What'd you do in the snow on the last winter weekend ?

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It took me a half hour to chisel my way into the car after the ice storm, then over an hour to drive 25 miles, in 4WD with new snow tires down the slush and ice covered non-plowed main highway. At Disgusta (Augusta) I hit the backroads, which were next to impassable, so I decided to see what EMS had available. They had no trail runners in my size, but they called Portland and had them hold some for me that were. I jumped on I-295 and passed 2 accidents on the way to Portland, which was at a blistering 45 mph until I reached Brunswick, when it turned to rain.

I did score some Vasque Velocity trail runners really cheap and some Salomon GCS GTX runners also at a great bargain, so the day wasn't a total loss.

Sunday the rest of the world and I were out of sync, so I just did some messing around the house and avoided the public like the plague.
 
Sunday did a nice 10 mile loop on the Finger Lakes Trail. All fresh snow and no tracks. Only folks I saw was the family of four who took great joy watching my unplanned slide down the ice at Tinkers Falls. Broke through ice on last mile and iced up backles on shoes so much took 10 minutes to get them off. Sure will miss winter.
 
I worked a 32 hour work day :eek:, starting @ 12:15 AM, putting power back on for people. I was not in any condition to even think about heading out. This weekend I have a hockey tournament to referee so maybe in a couple of weeks I can get it together?????????
 
Friday: Left w*rk early to beat the storm and greet guests.

Saturday: Slept late, shovelled snow. Went to Bretton Woods mid-afternoon for a few runs. Fine mist freezing on goggles reduced visibility. Skiing is fun even if you can't see. Raised a toast at 4:20 with friends many miles away. Drank copious amounts of beer :p while being entertained by live music. It was a holiday after all.

Sunday: Hiked the Moose with Mad Townie and the gang.

Monday: Too sick to w*rk. Recuperated by taking a couple dozen downhill runs at Cannon.

When does winter start again :rolleyes:
 
Snowman and I both work on Saturday, so Sunday/Monday is our weekend :D

We spent it xc skiing--at the Pinelands in New Gloucester, Maine on Sunday and over at Bretton Woods on Monday. There was a bit of crust underneath a top layer of snow at the Pinelands, but it was great to get out. They really do have a nice system of trails over here. I don't know how long all the snow going to last, though... It's warm and things are melting fast on the coast of Maine today! Bretton Woods was groomed out nicely and we really enjoyed our ski there. Beautiful woods and great views of the Pressies.

Another good skiing weekend for us. No complaints here :)
 
Al and I decided to start our training for the Cascades trip this summer by carrying 60 lb packs up the OBP and camping up near the hut on Lafayette. It was a good test of our EMS Headwall tent in exposed and windy conditions. After setting up the tent and getting ourselves settled in we cooked dinner with the stove in the vestibule and watched the snow come down. After dinner we had some discussions with our friend Jack Daniels and then called it a night. In the morning we had breakfast and debated on if we should hike to the summit. Visibiliy was like looking into a milk carton so we just packed up our camp and started to hike back down the OBP. We passed by 17 hikers including MountainMagic and two dogs that were hiking up. After reading a report on the trail conditions page, I think we made the right decision to go down. It was a good way to spend the last weekend of winter. :)
 
A little music, a little sledding

It was a mixture of efforts. Friday night we (Loose Gravel) played a gig at the Old Goat in Richmond ME, to a small but spirited crowd as the storm outside raged. Saturday was supposed to be a Cabot, Bulge, Horn thang but we bailed after yet another weekend storm rolled into New England forcing many to alter their hiking plans. But when I got home at 12:30am there was a message from Hans saying that he was pulling the plug on that adventure. So Sunday at AndyW's suggestion, he and I hiked up Wildcat D and took a wicked sled run to the bottom.
I perfected my method several years ago on Sugarloaf after a trip over Abraham, Spaulding and Sugarloaf and was eager to employ this again. Strapping the pack to sled with top of pack forward and shoulder straps/hip belt upward, you sit on the pack sled combo and strap yourself in using the hip belt. You deploy your legs/feet in trimaran fashion use your ski pole, ice axe what have you in concert with your feet and body englais for steerage and voila! you are ready for action.
Goggles are a must!! picture
 
After having our Saturday AM flight cancelled,we managed to leave on Sunday for a week of kayak camping in Exuma (Bahamas)

We traded white snow for white sand! :D
 
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