I don't need no snowshoes...

 

...but that's not to say 

they wouldn't have been helpful at times.

I may be stuck with a racer's lack of sensibility when it comes to equipment selection. It's not a question of what would be useful, but rather what will be fastest overall. I think of the Monte Carlo Rally, which is held in the Maritime Alps of France, in January, when the roads in a single stage may range from bare pavement to many inches, or 2.54 times that in centimeters since it is Europe, of snow cover. Tire selection is a big deal, and competitors often race through heavy snow on slicks because, well, there's still enough exposed tarmac down low that it's faster.

Yesterday I rode the fifteen minutes down my street to the official DCR Batchelor Brook trailhead to take advantage of increased foot traffic that packed the trails enough to obviate the need for snowshoes. There is access to the same ridgeline directly across the street from me, but there I've seen only a few animal tracks, including mine with skis. I was happy with the choice. The main trails were packed solid and a foot wide.

I get a kick that Upper Access goes down 

and Lower Access goes up, 

and yes, being me, 

I do pronounce "abscess".

Well, with more free time than most, I also walk further than them, so the degree of packing steadily decreased until I turned up the Soutb Side trail (no, the trail namer didn't have a wild imagination) on a single snowshoe track. That's ok. It packed the snow enough for reasonably solid footing and kept the cold, white stuff from filling my boots. Or it did until a half mile from the summit where the person on snowshoes had turned around. Oh well, it was dry, powdery snow that dusts off with a quick sweep of the mitten, so I went on trudging. No major post holing, I slipped and fell only once, and yes, I'm confident my total elapsed time was less than if I'd spent the whole hike walking like a duck.

Top 'o Norwattuck to you!

When I was in school, 

there was a fire tower here, 

and it was where I experienced 

the most cold in my life. 

On a night hike, the static temperature was -3°F, and with the wind in the tower 

after it accerated by the restriction of the ridge, my friend calculated a wind chill of -100°.

Even in windproof clothing, 

I could feel the heat leaving my body for the thirty seconds I was up there.

Super cool!