# Spring Fever?



## Mike P. (Mar 20, 2008)

It's been quiet, are the hikers who ski getting in some last winter turns?  Looks like a good year for Spring skiing & barring a lot of rain up north, you should be able to get turns in Tucks well into May & probably into June!

Are hikers getting ready for Spring?  Got your DEET ready?  We are Snow free in Central CT, 

I'll have a general, non-trail (but fairly high for a town) related Berkshire update over the weekend.  

How much snow do you have near your house?


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Mar 20, 2008)

Starting in May..I try to hit the Appalachian trail on a weekly basis..there's no snow near my house


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## MichaelJ (Mar 20, 2008)

Skiing this weekend, hiking next weekend, and starting to think about hikes for afterward. I need to finish my New England Hundred Highest (91 done so far), and Una_dogger has just one of the Adirondack 46 left to do, so those are our priorities. Everything else is just for fun!

I hope to "follow" spring as it goes from south to north, avoiding black flies whenever possible.


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## Bergamo (Mar 20, 2008)

Could smell the earth this evening, standing in the back yard, trying to take some rising moon shots between the hemlocks.  Want to kick my rediscovery into higher gear this year. Wife and I hiked Killington last summer. Prior to that, our last 4000 was 31 years ago and we had a lot of fun together...... No snow. Wish we had one last storm before April.


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## LongStep (Mar 20, 2008)

making some modest goals for myself this season. I have hiked only 3 of the 4kers in Nh so id like to increase that number. Problem is my legs start screaming at me during 4k decents. Never thought comming down a mountain could be tougher then heading up lol. That being said id like to try Chocorua this year. What an amzing peak.


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## MichaelJ (Mar 20, 2008)

LongStep, have you tried hiking poles? They can take a lot of the load off the legs on descents and make it less painful.


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## LongStep (Mar 20, 2008)

MichaelJ said:


> LongStep, have you tried hiking poles? They can take a lot of the load off the legs on descents and make it less painful.



yea and they surely helped quite a bit. Unfortunatly two different people bought me a pole as a present for xmas. I have a swiss army knife pole with a cork handle( which doesnt seem bad) and a ghetto coleman pole. Needless to say i will most likely be buying a new set off rei or something. I could probably make due with another swiss army one (read they were decent for the  price on another site) We shall see.


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## MichaelJ (Mar 21, 2008)

Pole shopping is fun! The ultra lightweight poles are really nice and won't wear out your upper body, but cost a lot more. Clip-lock poles are more reliable, especially in winter, but are also more expensive than the twist-lock kind.
My personal preference is for three-section poles, because they fold up nice and short and can ride on the pack for the uphill, then come out for the downhill. Two-section poles don't go as short, and will bang into overhead branches.
I don't think anyone makes a three-section, lightweight, clip-lock pole, unfortunately. 
Good luck!


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## Mike P. (Mar 21, 2008)

Two poles are the way to go.  In order to save a few dollars, I'm just using old X-C & ski poles, 1 piece, the last time I needed both hands for an extended period or time was 1998. 

There might be a couple of places in the northeast where you can't toss your poles down a 6-10 foot section (think the step on Bondcliff or maybe a couple of spots on Garfield in the general area of the campsite)   but overall I'm comfortable with the poles in my hands all the time.

I'd want to be able to collapse them maybe if I was doing Huntington, Colden Trap Dike, Cathedral & Dudley on Katahdin, King Ravine, Great Gully, Six Husbands, Castle Ravine & any crawling unbder rocks like perhaps ice gulch & Mahoosuc Notch.  I'm tempted to say Huntington's I did with the poles, I'll have to go back there in the next year or two again anyway... 

Poles are a big help, I'll only venture short trips without them, under 8 miles on lower peaks or easy trail, Waumbek probably the only 4k I'd do without them.


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## Bergamo (Mar 21, 2008)

Speaking of poles, if you buy a new set get the clip lock style. My intuition said that should be my choice, but a salesman - who had good intentions - suggested a specific model with a twist type. I don't have 100% faith in them because a section will collapse when least expected.  With a clip lock, when that is tightened, it would seem to be secure.


