I have written before of the perils of being cross country skier in southern New England, land of the sloppy snow. You wait, you hope, the Nor'easter moves up the coast and 50 miles one way or the other in the storm track means 3 inches of wet concrete or 12 inches of fluff. For some reason over the last week and especially over the weekend the snow gods have been smiling. Ten days ago we got several inches on top of an established solid packed base of 3-4 inches, and then Saturday night we got dumped on w/ 6 inches, and kind of by surprise a late band of snow dumped another 5-6 inches Sunday night - all of it light and fluffy. Twelve inches of pow-dah on top of a solid base, on a three day weekend!
I had some things that needed to get done on Monday AM but a plan began forming in my head for an afternoon ski. I knew that for some reason the snow machines and ATV's had not been out in force in the woods on previous storms and the unexpected snow should continue the trend. A quick check of key locations on the way home from morning chores confirmed it, and the plan was hatched.
There is a combination of woods roads and rail trails that starts near my house and leads to the Goodwin State Forest. It is about a nine mile +/-trip. My darling wife was hooking up w/our buddy Beth to ski at Goodwin and could serve as a safety valve if I needed to bail. Indeed as I skied south, they would ski north helping break and pack trail for the last portion of my ski.
Thus the game was afoot. A ski I really have wanted to try for a while, magically coming together. It proved to be a long slog, pushing through soft unpacked trail for most of it. I am not in the shape I should be in to try such a long ski and my body is barking at me this morning. The north bound skiers proved to be my salvation as the last 3 miles was in their packed ski tracks just as the adventure was becoming a death march. It was hard, but so much fun. Miles of powder, unbroken except for deer tracks. Nobody around in the quiet stillness of the forest unmared except for the shoosh, shoosh, shoosh of the skis, my labored breathing, and the pounding of my heart in my chest.
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1 comment:
Steve, I am there with you in spirit! I just love the snow, the outdoors, breaking trail and the hard work and finally the accomplishment. Your post describes exactly what many of us experience. Thanks for letting me relive my Xcountry trips. I plan to Xcountry ski, or snowshoe into the Maine Trails and Huts again during our Feb. winter break, more posts I imagine.
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