the storm delivers...

we got more than a foot! it started snowing tuesday around 6:00a and got going good and steady before noon. i had been checking to see if lyme had canceled school--mascoma and the other upper valley sau's had all done so monday evening. evidently lyme was the lone one open and if i wanted a partner, i would have to wait. surprise, surprise, skip called around 1:00p as they shut down early and sent everybody home. we arranged to try out the shaker backcountry over at la salette. i promised i would be ready when he swung by to pick me up.

we got our gear on and were skiing away from the car sometime around 3-ish. it was still snowing pretty hard, but didn't seem to be all that deep as we went up the big hill. near the top of the lower hayfield, we caught up to another guy on tele skis and coaxed him into following us into the woods. at the height of land above the upper hayfield he turned back and left us for what we all expected to be a sweet run, through the woods, back to the fields, and down.

we had our own downhill through the woods and back to the trail where we would turn again and keep heading higher, making the big loop. it came back to another trail through a narrow path that in the right snow was a bunch of fun. it was almost, the right snow, and if i had my fast skis i am sure it would have been even more fun. but with scales on our ski bottoms, we didn't have to stop and put on skins. for that 'luxury' i was willing to put up with a little slowness though the increasingly deeper snow.

at the end of the narrow woods path, we made our next big turn, without skins, and climbed toward the potato field. from there we pointed our tips down the trail we call the little sherburne. i can't speak for skip, but i didn't stop until after i emerged back on the trail from taking a little chute i cut years ago and rarely ski. today there was plenty of snow and squeezing through the trees was exciting. when i popped back out and hockey stopped to watch for skip i skidded about six feet--under the snow on the trail it was solid ice from the melt down in feb.

skip didn't appear for a bit but when he did he was a bit snowy. he said something about a yard sale up above and i figured he found some ice too. seeing my tracks exiting the woods made him easy to convince to go back up above the entrance and try it for himself. i warned him there were a couple of tight squeezes and heard him woop it up as he went through.

we met again at the bottom of things and headed back to the car, fully satisfied with the conditions back to full winter. i was planning for the next day already, and skip was wishing he had taken wednesday off as well as thursday--when he had arranged to ski with his brother richard. a bit jealous but ever the dedicated teacher, he encouraged me to go north wednesday and he could work on convincing richard to go back there with both of us on thursday. that sounded like a grand plan.

wednesday morning i woke to breaks of blue sky and excitedly geared up. as i decided about where i would actually go, i thought of calling matt m. as mascoma had an delayed opening. but i wanted to go big, probably moosilauke, and matt was a senior and would have to be back when school opened. i packed the truck up, and headed out alone.



when i turned off of 25 in warren, i saw this highway sign and promised myself i would stop on the way home to get a picture. going by it in december with simon, we had forgotten both ways. actually, it had been dark on the way home.


i got to breezy point road accessing the carriage road up moosilauke and turned in with a big smile. after passing the last house, i saw two vehicles parked off to the side where the plow had stopped--and banked them in. a young guy was shoveling out, already done with his tour and headed to work. he mentioned nasty weather up high, still snowing and blowing hard up on the summit ridge, where he had turned around.


i booted up, clicked into my skis, and started skinning. the guy leaving mentioned that two others from the upper valley and dartmouth were up there. that made me feel ok about being solo. my current winter's bid to ski the new hampshire 4000 footers was barely off the ground, partly due to lack of partners. if simon or noah were here--so far they have been the ones to ski a 4000 footer with me--i would probably be ticking off some of the remaining 45 peaks left to bag. i was here on moosilauke, my 'home' peak of the 48 big ones, because i have skied it dozens of times--curiously, only twice up to and down from the summit. that was comfortable, i was willing to deal with little surprises, they can even be pleasing. big surprises though could turn into disastors, especially in winter. most of the other high peaks i never even hiked in winter, let alone try to ski--it was times like these my gram's words made sense, even to a risk taker, "better safe than sorry".

