skunked on moosilauke

the day: apr 9th. warm, headed toward 50°, brilliant sun in a clear blue sky with no wind. we saw plenty of snow, in spring condition, soft and easy to turn on, but none where we could actually ski it.

the adventure: moosilauke, the western face, dropping down toward tunnel brook. we were trying to get to the slide under the ridge leading up to the summit. 

the memories: according to the dictionary, "slog" can be a noun, "a spell of difficult, tiring work or travelling" or a verb, "to work hard over a period of time... exert oneself, keep at it, grind" i can attest to both. after taking our skis off for the 'hundredth time', shouldering them, and starting another march down the snowless trail, adam casually mentioned, "this is getting to be a real slog." or, after finally strapping the skis onto our packs and setting off once again, adam suggested, "let's slog on a bit more and try and get eyes on the slide."

add to that, "bushwhacking" a verb, meaning to travel by foot through uncleared terrain. once we left the trail angling up the ravine toward the slide, there was more than enough bush to whack our way through. not only were we on foot, going through uncleared terrain, the skis sticking up off our packs were whacking away as well.

the clearest path up the ravine toward the slide, followed the stream and included multiple crossings.  ski boots are fairly waterproof, but can be slippery, especially on "black ice" a noun, "a nearly transparent film of ice on a dark surface that is difficult to see" i only semi-slipped once and ended up stepping in above my boot tongue. it didn't soak my foot, but i could feel the wet.

at some point it all got to be too much, even dangerous, as we were starting to "posthole" a verb "to sink deeply into the snow with each step" often around "tree wells" a noun, "deep pockets of loose snow around evergreen or downed trees" so we turned back. having not even put on our skis, we were bummed--"skunked" slang verb, "being shut out or to be overwhelmingly defeated"

notwithstanding all of the above, "overwhelmingly defeated" is probably an overstatement. true we didn't get to ski, and rigid plastic boots are not made for walking--even less so with wet socks--but, it was a beautiful day to be out adventuring. 





notes:

• it was indeed a slog...
• bushwhacking got worse as we got higher...
• trying to avoid black ice takes attention...
• postholing into tree wells can be exhausting... 
• getting skunked is a bummer...
• even a poopy day outside playing is a good day!

go outside and play! 

backcountry with sawyer

the day: mar 31st. warm~ish, somewhere around 40°F, no sun or wind, but still plenty of snow in spring condition, soft and easy to turn on but fast.

the adventure: 'secret sherbie' over on moose mtn with my most favorite son, sawyer. 

the memories: i have been talking moose mtn up to soy for a while and despite his lack of skiing, he was game. the last time we skied backcountry--and his first and maybe only--was at least a half dozen years ago. but i was thinking, it's not too tight, snow is good, and a 'hockey stop' is always an option. after a practice run in the field at the bottom, we headed up. 

sawyer was impressed with the terrain, and the coverage. with the helmet he borrowed from pam, he was willing to go downhill. at some point i went past him and got to the flats where i slowed and stopped to wait. when he finally came down he showed me his thumb...

him: i hit a tree...

me: ouch! you really whacked it...

him: if i can move it like this, i probably didn't break it, did i...?

me: probably not. it's wicked hard to break your thumb...

notes:

• fathers can be wrong, you can move a broken thumb "like that", and still smile. thank you diane for the diagnosis!
• continued good coverage on the last day of march is something to smile about!
• skiing backcountry with sawyer, in team jackets no less, makes us both smile!

go outside and play!

spring conditions are here--and very enjoyable!

 the day: mar 21st and 26th. both days were warm~ish, right around 40°F, ~4.5°C for my canadian buddies tim and jane. tuesday, the first full day of spring--and sadie's birthday--was more sunny and less windy. the wicked soft snow was days old with the skis sinking three or four inches deep. sunday, was mostly cloudy and pretty windy, although in the woods that didn't matter. yesterday's three or four inches of snow was also wicked soft and at least going uphill, got a little clumpy underfoot. again, both days, there was ample slippage when pointed downhill.

the adventure: up town hill on tuesday and the 'secret sherbie' over on moose mtn on sunday. 

the memories: both days i tried to coax pam out on her new altai-hok skis and then on sunday, i called skip to see how his knee was feeling. nada: i skied solo both times. as i mentioned above, there was plenty of "slippage" going downhill. it was never furious but fast enough that you had to pay attention. turning ability both days was excellent though every once in a while, your edge would catch a solid bit of snow and throw you sideways.

sunday, i took several runs and a few pictures of playing the edges, scooting around trees and hucking some side rocks--with surprisingly good coverage considering the melt off last week. the stump jump was a good launch--much more speed than i had last week (you can see the old track) gave me much more air.

notes:

• good coverage in the end of march is something to smile about!
• 'corn' or 'sugar' snow makes me smile!
• skiing out in the woods at sunset will put a smile on your face.

go outside and play!

tromping through the woods on a frozen blanket--enjoying the sun, avoiding the wind

 the day: mar 19th. what a difference a day makes. i'm including last night in there. it's currently in the upper 20's but with a good stiff wind, it feels much cooler. the sun is out and melting last night's dusting of snow. yesterday's spring, 'sugar snow' is frozen solid.

the adventure: up and around the town hill loop, with an extension to check out to 'porcupine rock' at the top of the cliffs--from whence the 'porcupine trail' comes & goes.

the memories: wherever the wind managed to get through the trees to ground level, it felt chilly. much cooler than expected on a sunny day, in this warm~ish winter. the porcupine had been out at some point between tuesday (see pictures i put in the previous post) and now, leaving its tracks in the trail it keeps to. we also saw a number of trees with chewed bark in some of its upper branches.

notes:

• i took my jacket, hat and gloves off after heating up on the climb--pam left all her warmies on.
• snowshoes weren't really necessary for sinkage-- they were helpful preventing slippage.
• a couple of shelf or bracket fungi caught pam's eye.

go outside and play!

another couple-few weeks of playing in the ever increasing snows...

 the days: since i last posted on march 3rd - to today the 18th. we have had plenty of snow, the last storm on the 14th, dropping more than a foot at our house and more than two feet up high. i haven't kept track, but it's has definitely been both cold~ish and warm~ish, as in lots of fluffy, dry and or heavy, wet snow. the wind has also been up and down, but seems like a lot of up. same thing with clouds and sun...sometimes it's grey, sometimes it's blue.

the adventures: way too many to remember, but all the usual local ones...

the memories: skiing with dick over at swma in the morning and with pam out back on her 'loop' around noon. she is on her new skis and loving being able to "scoot right along!" at the end of the loop, we left some tracks down through the field.

        

up on moose mountain in some of that really deep stuff--dried out and fluffy after one of those cold~ish and windy nights.

on town hill, when the deep stuff was not too wet but plenty heavy, i stopped and took pictures of the porky trail where it crosses our ski trail--looking east and west. it hadn't been out plowing the fresh stuff yet.

    

over on cardigan after a big snow, blown about by lots of wind. the bad news: 'the chute' is now being used as a skin track, getting from orange up and over to alexandria. the good news: i still got first tracks coming over the cornice and then coming back down the west side ski trail. 

    

the pictures don't nearly do justice to how nice the skiing was. going down, i saw noah and simon going up. they sent me this picture from just past the bottom of the chute on the hurricane gap trail.

on one of those deep days, pam and i did the loop in snowshoes and i took a 'series' of the fun.

notes:

• sometimes you just have to ski through the trees...
• before getting to play in the snow, there is always plenty of shoveling...
• after playing in the snow, there is always plenty more shoveling...
• snow is wonderful, even when you have to shovel it...

go outside and play!