Great Brook Ski/Showshoe - March 15, 2017

SKI/SNOWSHOE REPORT

Wednesday 15 March 2017, XC Skiing & Snowshoeing at Great Brook Farm
XC Ski Leader:  Janet Miller
6.1 miles, 10:15 am start from Great Brook Farm Ski Touring Center, Carlisle, MA
Snowshoe Leaders:  Clyde Kessel and Mike Hanauer
2.8 miles, 10:15 am start from Great Brook Farm Ski Touring Center, Carlisle, MA

XC Skiers (7):  Janet, Alan Fierce, Chuck McWilliams, Marie Keutmann, Robyn Maislin, Russ Keene, and Susan Sabin.
Snowshoers (5):  Clyde, Mike, Adele Ferreira, Jack Mroczkowski, and Patrick Ward.

Seven WWs set out on the groomed cross country ski trails on the east side of Lowell Street at about the same time as the snowshoers.  The temperature was in the low 20s and the snow was somewhat crusty, so the trail grooming was somewhat rough in places, making for more challenging skiing.  Russ was skate-skiing and found that he could do that on the ungroomed areas of the fields, as he just stayed on top of the snow, which had a thin layer of powder over the crust.  We mostly skied the perimeter loop in a clockwise direction.  The Woodchuck Trail proved most difficult and several skiers fell there (some more than once).  Unfortunately, the frame of Chuck’s glasses broke when he fell, which meant that he was left with only one lens.  Without good depth perception, he opted to take a shortcut back to the Ski Center, where the rest of us met up with him after we returned.  Thanks to Russ for recording the route on RideWithGPS https://ridewithgps.com/trips/13409659?privacy_code=LS6zUnFwI2WmsNi5, which showed that we skied 6.1 miles and ascended/descended 332 ft.

XC Ski report by Janet Miller.

Five WWs set out on snowshoes about 15 minutes late, largely due to a traffic jam in Carlisle - two snow plows had collided and blocked Lowell Street for a short while.  The portion of the park that lies west of Lowell Street allows all forms of recreation without charge, so that is where we headed.  For the first part of the hike, we followed the snowshoe tracks someone else had left.  After that, it was the tracks of an early morning skier, as well as those of a deer which had clearly taken advantage of the skier’s tracks.  Most of us found that our snowshoes would sink into the snow - Adele, however, seemed to be a talented floater.

In the sun, it was quite warm, but in the woods, especially if you caught the wind, it was a bit chilly.  Finally, we came to virgin snow and were on our own navigation.  There were no blazes to be seen, so navigating was, occasionally, tricky.  There were a couple of times when we were bushwhacking off the trail, although it didn’t really make much difference.  Along the way we spotted a pileated woodpecker and a hawk which was harder to identify, since we could only see its white underside.

Here is our route:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/13413686

Snowshoe report by Clyde Kessel and Mike Hanauer.