but today it was a beautiful. i was skiing through about a foot of fluff and it was still snowing. it was °15F, perfect for gaining a few thousand feet altitude over 5+ miles. i had a raisin bread pb&j w/ chedder in the pack--what more could a retired teacher ask for?

i was thinking about all this skinning up. at some point it struck me--maybe when the two dartmouth med students came down past--this was a young person's endeavor. not the being out in the snow covered woods on a beautiful day, the skiing up 5.5 miles to 4802 feet, turning around and skiing down--that was doable. it had more to do with the desire. or as billy put it "only kobus would think of doing something like ski the 4000 footers." i don't know about that, but the risk-o-meter likely gets turned way back when we get older. that and we are often tied to a job, or our health is less than optimal.

i kept going up, wondering if skip would ever retire or kevin would get his ankle fixed. but even those two long time adventure partners did not always share my tendency toward 'high risk.' i get that hesitation, some of these routes are sketchy at best on skies. and i do share some of their 'fair weather skier' preferences. in the here and now, as the trees grew shorter, the wind blew harder, and the snow went from deep and fluffy to packed and drifty, i contemplated that this might not be a summit day. but then a couple sets of tracks came onto the carriage road at the junction with snapper and i pushed higher.

as i got around 'windy corner' and the trail opened up below where it narrows again near the junction of glenn cliff, it was snowing and blowing harder. it was also cold enough to put my jacket back on even with the exertion of climbing. the tracks from off the snapper and those of the three dartmouth folks earlier were drifting over or already gone. my track was through about an inch of snow atop a stiff windpack. at the 'anti-snowmobile rocks', i decided to turn around, take off the skins, and head down to whoop it up back in the powder and trees. that seemed preferable to skiing at the edge of control up here on wind blown hardpack.

back down in the trees and cutting turns through the powder, i realized why i kept going into the backcountry, even if i was alone. my soft, sinuous path was nigh on sensual. i wouldn't always make it to the top, even the young people have sense enough to turn around at craziness.  if we do get to a summit fine, if not, i will take this side of heaven anyday. if i pitch it right, i may even convince a few old guys to join me--risk free...

cold is here--snow is coming...

it had been unusually warm the last of feb and the first of march. so warm, that much of the winter's snow disappeared and it felt like an early spring was on tap. in fact, syrup makers that had gotten their taps in early, had already gotten several strong runs and started boiling. friday and saturday things turned back to winter.



by sunday, it was solidly winter again, definitely cold with the wind pushing it well below zero on the charts--perfect time for a couple of hikes. the first was with some trails alliance folks around the webster wildlife management area just west of the high school in canaan. i heard through lenny that alice s. was leading a smallish group starting from the iron bridge over the indian river at the west end of 'the flats'. alice knows a ton about plant species and it would be fun to hear that.


i met alice and two others at the appointed time and we took off into the woods hoping to get out of the rather brutal wind. right after crossing rt 4 we stopped to cut out a couple blowdowns, then point out a few white oak saplings, and carefully inspect a hazelnut shrub. further in, we came up to a tree audibly groaning and visibly cracking, sounding and looking like it was about to fall any moment. it was rather comical that each of us took a different approach in getting past its 'widow making' zone.



past the hazard tree, we worked our way out into the grassy flood plain and stopped at the creek thatcomes out of crystal lake and then mud pond. it was open and running fairly high, keeping us from crossing, so we kept cutting east. as we went, we identified a couple of dogwoods, slippery and red-osier, and two roses, 'really bristly' shining rose and 'paired, down turning prickles' swamp rose.

pushed back into the woods we kept on, headed toward the cranberry bog, directly across the creek from my old environmental science 'forest watch' plots. we gingerly made our way across a 'mostly' frozen surface dotted with red berries. i broke one out of the ice and ate it to see if a whole winter had mellowed its tartness--i thought it had, the others were less convinced. in any case i told alice that i would try to come out and pick next fall.

