready when i heard him call out and was able to snap three shots. the camera has a pretty slow recovery and i was too zoomed in for the last shot, but here they are...




it was a second grand day...not only were we out, the snow was up!




skiing both the east and west sides was tiring--even though we didn't rip down the clark trail. hitting the chair afterwards was sleep inducing for skippy. or maybe he was just trying to avoid shoveling the roofs. when linda got in from her ski around the woods beyond cardigan school, he woke up and we all had tea and another "b.c.e."...then went out and shoveled the roofs.

an adventure tour...

and back by dark! i will not hide the fact that it was very hard to motivate myself this am. after trying skip a couple of times--with no luck--to see if those un-skied lower sections of cardigan would tempt him, i decided it was too fast to solo it. where else? la salette kept coming up and i kept rejecting it feeling like i was 'overdoing' it. maybe the old road up up to the 'garage' on smarts or the old road off the AT this side of holts ledge? i finally just started getting geared up, that would force a decision.









at the last minute i changed out of the sorels and put on the garmonts--the decision was made, ski right out of the yard, go up over town hill, go northeast a bit to horseshoe pond, follow the outlet stream south, and head toward bear pond. on the map, our house would be just off to the left of "approximate..." town hill has a logging road up and over it that hooks up with hall road that got extended a few years ago. i kissed my love and left very close to the stroke of 1:00p. it was a fine feeling to be clicking on ski bindings rather than a seat belt; i always feel more relaxed not having to drive. as i pointed myself up over town hill, it was fairly obvious, the woods still would be fast.







about four inches of fluff covered that bombproof icy crust and promised some speedy descents. slippery was just under the surface but i was able to keep it there with the scales underfoot grabbing going up, rather than sliding back. as well as covering the crust, the fluff up in the trees was total winter wonderland-ish and i practically forgot i was skiing. gliding along, watching a bird flit over there, or a wind shake a snow load loose from the tippy-top of a tall pine over there, i topped over the height of land. the sudden speed with gravity now assisting, brought me back and i started turning in plenty of time to avoid the old truck at 'rest' mid-trail.

after the dead truck the pitch got steadily greater and was slippery enough to launch off a few rocks. the steepest section held a few more rock jumps, but only one infiltrated my concentration on trying to stay upright and on the trail. i managed that goal down to hall road and onto the old bear pond road where i started following a herd of footprints. the tracks were probably from the upper valley land trust hike "exploring the bear pond natural area". when they turned and headed across the marshy area at the low point in the road, i got interested figuring they were headed toward bear pond--exactly where i was hoping to go.

across the marsh and over the beaver dam on the south end of horseshoe pond, i was still excited but had some questions about the path these folks were taking. their trail was squirreling around in the woods and tending left, so when i had a clear line toward the pond i slid right. after an aborted attempt to forge my own path through the thick, snow laden, 10-12 foot balsam, i switched back and picked up the uvlt trail again--hoping once more their end point would be the pond by some route one of the leaders knew better than i. for a brief, fairly clear distance, that hope stood. after i had to take off the skis to make it up a steep section, thick with brush, then more circuitous bush whacking at the top, that wish fell face first into the snow. they were clearly not headed toward the pond.

leaving their twisted trail, was one thing, blazing my own more pleasant one was a whole 'nother. i managed to descend the hill i had to boot up headed more toward the pond now. it was not all free and clear but it was doable keeping to a fairly high traverse, as opposed to pointing things straight down. after reaching the bottom though, i had to stop and switch sweater for jacket with a hood, prepping for going back into the thick balsam. for extra ammunition, i downed some water and had a couple bites of chocolate before diving in.

after about a half hour of whacking, ducking, and constantly searching for bits of less dense sky lines, i worked my way onto some higher ground and was actually able to stride a few ski lengths before dodging some obstacle. i passed several trees with flagging tape and wondered if my friendly ornithologist lenny had been up here mist netting and tagging warblers. (look at posts 5/20/16 and 5/28/16 for some info on len and his canada warbler activities.) continuing ever pondward, i ran across a fairly fresh deer trail that seemed to be following some sort of direct line. i took that as a hint and was rewarded with said line turning into a clear trail headed right where i wanted to go.

it is hard for me to judge skiing distance when i am deep in the woods, but after about a half mile of really pleasant skiing i hooked back up with the uvlt tracks, right at the bottom of that hill i had to boot up. from the map, i took the trail i was just on, to be the sweet water trail. i retraced our original tracks back to a woods road between horseshoe and bear pond and turned south again. about a half mile later, i went over what i took to be a brook feeding bear pond, probably about a 30 minute heavy bushwhack away. i opted to keep skiing out to hall road as it was getting late and i would just make it home by dark if i avoided any more detours.

