Snowshoeing at Mt. Snow

January 14, 2009

As a Birthday present to me, Al Morrison planned a trip to Mt Snow. The Plan was to leave West Hartford before dawn, snowshoe to the top of the mountain, snowshoe back down, then jump in the car and be home before dinner! Everything went according to plan! It was quite cold -around 10 degrees F-and with wind chill, below zero. We were not cold, as we were well layered. In fact, we had to remove clothing as we progressed up the mountain. The only time we got cold was when we had to remove a glove to take a picture. Within a minute, the hand was just stinging with pain from the cold. The pictures just cannot display the feeling of snowshoeing up and down that mountain.

On the trip up, we tried to ascend the steepest trail on the mountain. It was closed to skiing, with the snow guns filling the air - a total "white out". The snow was deep machine made snow and would not support our weight, which made climbing most difficult. Al made it to the top, I got within 10 feet of the top, lost my grip and slid backwards about 30 yards until I could stop myself. That top 10 feet was almost straight up. I tried again, getting to that same point, lost my grip and slid down the mountain once again. Al was too busy hanging on and laughing to take a picture. We decided it was best if we backtracked down. Had to go backwards because it was so steep.

Got to the top in about two hours+, had a hot cup of soup and some fruit, then started back down. We were able to snowshoe "in the woods" on the way down. About a foot of natural, fluffy snow.. a beautiful and majestic sight. Round trip was 5 1/2 miles and 4+ hours

We GPS's the circuit  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1809413  for the best view, click on 'hybrid" for the map type.  Then click on "play"

Because we are so covered up, and have the same color outfits on, it is difficult to tell who is who. Al has the longer jacket, and I have goggles parked on my head.