on the far side of the bog, we crossed back over rt 4 and through a strip of woods to get onto the rail trail. as we hiked along toward our vehicles, we spotted a few more hazelnuts, mostly beaked, but at least one american--or so i was told. it was a good little walkabout, but the increasing cold and bitter wind hurried us toward said vehicles. i offered everyone to extend their time outside by joining the MOC on our monthly moonrise-sunset hike up cardigan, but nobody made any promises.

as i drove off toward cardigan and a second go, i was pretty sure those folks were headed home to warm up and was guessing that no students would be likely to leave a warm house to show for this hike. it was getting colder and the wind would certainly be howling up top. sure enough, nobody appeared even after waiting the normal five minutes. i took off solo and kept moving to stay warm. while i did slow down to take off jacket and gloves, my hat stayed on head or in my hand. above treeline, i raced along, not wanting to stop to put the jacket back on until i was out of the wind on the lee side of the tower up top.




at the top and out of the wind i bundled up. after a drink of 'icy cold' water, a picture of the setting sun behind what i took to be killington, and a windspeed check--a very steady 30-35mph--i started down. i was going to miss the moon topping the horizon, but so was everybody else as the huge cloud bank from the storm coming in early tuesday, would keep it hidden close to another hour. i was not going to wait for that.




all the way down i was stuck on daft punks, "harder, better, faster, stronger...work is never over" only messing with the words to include darker, colder, windy-er. the three syllables of the latter kept tripping me up, but i managed to stay on my feet. back at the truck i had just stowed my pack when it struck me, when i get to the house, pam would be gone headed off to israel. while waiting for the bus down in new london i imagined would be downright cold, she should find it a bit warmer next to the mediterranean in tel aviv or floating in the dead sea.

as the truck heater started to wake up, i remembered that storm coming in. warm can be nice, but i will take winter any day and if we got the foot or more of snow expected, i would feel snug as bug in a rug--whatever that means in this context.

climb local...

a run up cardigan on a frozen afternoon. after saturday's stormy weather, including a rain shower complete with thunder and a rainbow

pam and i were anxious to hike today, but then i heard her get on the phone with her friend rhonda. i wrote a note on the white board "i am headed up cardigan" and mouthed to her "do you want to come?" she shook her head ok, no, and smiled. rhonda was in israel and pam is planning to join her in a couple of weeks, so i am sure there were logistics to arrange.

i don't mind a solo hike and figured today would be a good day to get up cardigan as things would be mostly frozen, including the dirt roads getting up to the park. it never got above freezing today, that i saw, so i grabbed my go pack--some call it a 'bug out bag', there is even an 'bug out bag academy' dedicated to the art packing for survival--threw in the microspikes, a thermos of hot tea, jacket, and gloves and was out the door, just after 3:00p.

the road was indeed fairly solid, and the winter lot was almost empty. i put on my spikes, took off my sweater, and started up. at a water bar on the 2nd ski section, i played in the muck some to get things running off, out of the trail. there was still a fair amount of snow on the trails, but it was starting to go in the woods. i met a lone hiker coming down just above clifford bridge. he was bundled pretty tightly so i figured it was chilly up top in the wind.



the higher i got the windier it got. at turn-around-rock, i stopped and took off my spikes as the rock was fairly ice free. the wind suggested i put on a jacket, but i kept it stowed, deciding to keep going fast and put it on at the tower, loosing any extra heat from the hike.

that seemed to work well, as i made it without freezing. out of the wind, i stopped for a spot of tea and put the jacket on. before heading down, i snapped a picture then pulled up my hood and zipper for the first bit above treeline. i started out, walking sideways into the wind, whipping across the rock trying to blow my nose off.




it wasn't a race down, but after putting my spikes back on at 't-a-r', i didn't dilly dally. i passed a young guy going up and thought i heard a podcast playing from his backpack. i didn't recognize him as a local, but he seemed content with going up late enough to come down after dark-o'clock. when i got toward the lot, i spied his vehicle next to mine and tried guessing his plates--vermont. i smiled at the 'ski like a local' sticker on his window. it comes from the gear-X-change up in burlington and i have one--with the 'like a' cut out--on a water bottle (do you have that soy?).

