This was a great day for hiking! In the morning, I went to do our usual morning walk but as we went into the woods, Sadie stopped and I realized nobody had gone farther than about a dozen steps into the woods since the last snowfall. So we went around by the street and up the Red Circle trail on a pretty compact but narrow path through the deep snow. When we reached the area where it starts to level off, there was a significant trail crossing at right angles, obviously made by deer. I remarked aloud, "Wow, busy intersection." or something similar. Then I looked to my left and there was a deer standing there on this deer trail about 25 feet away looking right at me. I don't know how Sadie had gotten by without seeing the deer but she was quite a bit ahead. The deer just stood there for a moment and then turned and slowly walked away.
In the afternoon, I got out the snowshoes again and was determined to break through the virgin snow up to the Red Circle trail so we can resume our regular morning routine. Once we reached the Red Circle trail we headed up past the Yellow trail. The trail was no longer solidly packed but had diminished to the footsteps of a single snowshoer. Sadie was hopping from footprint to footprint until we reached the Orange trail. I hadn't decided if I wanted to turn left on Orange or continue on the Red Circle but Sadie was in trouble. Our single snowshoeing predecessor had turned right on Orange so whichever way we went, I'd have to lead because she gets tired of plowing through the deep snow. She had hopped 3 or 4 bounds into the snow continuing on the Red Circle and I turned left onto Orange and called her. She realized she'd have to stay behind me but she doesn't like that.
We hadn't gone very far when she stepped on the back of my snowshoe and I fell forward in the snow. It was a very warm (mid 40s) day and I only had a sweatshirt and no gloves so my bare hands went deep into the snow. I yelled at her and was contemplating turning back when the Swiss Rescue Squad appeared. Down the trail ahead we heard voices and an older couple was snowshoeing towards us. I stepped aside and told Sadie to be still as they approached. They had a definite Swiss-Austrian-German accent. I told them it must be easier to snowshoe without a dog stepping on the backs of your shoes. They laughed and wished me well and continued off. But now our trail ahead at least had holes for Sadie to hop in and lead.
We continued on. In a few spots, I was pretty sure that "Hans und Frau" had strayed from the trail so I plunged through the deep snow until soon meeting up with Sadie and their footprints again. They say "Silence is golden" but up here, silence was white. I was surprised how far it was to the Yellow/Green crossover but when we got there, it hadn't been traveled at all so we continued on Orange. I had looked ahead and saw that Orange wasn't going to do too much up or down.
We got to the Red Triangle and another decision. After seeing that Orange was going to go up and down ahead and the Red Triangle was more traveled, I called home and warned that I would probably again come down onto Mount Carmel Ave via Red Triangle.
As we headed down, I could hear voices below. When we reached the Yellow trail, it was very much more compacted so considering Sadie's efforts in the deeper stuff so far, and mindful that I could get a couple more segments of my Giant Master's log filled in, we turned right onto Yellow and headed for the front of the park.
Sadie disappeared ahead and around a bend I saw that she had made a friend. A couple was hiking with a golden retriever and both tails were wagging. I called Sadie and she came back. The guy yelled a "hello" and they continued on while we followed at a distance with Sadie now on the leash. A little farther down the trail, there were people to our right up the hill, probably on the Nature Trail, with a black labrador. Sadie was getting a little excited but we managed to work our way all the way to the map display at the front of the park.
I called home and Pat said she would pick us up. I called back and told her that we would be on the Quinnipiac side of the street because it looked drier over there so maybe Sadie's paws could dry out walking around there. The end of another great day of hiking on the Giant.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Nice Day for this Winter
Seems like we usually get either a lot of snow OR real cold weather. This winter has had both.
Between snowstorms and bitter cold, haven't done much hiking. So this fine sunny Saturday afternoon, I went up the Red Circle trail with Sadie around 2 PM.
Once we crashed over to the trail, it was packed pretty hard but probably still a foot deep with even deeper loose snow on either side. The packed path was just wide enough for your feet side-by-side.
When we got to the Yellow trail, we turned East and I stopped at the top of our shortcut to head back down. But Sadie and the trail were calling me on. So I checked my watch and it was only 2:30 and I called home and said I was thinking about going out to Chestnut. I stood there for awhile and took in the silence and the cracking of the trees in the wind.
I was concerned the trail might not be as packed all the way and I only had my hiking boots so deep snow would be annoying. We did the ups and downs and there were plenty of foot holds in the packed path. We crossed the Red Square and Sadie almost headed up the Green/Yellow Crossover. When we crossed the Blue, I called home for a ride.
