Another storm for this afternoon and tonight- freezing rain ( up to 1/4 inch of ice) and snow (8-10 inches) so we went to nearby Walden in the morning. Weren't sure what we would find as I had checked from the parking lot the day after the ice storm and no one had been on the trails and it looked very slick and we skipped it. To day we found there had been skiers and snow shoe folks and the crust mostly supported me- with some exceptions - for Kelly, of course, it was fine. What was amazing was the number of trees bent over the trails- the ice from the last storm has still not melted. I have hiked here over many years and have never seen anything like it.
Still lots of ice on everything
We took the Loop Trail to the rail bed and as it's wider and more open there were less trees over the path. When we first reached it , however, there was a pretty good tangle.
We went in the direction of Essex Woods, hoping that when we got to the part where the snowmobile trail comes onto the rail bed there would be a nice walking surface. Instead there had been no snowmobiles and only a single ski track from before the last little snow. The crust was still pretty good and we continued for a bit until Kelley stopped and lay down. This was very unusual so we turned back- she was fine again and apparently was telling me she didn't want to go on ??? We went back the way she likes- the snowmobile trail and then a short trail over to the Loop Trail. Again, no one had been on these trails. We met no one today which is a little unusual for a Sunday.
Not he best of conditions but an interesting hike and we got an hour and a half of exercise and missed the storm.
So as the snow keeps piling up..do you prefer snow shoes or X-country skis for your hikes with Kelley the Wonderdog?
ReplyDeleteHi penbayman- Actually neither- skiing with Kelley would be a challenge and I don't care for snowshoes ( and they don;t solve the deep snow problem for Kelley) so we find places where other snowshoers or snowmobiles have packed the snow down for us. Still dark but it looks like another 12 inches- we will just walk the area around here unless the snowmobiles have been out. After today there should be some good snowmobile trails to walk and there are miles of them near home. .
Delete