as i was driving home, i thought about the conditions, or rather lack of them, for skiing. for me, i would rather slide up and down, than step, poke, crunch. it still being february, i have not given up hope for the winter...

steepness off the kancamagus...

while i have not given up totally, the 4000 footers is less of a priority, and more of a dream. still, with kevin and mariel here for one more day of skiing, i got out the maps and argued for a try at the osceolas up off the kancamagus highway. i had never been up there from the north side, but figured we could ski some of it and then switch to crampons when it got steep. we loaded everything and got out of the drive late, but the actual route on the trail was not that many miles, once we got up there and going.

since the 'kanc' is so close to the conways and hence brownfield me, kevin and mariel drove their vehicle and i drove mine, so we could split after the tour. we pulled into the usfs lot after noon and ran a chk on the trail conditions before paying the prkng fee--at least i needed to pay, kevin has a free senior pass that i have to wait until july to pick up. the two of them decided to hike only, leaving skis in the fit. they put on the micro-spikes, i booted up, and we all took off together. the hiking trail had a few interesting stream crossing in the first mile and a half, including single, maybe foot-wide log bridges. i managed not to fall off any of those or in to any open streams--i did need to take my skis once to stay dry.

the day was again, very warm for february and i was in a t-shirt with my bibs unzipped to air out the leg heat. mariel and kevin cuffed their pants to expose some leg or long underware. when we turned up toward east osceola, the trail steepened and i switched to shoes and crampons. as we crossed a marked ski trail for the greeley ponds, i thought that i would try that going out and maybe keep my 'dry' record intact. i would be much more tired after the summits and acknowledge the concept of 'if you are going to get hurt, it is often on the last run.'

in case i could possibly ski the mile over to mt osceola and then back to east osceola--scoring two 4000 footers seemed like a cool idea--i stapped skis and boots to pack and continued to carry them. at times that was a problem given the high snow levels making the tree branches that much closer and subject to catch my tips sticking up over my head. ducking under limbs got a bit tricky as the trail steepened, but at one point i looked up and caught site of the sun hitting the top of a ridge. having studied the map, i knew that point and thought, if i wasn't going to use these tree catchers to ski, i might as well stow them.

as i topped that ridge and broke into the sun, kevin and mariel were perched off to the side, enjoying a banana. when i joined them, i had a chance to scout out that mile from east to 'west' osceola. when kevin supplied the time, i dropped the pack, deciding to not ski across, and just turn around atop the east summit. after  my piece of that banana, a handful of trail mix, some water to drink, and a couple of pictures, i left everything but a jacket on the ridge and took off for the high point.

one of mariel and kevin--with banana:

and a silhouette of east osceola and mt osceola summits--with sticks:

we didn't stay too long at the top of east, but i did snap another picture looking out to the east at a spot free of trees. i remember kevin's comments about those trees being one reason some people choose "to live out in utah--maybe someday the forest service will come to their senses and clear cut all the peaks..." i was not going to take that bet, just thinking about the logistics of such an operation made me doubt it would ever happen. maybe fire could burn off the higher summits as it had in the 1800's on our local mt. cardigan. but even though that bald summit is beautiful now, i would not wish that destruction on anything.


we got back to our sunny lunch perch and broke out the rest of our sandwiches. as the sun edged toward the horizon, we stopped eating and started thinking about getting down--i think the expression was, "before things set up!" as we descended i got a bit fancy with my technique limiting tree-ski interaction. many pirouettes, dips, and tips later, i dropped the pack at that above mentioned ski trail. kevin and mariel went on as i removed shoes and crampons, switching back to boots and skis. going down, on the 'ski only' trail was slow-ish, but free of all the stream crossings, including those log bridges. when i popped out at the kanc, i was just a quarter mile west of the trailhead parking. by the time i took my skis off and started up the road, i saw mariel come out to the road and wave.