that being decided, after climbing the last bit of steep that connected with hall road, i couldn't help but ski down and link a dozen turns together. it was worth the climb back up. when i got back to the steep part coming off of town hill--the one that took some concentration zipping down earlier--i didn't take that option and just continued on up past the truck and over to our side of the hill. as i came over the height of land, i let gravity pull me aiming for all the rock launches i remembered. through the s-curves it got fast enough to keep my attention. it steadied out until one final pitch just before our stark hill road.

it was not yet pitch dark as i skied up the drive, but pam had the light on and her snowshoes were back on the porch, so i figured she was inside. sure enough, she was, and she had a hot pot of tea to boot! life was good--especially considering it was forecasted to snow somewhere in the neighborhood of a foot sunday into monday. if that were the case, i bet i could get skip up a mountain, sooner than later.

chasing the 'snow moon'

once a month, the moon rises close to the same time the sun sets. give or take a day from the the full moon, MOC hikes up cardigan for the view. the winter is always the trickiest as we have to start hiking close enough to 3:00p--right when school gets out--that very few students, if any, ever show. maybe the cold keeps them away too, but i like to think it is just scheduling.

my schedule was sort of cramped today, friday, as well. i got off the chiropractor's table shortly after 2:00p and drove home to prep a winter pack. i left the house at 3:15p to be up to the winter parking lot for the 3:45p start hiking time. as i drove out the drive i thought, maybe i should have brought a sled, or even skis, but then, if kids showed up, i wouldn't be likely to use them. that and i assumed there still wasn't enough snow to make the descent anything less than fast and furious.

i had skied a quick loop at la salette on thursday's snow day with matt--who did a desperate solo, early morning up and down tecumsah under very icy conditions before any snow built up--and he had asked about the moonrise-sunset hike. maybe i should have called him and suggested skis, but cardigan is much tighter than la salette and i figured it would be super slick, so i didn't. matt wasn't there at 3:45p nor was anybody else, so i started up alone, following two skiers' tracks, skinning up, and cutting turns coming down. at the looks of things then, i cursed my leaving all sliding equipment at home.

by the summer parking lot i had stopped cursing and started contemplating coming back in the morning with skis. whoever had gone up before me today, had pretty much retraced their tracks coming down the hiking trail. this left the ski trail unmarked. when i passed the bottom of the second ski section, it too, was unmarked. the upper section was un-skied as well, but now that i had seen the conditions, i started to think it might be worth waiting for a bit more coverage. four inches of fluff on top of that ice layer meant faster than a speeding bullet. of course on the weekend, all kinds of people could be out in the woods tracking things up.

i was weighing all the possibilities, factoring in the forecasted snow, a bit of fluff tomorrow and another possible storm on sunday into monday, when my feet slipped back and i found myself in plank position. my hands were getting cold and wet so i slid back to a spot where i could kneel and then sit. i took out my creepers right there and 'spiked up'! this was just at tree line and as i got back up and started, even micro-spikes made for sketchy walking. now, instead of skis or a sled, i was thinking full fledged crampons and a walking ice axe would be the ticket.

with a bit of carful route planning--staying to the spotty ice on rock where the sun had deteriorated it enough for my spikes to grip it--i made it up to the top just as the full 'snow moon' was coming up. besides being full there was a partial eclipse and a comet due tonight. while i probably would miss that, according to my time clock, in six minutes, the sun would be setting. because of a substantial cloud bank i was going to miss that too. i took this shot anyway hoping something would show up on the image and maybe even look as beautiful as it did to me in real time.

beautiful or not, i took one more picture of the moon, brighter now as it rose out of the horizon mist, put the camera away and bundled up for the cold and wind on the bare upper part. picking my way down the 'good' rotten ice that held my creepers, i went through a couple of drifts, one almost waist deep. the prevailing winds had packed and sculpted them into long lines running northwest to southeast. as i dipped into the low trees the wind was much reduced and i could unzip my jacket. snow replaced ice, and i picked up the pace to match the more sure footing.

solid footing was good as it was getting darker amonst the trees. i stayed on the hiking trail just in case i decided to try skiing in the morning. soon enough i was below the waterfall, then past the south ridge-west ridge junction sign. as i dropped toward the creek crossing, a dark form approached and said, "hey!" it was adam, a MOC graduate back in the day--one of owen's best buddies--snowshoeing up with sled in hand and head lamps, "three of them" in pack. we chatted about life and such for a bit and continued in opposite directions. as i went, it occured to me, if i had a sled i could have gone back up with him. at the least, i should have taken his picture to post. regretting both failures, it crossed my mind that maybe he would take a selfie and i could snag it.

