From_the_NEK
New member
Well now that I have procrastinated enough taking pictures off of my camera... I bought a larger card a while back that allows me to take a lot more pictures before I am forced to take the pictures off.
At any rate I purposely took it easy at Saturday night's Halloween bash at the mid-lodge since I was planning on hiking in the morning. Driving up to the mountain, there were only patches of snow in East Burke Village and around an inch at the base lodge.
. However, I knew from the night before, that as soon as you get to Burke Mountain Academy there was 4-6 inches on the ground 
. I parked at the mid-lodge lot where the summit station of the ?Sherburne Express? is still sitting in pieces (this felt kind of weird as I walked by it surrounded by snow).
The temperature was quickly rising. I put together my pack and started the hike for the top. I went up Open Slope past a few rails and kickers that had built by others not ambitious enough to hike up the mtn. There was a pretty good boot pack going up to the CCC road. From there it looked like most people had cut over to Lower Warren?s Way. I continued straight up McCarg?s all the way to where Upper Doug?s Drop meets Lower Doug?s. There were actually quite a few tracks coming down Doug?s Drop! Even though there was about a foot of snow here they had to be slamming the plentiful ?rock hard? base. At the trail junction I cut across the connector catwalk over to the Toll Road. This had been packed down by numerous snowmobiles (likely shuttling skiers to the top the old fashion way). I stuck to the Toll Road the rest of the way. I came across the outlet of Carriage Road and saw not tracks coming out of it. I decided that this would be the location of my FirstTracks of the 2005-2006 season. Once I got to the top I put on my ski boots and skis in the parking area. I then headed down the short section of the Toll Road (Deer Run) to Carriage Road. I made a great choice. Since it was actually much warmer on the top of the mountain that at the base, the snow had started to become really stiff. Carriage Road is narrow so it receives good shade from the sun. It also faces almost due North, thus preserving the snow quality. I got some SWEET turns in on this run. I had snow coming up over my knees in a lot of places. I lightly scrapped one rock on the outlet back out onto the Toll Road but that was it. I then headed across over to the middle part of Powder Horn where I also got more first tracks!
The rest of my day consisted of working on a glade run that I have been putting some time into the last few weekends. A least this time it wasn?t pouring rain!!! The snow was still too thin in this area to be able to ski the trail effectively. There are a lot of rocks that need at least a foot and a half to cover. I decided it would still be safer to side step down the trail with my skis of than to try and carry them down. This is my first attempt at cutting my own trail. With my skis on I definitely feel like I could have opened it up a bit more. I think it is going to be a sweet run though. I had a fun time skiing the lower, less difficult section, as I cut it out. I would cut down a little ways and hike back up. Put my skis on and ski down the section I had just cut. There was about 8 inches of snow but it wasn?t so deep that I could reach the bases of the little saplings I was cutting off. I left everything with a diameter greater than 3 inches.
At any rate I purposely took it easy at Saturday night's Halloween bash at the mid-lodge since I was planning on hiking in the morning. Driving up to the mountain, there were only patches of snow in East Burke Village and around an inch at the base lodge.
. However, I knew from the night before, that as soon as you get to Burke Mountain Academy there was 4-6 inches on the ground . I parked at the mid-lodge lot where the summit station of the ?Sherburne Express? is still sitting in pieces (this felt kind of weird as I walked by it surrounded by snow). The temperature was quickly rising. I put together my pack and started the hike for the top. I went up Open Slope past a few rails and kickers that had built by others not ambitious enough to hike up the mtn. There was a pretty good boot pack going up to the CCC road. From there it looked like most people had cut over to Lower Warren?s Way. I continued straight up McCarg?s all the way to where Upper Doug?s Drop meets Lower Doug?s. There were actually quite a few tracks coming down Doug?s Drop! Even though there was about a foot of snow here they had to be slamming the plentiful ?rock hard? base. At the trail junction I cut across the connector catwalk over to the Toll Road. This had been packed down by numerous snowmobiles (likely shuttling skiers to the top the old fashion way). I stuck to the Toll Road the rest of the way. I came across the outlet of Carriage Road and saw not tracks coming out of it. I decided that this would be the location of my FirstTracks of the 2005-2006 season. Once I got to the top I put on my ski boots and skis in the parking area. I then headed down the short section of the Toll Road (Deer Run) to Carriage Road. I made a great choice. Since it was actually much warmer on the top of the mountain that at the base, the snow had started to become really stiff. Carriage Road is narrow so it receives good shade from the sun. It also faces almost due North, thus preserving the snow quality. I got some SWEET turns in on this run. I had snow coming up over my knees in a lot of places. I lightly scrapped one rock on the outlet back out onto the Toll Road but that was it. I then headed across over to the middle part of Powder Horn where I also got more first tracks!
The rest of my day consisted of working on a glade run that I have been putting some time into the last few weekends. A least this time it wasn?t pouring rain!!! The snow was still too thin in this area to be able to ski the trail effectively. There are a lot of rocks that need at least a foot and a half to cover. I decided it would still be safer to side step down the trail with my skis of than to try and carry them down. This is my first attempt at cutting my own trail. With my skis on I definitely feel like I could have opened it up a bit more. I think it is going to be a sweet run though. I had a fun time skiing the lower, less difficult section, as I cut it out. I would cut down a little ways and hike back up. Put my skis on and ski down the section I had just cut. There was about 8 inches of snow but it wasn?t so deep that I could reach the bases of the little saplings I was cutting off. I left everything with a diameter greater than 3 inches.
