We set off into Grafton Notch to do some snowshoeing. I figured we would be out about an hour and a half, so didn't think to bring water or snacks. Lesson learned. The kiosk showed a loop starting with the Eyebrow trail that would be 2.1 miles and climb 1100 feet. Ok. We're off.
Looking up to where we climbed; Looking down on the truck from the top
The trail started out easily enough, and I soon was shedding layers. Then, we got to the steep part of the trail. So steep that they've installed metal rope rails, and metal ladders! Unfortunately, the pictures don't really show just how steep this trail was, but looking back down it, I didn't want to have to try to retrace our steps.
Didn't realize that was where we were headed; Hanging on for dear life!
Trust me when I say this was really steep!
Only halfway there - that's why we're still smiling ;-)
Clawing my way uphill; Snow and ice
Small wonders; Leaving tracks
Up, up and up we went. When we finally reached the top, we were very nervous - the trail brings you out to an exposed ridge with great views, but also large snowdrifts, and big danger if you get too close to the edge. We managed to follow the trail back into the woods to an intersection - the prints we had been following continued up to another peak, but we wanted to go down, and no one had been on that trail yet. It was an adventure looking for the white trail blazes as we headed back downhill.
Going up was hard, but going down was as well. Lots of slipping and sliding (thankfully this part of the trail was nowhere near as steep as what we had climbed), and breaking the trail going downhill was tough. We finally made it back down to the car - TWO AND HALF HOURS after we started! Great workout though, and the views were fantastic!
As we were heading out of the parking lot, we had to stop and wait - the plow truck had gone off the highway, and a logging truck was pulling him out of the ditch with a chain! Not a sight one sees everyday...
Here are also a few pics from yesterday's adventure - we went riding out of Gorham, NH to Twin Mountain. There is more snow out there than I have seen in a long time! Some of these trails run along railroad beds, and are typically nasty to ride because the rails are showing and tracking your sled. Yesterday, the rails were covered, and the riding was smooth! Put on another 87 miles on our second day out.
2 comments:
Stig read this and thought it looked fun. I read this and thought, better you than me.
;-)
We are going snowshoeing with the K's and the A's tomorrow, but I'm betting not EXTREME!
Looks like it was really fun. Check out some of my extreme snowshoeing stuff from Mt St. Helens. I've been out 5 times in the last 3 weeks :)
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