day three--"the best skiing ever!"

the day: january 19. partly sunny and warming up--somewhere in the twenties, probably. no wind down in the woods, but we could hear it howling up on the ridge. and i mean howling, every time we stopped moving, skip mentioned it, "oh wow, listen to that roar!" monday's wet snow is now dry and at least 6" deep on a solid base.

the adventure: we have been trying to ski all the local areas, one a day, in order of their likelihood of getting traffic. today was "secret sherbie" day. it's up off the wolfeboro road and highly unlikely to get skied. i have taken a few students up the main road to the south peak of moose mountain. so far skip, pam, and i are the only winter travelers on the sherbie. it's a 1/2 mile~ish from the height of land back down to the road, with two steeper parts divided by a flat~ish middle.

the memories: as skip says, it was "the best skiing ever!" the sun popping in and out didn't affect snow conditions, but our smiles improved the brighter it was.

it looks like a totally different day when the sun is shining. as we were about to take a second run, skip snapped another picture of an extra happy skier. my camera battery was dead.

notes: great coverage

• charge up a new camera battery
• we need one more storm to cover the rock i tried launching off
• skip highly recommends skiing down low in the woods when it's super windy up high

go outside and play!

day two--the snow is fluffing out and everybody is happy

the day: january 18. it was considerably colder today, somewhere in the teens--my thermometer had frozen. the untracked snow had dried out overnight and almost fluffy except where tracked or under the hemlocks and pines. yesterday's piles up on the branches had obviously melted in the above freezing temps and then froze up solid when things turned colder.

the adventure: today, skip picked me up and we headed over to the shaker wildlife management area. on the way up the main trail, all that nice dry fluffy snow led us to choose the glades. that's '1st left' for those interested. we skin up '2nd left', the 'little sherbie', or '3rd left', the longest and least steep, and then cut off to lost pond before taking off skins and pointing things downhill.

the memories: the snow was indeed heavenly, except for the practically hard-plate under the needled  trees. i will remember a bunch of sweet turns. i will also remember that the bottom section of the glades has more blowdowns than carter has pills. the nicest thing though, besides getting around the mess, was meeting up with sue. i had forgotten my boots--yeah, my ski boots--and after going back to get them we had just geared up when sue pulled in. we convinced her to join us--risk free.

bonus: she had her phone/camera with her and we snapped a picture up on the ice of lost pond.

notes: snow was east coast 'perfect powder'...with plenty of coverage.

• don't forget your ski boots
• remember a camera
• ski with friends who have great memories & cheery smiles

go outside and play!

day one--cardigan has full coverage

the day: january 17. the temperature was rising into the 30s. i was shoveling 8-10" of heavy snow. it was supposed to rain at the tail end of the storm, but so far that was not happening--and if we were lucky it wouldn't.

the adventure: i picked up skip and we headed over to cardigan, put boots and skis on, took jackets, hats, and gloves off, at least i did, and started up around 3~ish. at the summer parking we met adam and two of his buddies already coming down. they had topped early enough to hit the alexandria ski trail on the amc east side and were now back on the west side, almost to the winter parking. we went up to the slab on the hurricane cutoff and turned there.

the memories: the skiing was much faster than the earlier clumping had led us to believe. we had stopped to wax a bit. turned out the higher on the mtn. the colder the snow and slipperier--slippery enough we put skins on. amazingly, as we started down, we passed four skiers still going up. skip was going too fast to stop, but i heard them say "it's koby" so i fell over and chatted for a bit. when we got back at the truck it was getting dark enough we both mentioned, "i hope they have headlamps."

notes: snow covered just about everything, now, and as long as we don't get a huge thaw and lots of rain, the rest of winter should be very skiable.

• paraffin wax really helps with glide
• remember to carry your skins incase you overdo the paraffin wax
• carry a headlamp or two, just to be safe

go outside and play!

bushwhacking with skip

the day: january 14 started in the 20s, but a stronger and stronger wind was clearing out the clouds and bringing in colder and colder temps. the sun was mostly out, but wasn't warming things up. by the time i got home, it was 21°F and the proverbial "hawk was flying!"

the adventure: i recruited skip to walk the connection from the AT on the goose pond road side to our new ski trail, the "secret sherbie", on the wolfeboro road side. i had done it a month back, but was anxious to go again, this time with a map & compass and a bushwhacking pro. we were after finding a fairly repeatable path, possibly even skiable.

the memories: as soon as we left the well tracked AT, the snow got deeper, but not so much that we needed snowshoes. two fairly thick rainy crusts kept us from sinking so much as to make hiking miserable. i saw a cool rock with a blanket of moss and fern spilling out under the snow. if you've ever dug snow pits, you will pick up on the two crusts in the layers.

soon after we met the north end of the old road, we hit the top of the "little sherbie". it was skip's favorite time, "snack o-clock".

notes: it's always nice to have a friend along on a day out in the woods. 

• there is a big logging operation going on in the private land sections.
• a snow storm is predicted for monday--that won't be enough to ski in the woods, but the "little sherbie" will be primo.

go outside and play!

over the river and through the woods

the day: january 13. one of those not too warm, not too cold days, not that windy either, and not at all sunny. all in all, a very 'not-able' day.

the adventure: given the sub zeros we had at the beginning of the week, my guess was the river was now frozen enough to get across. i hadn't yet walked that way to work this school year--it was time to give it a try. going the backway, makes my commute about a mile and a half, with the majority off road. tricky part is always getting on and off the river, especially when things freeze up at high water and later lower. the drop leaves a sliding board along the edges.

the memories: from freeze up to when i crossed, 2-3 inch thick ice had fallen nearly three feet. that left a good size strip of slushy water over large broken chunks at the bottom of the slide getting onto the ice. getting off was just a snowy slide, but stomping on the ramp for traction going up the bank, i broke through to the river. 

notes: it was fun to be able to take the winter path again and avoid rt 4.

• i was not the only life walking on the ice. most likely the other tracks going up and down the river were coyote.
• in the woodsy section, i cleared a couple of minor blowdowns by hand--no saw was needed.
• retracing my steps home, i noticed a lot of other tracks had followed mine--only not across the ice.

go outside and play!