Estabrook Woods Hike - February 25, 2015

Hike Report, Estabrook Woods, February 25.

Attending: Gardner Gray, Mike Hanauer, Marie Keutmann, Andrew Lewis, Jack Mroczkowski, Sander Nydick, Ilkka Suvanto, Richard Vignoni, Roy Westerberg.

Nine people took their chances with the weather and trail conditions; both turned out good. We were fortunate that a set of hard packed snow trails had already been laid down for us in the preceding few days.  This made hiking boots with traction devices perfect.  However, some of the lesser ad hoc trails did not coincide with the known un blazed trails that can be clearly seen when there is no snow on the ground.  So for a while the leader was a little confused by which direction to take at unexpected intersections. Fortunately, no one seemed to panic and we were soon on known territory. Someone in the group did briefly test a short cut through the snow and immediately regretted as he sank in the snow almost to his waist. Most hikers returned to the Trails End for a nice lunch after about 4 miles of exercise. Photo: Courtesy of Jack Donohue who biked to the trailhead. 

Reported by Jack Mroczkowski

Lincoln Ski and Snowshoe - February 18, 2015

SKI REPORT Wednesday, February 18, 2015,  Lincoln Ski and Snowshoe Ski Leader:  Marie Keutmann 7 miles, 10:00 am start from St. Anne’s parking lot, Route 126 Skiers (14):  Marie, Winnie Parker, Ilkka Suvanto, Tony Lee, Margie Lee, Peggy Gelin, Elizabeth Wicks, Dick Ivers, Janet Miller, Bill Haynes, Dave Slade, Richard Vignoni, George Stromberg, Pat Ward Snowshoe Leader:  Susan Sabin Snowshoers (2):  Susan Sabin and Don Mannes Present at lunch (3):  Edie Baxter, Jacque Smith and Joan Laxson With amazing snow conditions and beautiful weather,  14 skiers and 2 snowshoers turned up at St. Anne’s parking lot.  Perhaps anxious to hit the trail, more than half the group took off while I was still in the parking lot and before I could do a roll call and orientation talk.  After some confusion about who went where, we all eventually met up again on the trail behind Walden Pond.  From there we skied together to the water pumping station where several skiers fell on the challenging downhill.  The deep snow made for a soft landing but made it difficult to get up.  We skied along through the woods on the winding up and down trail along the Sudbury River.  We then skied out onto the frozen river up to the stone boathouse on Fairhaven Bay, where we rejoined the trail into the woods.  From there we skied up into Adams Woods on winding trails, crossed two snow covered roads (Old Concord Rd extensions), and then skied across large fields back to the parking lot.  Along the way the group again became spread out with a faster and slower group.  Unfortunately, this made it difficult to keep track of people and one skier got left behind and had to find his own way back in woods that were not familiar to him.  Meanwhile, Susan Sabin and Don Mannes snowshoed in the Mount Misery area for 21/2 hours, breaking trail the whole way and thoroughly enjoying themselves, and then meeting the group for lunch at Verrill Farm

Ski at Maudslay State Park, Newburyport. Feb 11, 2015

Ski at Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, Ma. Feb 11, 2015

Attendees (4):  Bob Anderson, Carol Anderson, Tony Lee, Margie Lee.

We got a late start to a fantastic day of skiing in Maudslay State Park, Newburyport.  The weather was perfect as were the snow conditions.  There was about 3 feet of powder in the woods.  Bob Anderson gave a running narrative of the history of Maudslay Park as we skied through virgin stands of white pine, acres of rhododendrons and mountain laurel, and along the shores of the Merrimac River.  Following our invigorating ski we convened at Panera Bread for a lovely lunch.  We plan to repeat this event next winter.

We apologize to anyone who did not make it to Newburyport who would have called but could not because we forgot to include a cell phone number in the announcement.

Submitted by:  Carol Anderson

Mt. Wachusett Hike Report - February 4, 2015

Mt. Wachusett Hike Report - February 4, 2015

Hiking/snowshoeing on Mt. Wachusett
Hike leader:  John Nilsson
10:00 AM start from Visitor Center, 345 Mountain Road, Princeton, MA
Hikers 6): John Nilsson, Clyde Kessel, Jack Mroczkowski, Janet Miller, Susan Sabin, Elizabeth Wicks.

We started from the Visitor Center  in excellent winter hiking conditions – very light flurries, 15 inches of new snow and temps in the low twenties.  We all were using snowshoes, and they were needed.  The first stretch of the trail was packed snow.  However, after the junction with the Pine Hill trail, the way was only trod by one bare-boot hiker.  For the rest of the way on the Loop trail we were breaking deep snow.  This called for care in footing and route finding using the (blue) blazes painted on the trees.  When we joined the Mountain House trail we were back on packed trail, and had that for the rest of the day.

At the summit we met up with a chilly west wind, and not much of a view.  The top of the lift was busy with skiers and who should appear but Sander Nydick.  The descent was uneventful, though some care was needed on the steeper sections.  We paused at the fantastic, world-famous Balance Rock before starting the final stretch. At the ski lodge we met up with some W.W. down-hillers for a relaxed lunch. The way from the ski lodge up to the visitor center is an easy leg – even for hikers burdened with their beer and lunch (unfortunately, the leader’s tank was on Empty).

report by John Nilsson