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## una_dogger (Mar 23, 2008)

I've been thinking about hiking, and saying a sad goodbye to my first season of downhill skiing.   
As MJ noted, I have one more peak (saved Haystack) before officially joining the 46r's club.  Also have 15 more to complete the NE115 --- if I save a NH peak for last I can finish the NH48, NE67 and the NE115 all on the same summit...<glee!>..but we shall see.  I'm looking forward to hiking again, and I'd like to see Michael and I complete our lists together this summer.

Thought I'd cross post this here (from VfTT)...this thread seemed appropriate...its sort of a mini Una_dogger mainifesto related to why I haven't been hiking that much this winter!!!! 

<begin random musing>

I did something this winter that I *vowed* I would never do....I forsake the crowds, the noise, the artificial structures....and I learned to downhill ski.  

I am now an addict, trying to get every last fix I can before the snow is gone for another year. 

I used to look at open slopes on mountainsides in horror ...oh the injustice and the disregard for nature! Now I just want to find a steeper and longer one to carve my way down. 

I feared that spending the winter on a chairlift would surely cause me to lose fitness...now I have gained so much new strength through skiing that I am trailrunning again, something I haven't been able to build back after a back injury in Winter 2005. 

Similar to the personal journey and challenge I feel when climbing a tough peak or trekking long miles, skiing presented for me, a new opportunity to challenge myself -- physically and mentally. With every run, I wanted to get better. With every run, I coached myself to be more precise, more a part of the mountain and snow and air. Soon I couldn't stop myself. Every week I'd watch the weather and secretly plan a ski trip. I knew MichaelJ would be easy to convince.  

I skied the bunny slope, then the greens, then the blues, then the blacks, and now the easy glades. I went from easy mountains to hard mountains and back to easy mountains again--always seeking the best conditions, from packed powder to deep fresh ungroomed wonder-snow. From skied-off bare ice headwalls to granular pellets to mashed potato mush. It was always different. Always fun, as hard or as easy as I wanted it to be. 

To answer a question I was asked yesterday, "Yes, I do call myself a skier now"! 

<end random musing>


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## X-Linked (Mar 26, 2008)

I am always ready to hike.  But especially during this time of year which offers some of the best hiking available.  Violent rivers from all of the snow melt creates large waterfalls that sometimes are dried out int he summer.  But also, all of the plants and wildlife are at their best right now.  Baby animals, new parents in the wild, and all sorts of blooming flowers, fields and trees.  Hope everyone ejnjoys this weeks weather as much as I do.


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## MichaelJ (Apr 5, 2008)

Well, things are starting to fall into place. The first two big trips are planned, a traverse of the Devil's Path in the Catskills, and another traverse of the Great Range in the Adirondacks, both of which are over 8000' of ascent and over 18 miles. We also got our Baxter reservations for midsummer, right at Katahdin Stream campground, so with fingers crossed for good weather it will be a total peakbagging trip: the Brothers, Fort, Coe, Hamlin, and Baxter peak in two 12-mile days.

I'm skiing this Sunday, but I'm ready to start bicycling!


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## X-Linked (Apr 8, 2008)

Yeah-eeee-eahhh! the spring and it's weather are finally arriving.  We got a few last minute squalls of snow here int he poconos.  But today was close to 60 degree and tomorrow will be as well.  I have pretty much been getting out there 2 times a week so far but am trying to spend even more time out there.  I have to split my time with my bicycle which I try to ride everyday I can, but I will not usually ride 10-20 miles to a state park or good hiking spot.  This way I can do both in the same day.  Believe me, it is the ultimate leg workout.  The best way to keep them strong for ski season!


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## MichaelJ (Apr 9, 2008)

I was out on the bike with una_dogger in the woods near our place yesterday.
It was good.


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## X-Linked (Apr 11, 2008)

When it gets nice out.  I'd rather be on a bike than in a car any day of the week.


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