Quietman
Well-known member
Wanted to get this posted sooner but Webshots is pretty much non-functional at this point.
Decided to check out the snow and Tecumseh was the shortest drive that had reported snow. The Watterville site said 7" at 3,500' so didn't figure it would be too bad. Started at 9:45 with no snow. Shortly up the trail, about an inch or two. Nice easy ramble up to the stream and side trail to the ski run. About 3-4" at this point, nice views from the ski trail. From here on up, snow continued to increase as the trail got steeper. Lots of blow/snow downs with my skis knocking all kinds of snow down my back. One previous hiker postholed all the way to the top. I waited to put the snowshoes on at the junction with the Sosman trail. The last .3 miles was difficult snowshoeing through the postholes in 2-3 feet of snow. The top had limited but nice views, but the blue skies were gone, and a few flurries were in the air. Saw 2 other hikers at the Sosman junction on the way back. They were regretting leaving their snowshoes in their car. The Sosman to the top of Waterville was unbroken and covered with bent/downed trees. Lost the trail twice and was starting to think that I would have to hike back down the trail. Decided to follow a well traveled rabbit path through a blowdown and found the trail again. Thanks to the bunnies!! It took almost 1.5 hours to travel the .6 miles to the top of the ski area. Time for 1st tracks! Snow at the top was windblown and thin, better a little ways down. 6-10" of powder was nice. Had to walk the last 400 yards after skiing past a flock of Turkeys, and a fox. Sure was easier skiing down than hiking would have been!
Link to pics
Decided to check out the snow and Tecumseh was the shortest drive that had reported snow. The Watterville site said 7" at 3,500' so didn't figure it would be too bad. Started at 9:45 with no snow. Shortly up the trail, about an inch or two. Nice easy ramble up to the stream and side trail to the ski run. About 3-4" at this point, nice views from the ski trail. From here on up, snow continued to increase as the trail got steeper. Lots of blow/snow downs with my skis knocking all kinds of snow down my back. One previous hiker postholed all the way to the top. I waited to put the snowshoes on at the junction with the Sosman trail. The last .3 miles was difficult snowshoeing through the postholes in 2-3 feet of snow. The top had limited but nice views, but the blue skies were gone, and a few flurries were in the air. Saw 2 other hikers at the Sosman junction on the way back. They were regretting leaving their snowshoes in their car. The Sosman to the top of Waterville was unbroken and covered with bent/downed trees. Lost the trail twice and was starting to think that I would have to hike back down the trail. Decided to follow a well traveled rabbit path through a blowdown and found the trail again. Thanks to the bunnies!! It took almost 1.5 hours to travel the .6 miles to the top of the ski area. Time for 1st tracks! Snow at the top was windblown and thin, better a little ways down. 6-10" of powder was nice. Had to walk the last 400 yards after skiing past a flock of Turkeys, and a fox. Sure was easier skiing down than hiking would have been!
Link to pics
I just realized, the wild turkeys on the ski slope probably claimed 1st tracks! Darn, foiled again.
