Participants: Laurie Wunder, Tom Meredith, Ken Gordon, Gary Cole, Brent Elwell, Ron Chase, TC: Kenny DeCoster
Living in southern Maine doesn’t give me a clear picture of how the snow is behaving up north. I hear meteorologists constantly talk about flurries in the mountains, but how does that translate into track quality? Ken Gordon assured me that the snow would be perfect. So 7 chowderheads braved the forecasted -“frigid” temperatures – on Saturday morning and socially distanced in the state park’s parking lot under sunny skies and light wind – a regular winter day. On the trail, we quickly shed layers climbing the back of Center Hill. The persistent cold had preserved the snow over the last weeks and the skiing was excellent.
I was surprised that we were the first group to break trail to the top of Hedgehog Hill. The reward was a glorious sun-bathed view of Webb Lake, Tumbledown, and Jackson Mountains. After lunch, we each picked our own way down the hillside leaving it cobwebbed with ski trails crisscrossing between the trees. I haven’t learned to switch from gloves to mittens after stopping for lunch, and my hands froze on the long downhill stretch off of Hedgehog. From the bridge over Houghton Brook, we saw otter tracks in the snow and an access hole in the ice. A rare treat. We met more skiers this year and had to watch out for snowmobilers at trail crossings for the first time since I’ve started leading these trips.
We introduced Tom and Laurie to the 10-mile loop trail. And even though some of us had to work to keep up, nobody took a wrong turn or got left behind. It’s tricky to plan XC skiing when the winter schedule is posted so far in advance. But I got lucky. As Brent said at trail’s end, “Best snow conditions ever.” Lucky Ron has more snow on the way for his trip next weekend. Stay tuned.
