Training Log Archive: jima

Trail run in the slush at RV Farm. Temps in the high 40s, so it was wet and sloppy. Footing was variable, glad I was wearing studs. Otherwise would have been on my backside several times.

Saw quite a few folks out there.

Was going to go for a ski/run/snowshoe, but had to work for a bit, then the sniffly nose I've had for the past few days turned into full blown cold symptoms, so took a 2 hour nap to help the aches and overall blah feeling subside a bit.

Opted for something slower today, although with a lot more climb.

Snow cover was OK - a few windblown spots up top. Hit a couple of patches that the sun had warmed, where my skis immediately iced up. Downhills were occasionally challenging - between vegetation and variable snow depth. No major wipeouts.

Hamlin Eames Forest in Meredith. Was going to snowshoe, but looked like only 5-6" at the parking lot, so not really worth the extra weight on my feet and the more awkward gait, so went bare-boot, but with gaiters. Backcountry skis would have been a good option, but didn't have them along.
A pleasant stroll, not much wind at all. A few tracks here and there. Had been a few folks out yesterday, but looked like I was the first today.

Skating at Gunstock. Did some drills back and forth on the lanes, then checked out the rest of Brook Run, then across the road.

Could stand to have a few more inches of cover - big cat tends to pull up grit and/or wood chips. Did catch one ski on a rock on a faster spot, almost threw me, but was able to recvover.

Most of the trails were groomed. Soft in many places, gritty also. Quite a few folks out.
Shouold have gone out earlier in the day - might have been colder, but no breeze. Glad I'd grabbed my ear muffs.

On about version 25.5 of the trail map - have been updating it yearly for the past few years for them - the previous version was an abomination - hand-drawn with very little relation to reality. This year, dropping all the trail numbers and associated legend - trying to fit the trail names on the map so they are legible. Also adding red striping to highlight the potentially gnarlier hills - in a non-threatening way. "Hey, you might want to be careful on this section, depending on snow conditions."

Challenging with numerous short connector trails, as well as the mishmash of trails that GNA has added on the N side of Cobble - how do you string together all the short sections end to end and give it one trail name? Or does it really matter?

With the blizzard starting to wind down, and the initial romping in the snow with my granddaughter done (who would think an almost 4 year old would love snowshoeing?), headed over to Gunstock.

Was thinking of snowshoeing or skating, to not torture the muscles I abused yesterday, but stopped in to talk to Paul & Neal - Paul had just come back from tracking the Cobble loop with the snowmobile and sled. Andy had been out earlier with the big cat, but only track-packed it, skating looked to be out. Seemed to be a perfect hard blue day, and it was.

Back and forth on Cobble, generally counter-clockwise. A couple bare spots on the section by the entrance road, where the wind had moved it all off, but the rest was pretty sweet. Big S curve was OK, glad I was going up instead of down - only a narrow groomed bit.

Partway through a big cat came down the trail, obliterating most of the tracks - just some dude heading to the pump house. Saw Neal shortly after that, got the feeling words would be exchanged.