Breaking up the workday

Trail conditions were too good to pass up this week. A bit of planning, and I managed to take a few hours midday during the work week to visit Windblown ski area in New Ipswich. I packed both skis and snowshoes, but I decided when I arrived to stick with the snowshoes.

A little piece of the Wapack Trail passes through the property, and I started there, heading to little Stony Top. That's one of southern NH's easiest-to-reach grand views. The packed-powder trail had a fresh dusting from the night before, and I had the trail to myself. This not-for-skiers sign is posted at Stony Top where the Wapack heads south, just before a short-but-steepish (and narrow) stretch.

I veered off the Wapack before it started up Barrett Mountain so I could stay on flatter snowshoe trails. I was the only one on the property in snowshoes, apparently, and the woods were as peaceful as they ever get. A few skiers were on the ski trails, and I was welcome on those as long as I stayed out of the set tracks. About an hour & a half of meandering through the woods on the trails was all I could manage, but it was a great hour & a half.

Windblown welcomes hikers when the ski area is closed, but when there's snow on the ground, they very sensibly expect me to pay for a trail pass and wear snowshoes instead of barebooting it. I'm glad to oblige.

Beaver Brook, good & getting better

Nice to see on the Beaver Brook Association's web site that the BBA may be able to add a few parcels to its holdings soon. See www.beaverbrook.org for details.

The snowy trails are well-packed, thanks to the many skiers, snowshoers, and even bicyclists who have been out & about since all this nice powder fell a week ago. I spent my time today around the wildlife pond in the northern part of the reservation. Though the parking lot was nearly full, the trail network north of Rt. 130 in Hollis is so extensive that visitors can spread out pretty quickly. I had solitude for most of my hike around the pond.

I'd be happy to get back there later this week if time allows, and head further north. I always liked the Tupelo Trail, which relatively few people use compared to the trails south of 130.