i got down to the truck and motored home happy with the outing. as i came around the last curve to our drive, an extra car in front of pam's and one across the road in the extra parking made me even happier--it was both sawyer and sadie. i parked across the road and walked in at the same time soy was coming out with his skis and boots. he was headed south and wanted to be prepared for the forecasted snow. sadie i assumed was staying for dinner, so i got at preparing the crust for friday, pizza night. while i built the pie, sadie whooped, "papa adam just posted a selfie!" my day was complete!



go outside and play!

highs and lows...

last wednesday sawyer took me along with him for a hike he and colin had planned. colin and eliza are having a house built over on 4A between mcdanials marsh and aaron ledge.

we were going to hike west to the marsh--the low point on the left side of the picture above--then back to the house site, cross 4A, and head up to aaron ledge--the high point, those tiny blue spots to the east in the upper right.


tuesday evening, it had snowed a couple of fluffy inches and made the world winter-beautiful. we got out to 4A and the new frame sheathed in plywood. colin showed us around as the crew ate muffins and drank coffee--their morning break just delivered by eliza's father, mike, a local house builder-mover. the rafters were not up yet, but we got a good sense of the floor plan and could look out the 'windows' to visualize things. to the south outside the bedroom there was a frozen brook winding by which promised some lovely bubbling once it thawed come spring. i put a mark on the google shot about where the house is being built, left of the large plowed land. the former owner had grown corn there. the site was very pleasant, and colin's excitement was obvious.



we were also excited about the hike too so we shouldered our packs and headed out towards the marsh.  as we wandered up the drive, mike invited us to stop in at his shop when we were going by towards aaron ledge. as we turned down an old woods road, the snow got a bit less crusty under the fresh inches on top. it made for good walking. colin had scoped things out pretty well, both on foot and virtually on google maps. he hiked us right to the feeder stream coming in from the southeast (toward the bottom right on the picture below). we found a spot to cross at an old beaver dam and picked our way over. nobody got wet feet.



the plan was to stay dry and make a clockwise loop coming back to the stream and walking onto the open marsh. we dipped in and out of the woods, marshy openings, and isolated little hollows, some with frozen 'ponds', some dry. at one point soy and i put on our creepers before heading down a slippery slope. with a bit of bushwhacking through balsam loaded with fresh snow--poised to dump down the back of your neck--we met up with the stream again and followed it toward the marsh. an otter had the same idea and alternating foot prints and belly slides led us on. i had found an old topo map and we figured to come out right at the long-ish island where the stream enters the main body of water. that seemed to work.



once we stepped out onto the ice, we were able to take stock, match up the map with the surroundings, and point ourselves back along the shoreline until we found another water entry. the picture above is oriented north at the top, which meant we walked northeast-ish past the two large copses of trees and then cut back toward the stream. once we got past that point of trees sticking out into the marsh grass, we angled through the woods and rejoined the trail we started on.

as we came out into the field next to colin's house site, we found a downed tree, brushed off space to sit, and ate a spot of lunch. the sun came out warming our backs and casting our shadows down in front of us. after lunch, we crossed 4A headed toward the ledges. we cut through a field and hooked up with shad hill road. another short cut over a snowmobile trail and we found the road again along with mike's shop. outside, the giant house moving wheel sets and i-beams were impressive. inside, amidst the usual jumble of everything but the kitchen sink, was a horse drawn sleigh project mike was finishing. as we left we picked up woody the "handsome" dog who bolted from the cab of mike's truck where he had been waiting for us.

woody tore off in front of us as we kept on back the road, now called carter brook rd. we passed by mike and nancy's house, and one other year rounder before the plowing ended and the woods closed in. snowmobiles used the track, but none had been over it recently. as we came to a turn, i pointed off road and asked, "shall we?" without giving anybody much time to say no, i took off into the woods on a more direct line toward the top. as we went up, woody bounding ahead, i took note of the glade like terrain and fairly deep snow coverage. with a foot of fluff on top, this would be a sweet ski. in the moment, the hiking was just as good as the crust kept you up, but allowed for some traction.

we worked our way up and through some fresh logging (you can see a road scar to the left on the google picture) and came out on the ledges through some thicker softwoods. before getting too close, colin put woody on a lead to keep him from skittering over an edge.



















the picture colin snapped, is us standing on summit ledges (the rock with a white stripe toward the top right of the google image). i am looking pretty much east, sawyer and woody are mostly north. all the tracks were ours, made as we snacked and looked about.