We had only seen one guy coming down the Red Circle when we had turned onto Yellow. As we got to Chestnut, we saw our only other hiker as he was going up to the map board to plan his route. When Evan came we could see another pair of hikers coming out. There were about 4 or 5 cars at the trailhead and 2 or 3 more where the Green trail comes out a little up the road.
Between snowstorms and bitter cold, haven't done much hiking. So this fine sunny Saturday afternoon, I went up the Red Circle trail with Sadie around 2 PM.
Once we crashed over to the trail, it was packed pretty hard but probably still a foot deep with even deeper loose snow on either side. The packed path was just wide enough for your feet side-by-side.
When we got to the Yellow trail, we turned East and I stopped at the top of our shortcut to head back down. But Sadie and the trail were calling me on. So I checked my watch and it was only 2:30 and I called home and said I was thinking about going out to Chestnut. I stood there for awhile and took in the silence and the cracking of the trees in the wind.
I was concerned the trail might not be as packed all the way and I only had my hiking boots so deep snow would be annoying. We did the ups and downs and there were plenty of foot holds in the packed path. We crossed the Red Square and Sadie almost headed up the Green/Yellow Crossover. When we crossed the Blue, I called home for a ride.
We had only seen one guy coming down the Red Circle when we had turned onto Yellow. As we got to Chestnut, we saw our only other hiker as he was going up to the map board to plan his route. When Evan came we could see another pair of hikers coming out. There were about 4 or 5 cars at the trailhead and 2 or 3 more where the Green trail comes out a little up the road.
Monday, January 17, 2011
After the Big One
Wednesday, January 12, was a record snowfall for Connecticut. According to official reports, North Haven, just across the street, got 30 inches of snow. We surely got over 2 feet on top of what we had.
When we went out into our yard that afternoon, it wasn't easy to get around. Sadie had a hard time hopping from foot hole to foot hole and ended up spraining her tail. So between Sadie's need for rest, the impossibly deep snow, and my overdoing it on the previous snowshoe adventure, I haven't gotten up on the trails until yesterday.
Some time around 3 PM, Pat & I decided to go for a hike and take Sadie. Our assumption was that enough people had now walked on the snow that we didn't need snowshoes. It was a reasonable assumption, for the most part.
On the way up to the Yellow trail, I suggested that maybe we could do a segment from Red Circle to Red Triangle. Pat said she wasn't really prepared, that her boots fit better with a second pair of socks but that she would have done that if I had told her my idea before we left.
When we got to the Yellow lookout, she had agreed to continue down yellow to the Red Triangle and then out to the road where one of the girls would pick us up. The snow was so deep that people had made a trail alongside the new stairway that was built for an Eagle project.
We stayed in the trodden path and called Emily when we reached the Red Triangle. We assumed it would be an easy walk down to the road. Here's where all our assumptions went awry.
About half-way down, we saw that the footprints that we had been following decided to abandon the Red Triangle and head west towards the entrance of the park. We saw Emily pull up on the road below and decided to just crash through the deep snow down the remainder of the Red Triangle trail.
We made it but we were white from the knees down. Sadie managed to leap from foot hole to foot hole and we all were glad for the ride home.
When we went out into our yard that afternoon, it wasn't easy to get around. Sadie had a hard time hopping from foot hole to foot hole and ended up spraining her tail. So between Sadie's need for rest, the impossibly deep snow, and my overdoing it on the previous snowshoe adventure, I haven't gotten up on the trails until yesterday.
Some time around 3 PM, Pat & I decided to go for a hike and take Sadie. Our assumption was that enough people had now walked on the snow that we didn't need snowshoes. It was a reasonable assumption, for the most part.
On the way up to the Yellow trail, I suggested that maybe we could do a segment from Red Circle to Red Triangle. Pat said she wasn't really prepared, that her boots fit better with a second pair of socks but that she would have done that if I had told her my idea before we left.
When we got to the Yellow lookout, she had agreed to continue down yellow to the Red Triangle and then out to the road where one of the girls would pick us up. The snow was so deep that people had made a trail alongside the new stairway that was built for an Eagle project.
We stayed in the trodden path and called Emily when we reached the Red Triangle. We assumed it would be an easy walk down to the road. Here's where all our assumptions went awry.
About half-way down, we saw that the footprints that we had been following decided to abandon the Red Triangle and head west towards the entrance of the park. We saw Emily pull up on the road below and decided to just crash through the deep snow down the remainder of the Red Triangle trail.
