Cross Country Skiing

The Woods in my backyard are lovely, dark and deep but especially so with a frosting of new snow. We got 6 new inches this weekend. I can slide on my skiis and be deep into the pines in a matter of minutes with the falling snow kissing my cheeks like a lover. OK, maybe not that dramatic, but fun anyways.

Shussing up the trail is like a rhythmic whisper that soothes the soul - I become one with the black and white landscape. I never understood the kick and glide descriptors of cross country skiing - it feels more like skating with extra long skates. When I go downhill it's a thrilling glide with the added adventure of avoiding brambles on the way down. I love it... When I go off the trail I just bushwack my way through the trees and blaze a new way to get through.
Sometimes living in New Hampshire is worth the high property taxes and low pay. :)

Pawtuckaway

November 09
Patti and Pessario and Jane and Sparky and I all went out for a hike up North Mountain at Pawtuckaway in Deerfield, NH. Having hiked up South Mountain at least 5 or 10 times, this would be a welcome change for all of us. It was a brisk, blue-eyed day with lots of fallen leaves crunching underfoot. The leaves obliterated the path many times and the white dots were also hard to find at times (the park really needs to re-paint these) but our trusty Jane (part elk-hound) somehow kept us on track every time.

We parked at #12, a left pull-over on Reservation Road, which is itself is a hard to see right off Route 107 a bit west of Raymond. Walking straight from the parking area (you can download a map from the Pawtuckaway web site or get one from the park office on Mountain Road) we followed the white dot trail toward North Mountain. At a T intersection the footpath again goes straight and straight up to the top of the ridge.

We crossed the ridge which is a long up and down for maybe 2 miles, but very beautiful. There were several vistas from which you could see the Fire Tower of South Mountain, and beyond. From there it seems our little area of the world is pretty much unpopulated! We never saw anyone during this section, but of course it was early Sunday morning. Again, the blazes on the trees were pretty far apart which would have been OK if it werent late fall and all the leaves concealed the trail. In any case, our Jane was very helpful in always finding the trail again when we were unsure.

At the far end of the Mountain sits a large green billboard-style monolith. We walked around it, but it had no markings whatsoever despite being very securely placed into cement foundations. It was at least 30 by 50 feet - a rectangle.

The climb down was pretty steep - and dark, creepy and a little scary. It reminded me of the Lord of the Rings as we climbed down the black, craggy cliffs. There was a gigantic granite wall, caves and at the bottom were boulders where we finally spied a few young people. They were practice climbing the boulders and had parked nearby. A brook ran through this area and it was much more open and pleasant.

Taking the right fork at the Boulder Field and a right on the subsequent dirt road brought us to a right trail called North Mountain Bypass which will then also fork. Continue to go right around a pond and this will eventually (about 2 miles) lead back to the intersection where we started. At the intersection take a left to get back to the parking area. In all we hiked about 6 - 7 miles. Of course I forgot my camera, but we will be back to explore the boulders and the cliffs at least once more.

(Photo is from Exeter - Jolly Rand Trail)