after our snack and some water, we turned around and let woody loose so he could lead back along our footprints. on the way down woody and i got in a good amount of stick time, each of us running flat out for short bits, letting gravity work us until we had to stop and regain some control. it was a much faster down than it had been up and in no time we were back on the snowmobile trail. as we were coming on to the plowed road, we met the last house owner walking his two dogs. while we talked with him, woody chased about and wrestled with the dogs.

back on the road we came up to mike and nancy's and dropped off woody with nancy who came out to say hi before she went to water the horses. we backtracked on our shortcuts and came to 4A and the house site. at the cars we hugged goodbyes and turned toward home. it was a grand day out and i was thankful for the 'boys' letting me tag along. now, if we just got some snow, i would come back and test out some of those trails. 

community service...

helping the shaker museum with a relatively snowless snowshoe festival. i have been working with the enfield shaker museum doing a winter festival for years now. the last five or so, we have called it the snowshoe festival, encouraging people to come out and tromp about the lower shaker wildlife management area trails. back when we started with a winter celebration, i did some trail work for the event and have been the go-to trail guy ever since.




i had great hope for snow on the trails this year, skiing them--three times, each with increasing coverage--before the new year. on the last day of the year, three of us set some good tracks pretty much anywhere we wanted, woods or trails. i actually told my buddies, "at least this year we'll have some snow!" but then we got a couple 'wintry mix' events, a bunch of rain, some days of warm weather, and deep coverage was not to be. in fact, i felt pretty lucky with the scant amount we have left.




regardless of the sketchy coverage, i started flagging the three trails we mark, a few weekends before the event. pam went with on the first go out round the blue loop. she noted that she was very thankful to have her micro-spikes on. i went back alone the next day and put out the green tape. i ended up cutting a few blowdowns out of the trail as well. then last friday, i brought over the high school loner snowshoes, and finished the yellow trail, all the while wondering if many people would venture out given such icy conditions.



early saturday morning, i headed over to do one more loop around to leave a few footprints for people to follow. when i came back down to the start at the stone mill, where they had set up the loner snowshoes, i found olivia and amy, NHS students volunteering for the day. both of them are also active in the MOC and i was pleased to see them. while amy stayed at the mill to help with the snowshoes, olivia and i went back out to loop the green trail--the only one i hadn't done in the past week. at the height of land, just before the 'potato field', we ran into a large ash that had been leaning over for years, but now was on the ground. we worked at clearing that for quite a while, as it was over 12 inches in diameter, and heavy.

we got to the blue-green junction and met up with harrison, another trail guide, and chatted a bit. we took off after a large group of shoe-rs went by. i wanted to be sure of a fairly messy stream crossing before they got there. we got to the crossing ahead of the group and cleaned up the large beech that obstructed the easiest way over the stream. after directing a few other groups, some going one direction, some the other, we took off toward the yellow-blue junction at the top of the upper hay field.

at that junction, we stopped for a while directing people coming and going. it got to be after noon, so we decided to head down to the great stone dwelling where they had a lunch set up. as we were passing a connection into the hayfield i crossed over to help a group of about a dozen micro-spikers, shoe-rs, and plain ol' booters. turns out it was joe's family gathering with three of the denzer kids. i see owen at this event every year, sometimes margaret. this year hannah was with. we stopped for a group shot of the old and new MOC members.

we got to talking so, that olivia finally escaped to go get some lunch. the rest of us slowly made our way down. at a tricky part in the trail, we met betsy--harrison's wife, fellow trail guide, and mother of meg who just happens to be one of hannah's good friends. it is a small world. (speaking of which, check out jan 28's post on coincidence.)

we finally made it down to lunch and kept chatting over chili and mac & cheese. the event was winding down as we split up and i went back out to pack up the loner snowshoes. as i pulled away from the mill headed down the icy drive, i wondered if next year we would have better snow.

on sunday morning, pam and i went back to the trails to meet betsy and harrison and sweep the trails, removing the flagging. new hampshire fish and game, who own most of the land the trails pass over, has asked us to take down the flagging each year. i am not real sure why this is a priority for them, but we get to use the trails, so i am happy to do it. we split up in a fashion to get it done fairly quickly with nobody having to walk the whole system. we met up again at the blue-green junction and walked the final half-mile back to the vehicles.

out the icy drive one last time, i wondered again about snow. i won't hold my breath for next year but, it would be nice to get a little this winter. the MOC deep freeze overnight olivia is helping me organize happens over february break, in just three weeks. i will let you know...