We made it but we were white from the knees down. Sadie managed to leap from foot hole to foot hole and we all were glad for the ride home.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First snowshoe of 2011
Sadie and I started up the RED CIRCLE to YELLOW. I was snowshoeing and had crashed up to the RED CIRCLE. We turned up the Y/G CROSSOVER and met a guy from North Haven who had looped up to WHITE and was headed back down. I was intent on making it all the way to the GREEN. About where the trail winds down to GREEN, Sadie disappeared.
I went back up to the turn where I thought she left and heard voices coming down the ORANGE from the east. So I yelled to them and asked if they'd seen a dog. They said they hadn't so I went back towards GREEN where I thought Sadie's tracks headed off to the west. There was a rise there so I thought maybe if she had gone over that she might not hear me calling her.
After crashing through the mountain laurel and falling once (not easy to maneuver with snowshoes), I finally called home because I was concerned that Sadie might show up without me. When Emily answered and I explained my situation, she said Sadie was already at the door. I have no idea how she got home that fast (or why).
But now I was on my own and enjoying the snowshoe crashing. I worked my way down the rocks, not very gracefully, and plodded over to the GREEN. From there I had ideas of doing the whole GREEN but when I headed towards the WHITE, I realized it was much longer than I thought. So I decided to go for the B/W CROSSOVER. I was a little disoriented when I hit the BLUE; I thought the B/W CROSSOVER went down the hill I was looking for and for some reason started heading down west on the BLUE.
I realized my mistake and went back up the rocks to where the white markers were for the crossover. On the way up the rocks, I fell once and ended up in the snow with no gloves. My hands were pretty cold and then I had to work my way down the BLUE to the RED TRIANGLE. On my way down, I got my showshoes tangled and fell again.
At some point here I realized my right middle finger was cut and bleeding. It was a very small cut but the blood was running steadily. I turned south on the RED TRIANGLE and when I got to the intersection with the GREEN, I called home. I asked which way was shortest to go out, either to Mt Carmel Ave or Tuttle or take GREEN all the way to Chestnut.
Emily said the RED TRIANGLE was shortest, so I decided to take it down to Mt Carmel Ave. I fell one more time and later stepped out of one snowshoe and decided to take them off and carry them. I had alternated my hands in my pockets to the point where they were almost back to normal.
Emily picked me up and I threw the showshoes in the trunk with my snowy sweatshirt. It was a great adventure. We'll see how I feel tomorrow!
I went back up to the turn where I thought she left and heard voices coming down the ORANGE from the east. So I yelled to them and asked if they'd seen a dog. They said they hadn't so I went back towards GREEN where I thought Sadie's tracks headed off to the west. There was a rise there so I thought maybe if she had gone over that she might not hear me calling her.
After crashing through the mountain laurel and falling once (not easy to maneuver with snowshoes), I finally called home because I was concerned that Sadie might show up without me. When Emily answered and I explained my situation, she said Sadie was already at the door. I have no idea how she got home that fast (or why).
But now I was on my own and enjoying the snowshoe crashing. I worked my way down the rocks, not very gracefully, and plodded over to the GREEN. From there I had ideas of doing the whole GREEN but when I headed towards the WHITE, I realized it was much longer than I thought. So I decided to go for the B/W CROSSOVER. I was a little disoriented when I hit the BLUE; I thought the B/W CROSSOVER went down the hill I was looking for and for some reason started heading down west on the BLUE.
I realized my mistake and went back up the rocks to where the white markers were for the crossover. On the way up the rocks, I fell once and ended up in the snow with no gloves. My hands were pretty cold and then I had to work my way down the BLUE to the RED TRIANGLE. On my way down, I got my showshoes tangled and fell again.
At some point here I realized my right middle finger was cut and bleeding. It was a very small cut but the blood was running steadily. I turned south on the RED TRIANGLE and when I got to the intersection with the GREEN, I called home. I asked which way was shortest to go out, either to Mt Carmel Ave or Tuttle or take GREEN all the way to Chestnut.
Emily said the RED TRIANGLE was shortest, so I decided to take it down to Mt Carmel Ave. I fell one more time and later stepped out of one snowshoe and decided to take them off and carry them. I had alternated my hands in my pockets to the point where they were almost back to normal.
Emily picked me up and I threw the showshoes in the trunk with my snowy sweatshirt. It was a great adventure. We'll see how I feel tomorrow!
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