Finally

Finally some days up north this winter. It’s a late start for us, especially considering that this October was one of the best early, early seasons on record and lots of people were getting high quality turns. But at that point we were focused on clearing the plate to make room for the real season. And here we are.

We have been talking for months about conducting some recon in the Lincoln area. Looking for routes and lines prior to real snow cover will hopefully save some time when it counts. On Friday we scoped an area that we’ve been looking at for quite a while – Pollard Brook off of Big Coolidge.

Canines Chilly and Chestnut joined humans Leighann, Matt, and I. It was a first meeting for the dogs in what will surely be a long friendship. We weren’t sure about hunting in the area so the dogs donned bandanas. I opted for a hat that thankfully was not photographed.



We found that a combination of established trails, old logging roads, and bushwhacking got us to a nice lesser summit/ridge to the SE of BC (Little Coolidge?) Although mostly tree covered, views into Lincoln and across the valley were plentiful. The whole area has been extensively logged in the past meaning that while there are no big trees there is a lot of scrub. Ski lines would be tight but the definitely exist in places. Short sections definitely abound.

We hadn’t started until 1:30, so with dark closing in we had to limit our exploring and be sure that our random route could be retraced to the cars and beers. The next trip will start earlier and will include full recon of Big Coolidge.


Saturday 12/4/10:
With no shades on the condo windows and a dog that likes an early breakfast there was no sleeping in on Saturday. I got up thinking of a quick walk with her. But my curiosity got the better of me and I NEEDED to discover the local trails that I knew had to be there. Sure enough, a little bit of investigation uncovered an excellent network of trails that head in all the directions I wanted them to. We did a few miles of exploration uncovering the routes to the north and to the east although never completing any of them. XC-ski possibilities appear endless and there were some very nice wide-open, moderate pitch tree lines that could keep a group of skiers and riders happy on a pow day.

After that good dose of exercise and exploration I knew C-dog would be content to lounge about while we headed over to Cannon. The Cannon Cloud was in effect. Lincoln was blazing sun and dry roads, the Notch was windy with light snow blowing everywhere. Of course we ran into Tom N. before we even got out of the car. Caught up with him for a few minutes then grabbed our passes and headed out. Leighann opted to get her first fall of the season out of the way early by tumbling down the stairs and faceplanting in front of the lodge. Considering last year’s teeth incident I was pretty happy to see her get up laughing hysterically. With that out of the way we finally headed up good ‘ole Cannon Mtn. There were only 2 routes down but conditions were surprisingly good. 2-3” of new snow on top of some very high quality faux-snow made for enjoyable turns along the edges. Although there were a lot of race teams there it really wasn't crowded and he hopped straight on the lift each time. It wasn’t really enough to hold our interest long though, so after 3 runs we called it a successful shake out day and headed back.


IT IS ON!