when i got there, they had a couple of oranges cut up on my tailgate. after redistributing any gear we had shared, a final snack, and some chatting, we shared a round of farewell hugs. kevin had invited me to turn their way, "it's only thirty miles to our house" but i went left back toward canaan and pam. i figured with only a stop for gas, i would make it home in time to cook us something for dinner. that in mind, and so as to not nod off on the way, i put in run the jewels latest album, cranked it up, and headed 'down the mtn'.

it was indeed a grand day out, and i felt lucky to have shared it with mariel and kevin. now, if this damn rain falling as i type, changes to snow, i will be able to give them a call and arrange another...

this week, more warm, less snow...

last week--the week that was winter (so far)--we got a couple of feet of the white fluffy and those of us who ski the backcountry, were very happy. this wednesday and thursday, kevin and mariel joined me in an attempt to enjoy what was left, though fast dwindling. wednesday around noon, their new little fit pulled into the mud pit now serving as our driveway. after a spot of lunch, we geared up and went in search of going down. the warm, sunny afternoon's goal was la salette, a little front- a lotta back-country.

we didn't bother with skins as we scaled up the main sledding hill, stripped down to t-shirts and wishing we were in shorts. a warm-up run there gave me small hope that the woods roads and trails would be any less sticky and slow. but, back up to the top of the upper hayfield, we went in hoping for something akin to fun.



on the first section of down in the woods, mariel and kevin got in enough linked turns to smile about. i took advantage of that to coax them up another route. tactfully avoiding the grabby snow sure to be in the much narrower, back woods--it gets a little tight in some of the steeper places--we went for the road up to the potato field. going uphill, even though it wasn't all that steep and much shadier in the woods, was hot work. in the field the snow seemed to change, getting a bit crustier--grabby in a new and different way.

after posing for a postcard photo op, we stopped for a snack break, with tea. i laid out the options for getting back to the car: less than a half-hour down the moderate pitch we just came up; a little less than that down a sustained, steeper section ahead; or up another twenty minutes and then down through what skip and i refer to 'loosely' as the glades. of course kevin asked "which do you suggest"--we headed to the sustained pitch on the old road.

up to this point, i hadn't buckled up my boots yet, or put on jacket and gloves, but now figured if that was going to ever be needed today, it would be here. we pulled off the trail and readied ourselves before shoving off. i followed the group and was psyched to see some sinuous tracks off in the fresh snow. i smiled at kevin as i passed and then gave a little friendly hop over the water bar mariel was stopped at. the snow actually seemed ok, especially where it wasn't packed out by snowshoes. it was slower than preferred, but i got in a solid run until i stopped at the last pitch to take some pictures of the other two cutting some fine turns. as i waited, i wondered if they would be as smily this run down as the last.

not quite as smily, and a bit of snowplowing mixed in with cutting turns, they caught up. i pointed out my favorite little side trail, the 'spine', and suggested they not follow me in as i was going to go at least part of it, to clean up some branches. when i cut back to the trail kevin was banking left, so i went right and again, the fresh untracked snow was not all that bad, considering. that last section has two of the bigger water bars which always provide a little lift making for a bit of a fancy finish asone hits the main trail at the bottom.

we finished by skiing out to the mill building where we had to de-ski to get across the footbridge. kevin showed me the bottoms of his skis where residue skin-glue had picked up a pattern of dirt. as he followed me across the bottom field, i showed him a long brown streak in the snow, wearing off the resi-'doo' some dog had left for my ski to pick up. the sun was down over the ridge by the time we got to the car and stowed our skis and boots. as we pulled out of the parking lot, we were talking more about the traditional shaker buildings vs the modern catholic ones than the great or not so great skiing. but, we weren't giving up totally, there was still thursday to ski--maybe up in the whites...