Hammond Hill State Park

So, I've been hearing about Hammond Hill for a few years now.  Mountain bikers have mentioned it.  Trail runners extol its virtues.  And for the last couple seasons, whenever I tell someone that I cross country ski, their first question is invariably, "Do you go out to Hammond Hill?"  One of the things I love about skiing, hiking, and running is that I can go right out my front door.  No need for a car.  And I never get bored of the trails near Bassington Acres.  They are myriad and varied.  But when Vinnie and I called off day one of our winter backpacking trip on account of a -35 windchill and a high of 3 degrees, the first idea for the day was, "let's check out Hammond Hill!"  Man, am I glad we did!  What a park!  It was cold today, for sure, but after the wind died down it was manageable.   Since very few people had been out, we had to pretty much break trail, which was warming.

This is the view from the top of our road this morning.  Snowing, gusts of up to 20 mph, windchill of -35.  "Hey Vinnie, let's go skiing."



This is a map of Hammond Hill.  We parked on Hammond Hill Rd at the intersection of Y1.  We wound up skiing about 4 miles of the yellow trails.  There was some serious altitude gain, but I can't tell you what it was exactly, because my workout app fritzed out.  You can probably figure it out yourself from the topo, if yer so inclined.

As the clouds cleared and the sun came out, it was obvious that it was going to be an incredible day.

We skied through several different forests, dominated by different species and ages.  Hemlock, white pine, beech, maple.  Each woods interacted differently with the light to create unique moods and effects.

This was only Vinnie's second trip out on cross country skis.  He did yeoman work today!  I'm really impressed with how fast he picked it up.  I guess kids his age are like sponges.

Not that there weren't a couple spills.

This grove of hemlocks and red pines was maybe my favorite of the day.  Watch the beard freeze up over the course of the day.

Vinnie says, "Ja ja, we go skiing!"

Foreground, advancing beard freeze.  Background, Vinnie dusts himself off again.

Action shot!

This trail gets Vinnie's thumbs up!

Gratuitous picture of cute puppies.

Snow day #2!

Today was another snow day; my second this year.  We got another few inches overnight and it continued to come down throughout the day.  Sarah went to work, to her chagrin, and I was left to my own devices.  After contemplating maybe heading to Greek Peak, the cross country bug won out and I headed to Pat's barn via Taughannock.  When I pulled in, there were no other cars in the lot and the snow was fresh and untrod.

The river and the falls were all mostly frozen and snowed over.  It was so quiet except for the chickadees and titmice and a cardinal.  The river gurgled under the ice.  All those sounds were acceptable accompaniment to the swoosh swoosh of the skis.

This grove of eastern hemlock is beautiful in any season.

First across the bridge this morning.

Sarah says she likes my smile in this shot.

It was a grey and snowy day, but it was still beautiful.

On my way to Pat's the road became a little difficult to follow.

The man.

21st Amendment Brewery has released a fantastic new beer in a phenomenal new can.
Cheers!

Skiing, sledding, and stacking

Just some more pictures to make you jealous.

Bassington acres is under snow.

Took my new skis out this morning.  The snow was pretty deep in the fields, too.  Made for some slow going.

I love the new skis, but there seems to be a learning curve.

Speaking of skiing, last weekend we took Zhora out for the first time at Greek Peak.  Sarah did the teaching. Vinnie and I checked in once in awhile when we got cold.  Zhora had some confidence issues at first, but after a snack and some chatting, she gave it another shot and had a great time playing "reindeer".

In the end, the day was a success.

She's excited to go back again, and isn't that the best indication of an effective lesson.

The little skier catches some zzzzzzzzzzs on the ride home.

Yesterday we went to Rice Hill at Taughannock Park for a day of super sledding.  This is the biggest sledding hill I've ever seen.  The day was perfect.  Cold but not frigid, with lots of new snow.

Z let us all catch a ride on the Flexible Flyer she got as a Christmas present from Veneta.  It was amazingly fast!  We went careening over the bumps, rocking wildly from side to side, and flying through the air.

The walk back up the hill was a good opportunity to reminece about the ride and make plans for the next run.

Zhora saw an older girl riding BEHIND her mom and decided that it seemed like a great idea.  When Sarah pressed her about it, she admitted that "That way the snow won't go in MY face!"

By the end of the day, Zhora was staggering around, exhausted, giggling, and drunk with happiness.

I reloaded our wood rack in preparation for a winter storm that has yet to hit.  I had good supervision, as usual.

Headed over to check out the latest load.

Is it up to our standards?

Well, maybe Indy better check, too.  Judging by the wood, spring must be creeping our way.

Such a happy girl. And a good helper, to boot.

New tele set up

I skied in my new telemark set up for the first time last night.  Of course, I got everything on the cheap and went old school.  I tell myself that old school stuff reflects a respect for the roots of a thing.  Axes, hand tools, hard-tails, all leather hiking boots, straight skinny skis, 3 pin telemark set up with leather boots, etc.  In reality, the beautiful thing about having old or out dated ways of doing things is that one always has an excuse for screwing something up or not finishing a project.  See my on-going kitchen table project or continued ineptitude on the mountain as examples.  Anyway, I had so much fun that there was no time to take pictures.  We're going out again today and maybe there will be something to add to this post later.  For now, I submit for your amusement an image from the internets.

source: http://www.pmags.com

Snow days

Oh, you know the drill.  Just relaxing at home.  Winter is here, finally and we are really enjoying it.  My friend, Vinnie, and I continue to prep and be stoked about an upcoming winter back packing trip.  Hoping for enough snow that we can ski.  So I've been doing a lot of cross country to prepare.  The moon is in its gibbous phase and casting enough light to ski to.

Did I mention that Vinnie has never skied before?  Yeah... so we went out the other day and did 5 miles.  We get along well because we both like to suffer.  To his credit, he endured more falls (by a long shot) and a bigger blister (only by a little).

Eva is probably our least snow dog dog, but she still likes to get out after the squirrels. 

Sarah and I skied our faces off this weekend.  Ski club on Friday, cross country on Saturday, Greek Peak on Sunday and Monday.  Good fun.  Zhora even came out with us on Monday.  Pictures and story to come shortly.