Breaking trail

Since I chickened out yesterday, for good reasons I believe, didn't want to drive 3+ hours through a snow storm, I went up to Mt Cardigan today. According to OpenSnow forecasters, southern New Hampshire was favored by the storm. Something you could right there at the Mt Cardigan base, they got so much snow!

I got there relatively early, just in time to snatch the last parking spot. The uphill trail I took had snowshoeing tracks from the day before. Midway through those tracks started disappearing, and the uphill travel became slightly more difficult. I had to break trail through fairly deep snow at times.

Everything was worth it once I reached the top, after about 90 Minutes uphill or so. The upper snowfields on this little mountain are just great. Biggest bang for your buck in New Hampshire if you ask me: fairly easy uphill in non avalanche terrain result in a few really good turns up there. Even better after a snow dump like yesterday's.

I was surprised how untracked most of the snowfields still were. Got a few really good turns on my Stormchaser in!

I've never summited Firescrew Mountain, always thought it's not really worth it - it's often very windy, and as far as I could see there are only almost bare granit blocks around it. Today I thought I give it another shot, try to summit, but instantly regreted it.

The extra 20 Minutes continuing up from the upper snowfields are just a waste of time and energy. The peak is mostly round and flat, and doesn't offer any good riding. Already transitioned into downhill mode, I found myself crawling through deep snow out of flat spots 2 times. That was the most exhausting part of my day I guess.

After that disappointment everything turned around. I enjoyed a super fun ride through the snowfields, entered the Duke Ski trail, and cruised it down, hitting a few untracked pockets here and there until I reache the base gain. What a great morning it was!