Here are a few shots from my Monday morning Nordic ski up at Bolton Valley's cross-country trail network.
It looked more and more wintry as I drove up to the 1,800-foot base area. I enjoyed skiing among trees with light snow on them, and a little fresh snow on the sides of the trails.
You could tell that some trails had been rolled by a groomer at some time recently. But since then the snow had been packed firm by skiers, except on the sides of the trail. There you could find one or two inches of snow over a thin crust (from a recent wintry mix). Bolton reported the base depth of their cross-country trails was 3 to 4 inches.
There were still plenty of narrow little streams and water bars to cross. However, there was often enough ice to allow me to ski over the gap — more so than the last time I was skiing up here.
The ski area doesn't make snow on these trails, but they were certainly making snow on the downhill slopes — making the most of cold temperatures. In the coming week it looks like temperatures will stay colder than 32 degrees in the northern Vermont mountains. We should see a bit of snow, too. Yay!
I had fun touring around and enjoying the snowy woods. With the bumpy, variable snow conditions, I was glad I had my metal-edged touring skis. I wouldn't have had as much control on my skinny skis.
Keep thinking snowy thoughts!
