Mark Renson
New member
Had a beautiful drive up - deep snowpack observed everywhere, but with much open water due to the rain we've had. But with the most recent storm leaving snow, we were in for a treat on this day. <BR> I met up with the Corporal and was thankful he did not wear a dress. Hawkeye, Frank & Margaret and Radar were not to be found, but The New Dad and his sidekick The Cameraman showed up to help us find B.J. !! <BR> With assistance, we easily found the entrance and happily, we broke trail - yes, we were there first 2 days after the storm and it wasn't even that early. We followed the wooded ridgeline and its windpacked snowpack and we had a blast blazing our own trail - not so tough that we were pulling our hair out or backtracking, but challenging enough to give us the satisfaction of successfully trekking through the unknown!! I also was using my new BD Miras - WOW, what a difference having a wider board makes in skinning. The wider platform made things much easier and less taxing. Granted, the refueling at the Hyde Away and the hot dogs I bought at the all-important I-89 Truck Stop in Purmort NH (Interstate 89 Cuisine is an acquired taste, ya' know) the prior evening gave me the energy, but the wider boards do indeed make a difference in the uphill. <BR> Skies were incredibly bright - as brilliant a day one could have in The North Country!!! .... and we found B.J. At the summit, I played with my compass and The Corporal played with his GPS, but we barely touched lunch as we were so happy just tobe there and sooo excited about our upcoming descent. The fantastic views could not be overstated! <BR> Snow on the descent was a bit punchy and I struggled a bit, but that was more than made up by the ecitement of descending into the unknown on the deeeeep snowpack in the beautiful glade! The New Dad rocked on boards and The Cameraman has the film clip to prove it. We exited on some long low angled untracked by the stream and while it lacked in big descent excitement, it certainly was very aesthetic, especially with the brilliant sunlight pouring through the trees. <BR> Not too far from the road, we found an endless trench with hoof prints in it - moose, I suppose. The New Dad shared some chocolate cover malted balls with us (yeah, Buddy, life is goooood) and then we grabbed a few beers to celebrate our great day. <BR> Oh, one more thing - I had a revelation on this day and that is that helmets are PHUN !!! It was only my 3rd day wearing one, but now I'm hooked. Last year, I was peer pressured into considering buying one. Good thing I listened 'cuz now I have this new toy which enables me to lower my head and plow through schwack and limbs without chipping away at my cement head. Already, I have a few marks on my new lid. It feels so cool as I feel I have so much more freedom. Plus, I think it's cool - hey, I've seen film clips of Allison Gannet wearing one and USAF and RAF pilots wear one when they're flying F-16s and Tornados at Mach 2+ and the Unser and Adretti families wear one when they're racing Indy cars at 230+ MPH. Hey, given all of that, I cannot see how it can't be cool to wear a helmet.