Here at Hangman Hill

In 2016 we spent a long weekend skiing the nordic (XC) ski trails that are part of the “Maine Huts & Trails” system with a lively group of friends.  It was such great fun, we decided to return and extend our trip to a five-day and four-night trip.  This would allow us to ski the entire length of the trail system and stay at all four of the Maine Huts.

The huts are “off the grid” and they generate their own energy and use the latest in high-tech composting toilets!  We carried all of our clothes, sleeping bags, and food for the tail.  The huts supplied breakfast, lunch and dinner, and hot showers at the end of each day.

We began the trip with an overnight stay on a Wednesday evening at the Inn by the River in West Forks, ME.  The inn is located a short drive from the most north-eastern point of the trail system. On a brisk Thursday morning, six of us met for a hearty breakfast at the inn before heading for the Grand Falls trailhead.

Our first day was bright and sunny, and started with some rolling ups and downs that quickly initiated us to the challenges of skiing with a back-pack.  There was plenty of snow and the conditions improved as  the day progressed and the temperatures warmed into the low 20’s.  Not long after lunch we saw a most welcome sign that read “7 Miles to Grand Falls Hut”.  This evoked a loud cheer from the group which became a ritual each time we would see the mile markers, particularly during those last few miles at the end of each day.   After 14.5 miles of skiing we arrived at the Grand Fall Hut with daylight to spare and were made welcome by Rob the hut caretaker.  We enjoyed warm showers, hot drinks followed by cold drinks, and chicken pot pie for dinner.  We mostly had the hut to ourselves but quickly made friends with the few other guests. Rob was a wealth of information, a great cook, and had lots of helpful tips for the trails.  He suggested a lunch spot by the trail for the next day and encouraged us to go out of our way to see the Grand Falls.

Day 2 started as a misty, cloudy day.  Not long after leaving the hut we arrived at the junction with the cut-off that took us to the Grand Falls.  Rob was right, it was spectacular and we lingered to take photos and make friends with a trio who had arrived on snowmobiles.  We continued in a westward direction with an additional 10+ miles to the next hut.  Much of the trail followed a river that eventually would lead us to Flagstaff Lake.  We arrived at the Flagstaff hut at about 3:30pm with a little extra time before the sun went down.   We enjoyed some late afternoon sun that warmed the hut and cast lovely views of the lake. Two more friends joined us on that Friday evening after a short ski to the hut.

On the third day we experienced more varied terrain.  Initially, we had very level with terrain with views of the lake and the river followed by gentle rolling hills later in the day leading to the next hut.   A highlight of this section was the half-way yurt which offers a warm shelter between the Flagstaff and Poplar Huts.   We arrived at the yurt just as a friendly group from Canada (“the Canadians”), who we had also been at the  Flagstaff hut, had settled in for lunch.  Having just had “elevenses” we decided to ski to a vista point nearby.  This small diversion took us through some incredible untracked powder to a high point that offered stunning views of the Bigelow Mountains.  After snapping photos we skied back down to the yurt where we enjoyed the cozy setting for lunch.  After lunch we had a lovely ski through open woods and arrived in the late afternoon at Poplar Hut.  For some of us this was the second visit to Poplar.  We shared the hut with a number of groups and had another lively evening enjoying games of Rummy, Jenga, and catching up with our new friends from Canada.

Early morning views of Flagstaff lake

On Monday morning we enjoyed a long descent as we retraced our steps from the Stratton Brook hut back down the trail for several miles.  We exited the system at the Airport Road trailhead and we were met by a driver with a large van who transported all eight of us with skis and packs back to our cars.   It took about an hour to travel back the 50+ miles by car.  It was a great experience and the Maine Huts and Trails are highly recommended!

We spent the second week of 2017 in British Columbia (Canada).  We have been eager to return to the Okanagen area just west of the Canadian Rockies to visit with friends and to explore Silverstar Resort.

On Saturday we flew into Kelowna where we met up with Andrew and Brenda, friends we first met through the  Canadian Alpine Club – Montreal Section many years ago.  It had been nearly 10 years since we last visited and it was great to see them both. We didn’t spend long in Kelowna. From the airport we drove east to Silverstar Resort where we also met up with Damon and Jayne, friends we recently bumped into during out travels in the Dolomites.  We spent the weekend XC skiing and enjoying catching up with our long-time friends over some great meals.

Brenda and Andrew returned to Kelowna for work on Monday and we continued to explore the vast number of ski trails in the Silverstar Resort and at nearby Sovereign Lake.  One of the reasons we have wanted to explore Silverstar is that it has both nordic and alpine skiing trails, fantastic snow fall amounts, and a small village-like quality.  Silverstar resort is a nice size, easy to get around, and has a charming quality in part due to the brightly colored hotels, huts, condos and homes in the village and dotted around the mountain. We had fantastic accommodations and found it easy to ski from our suite or walk into the village.

During the week we nordic skied with Damon and Jayne, and also used the chair lifts to access the alpine terrain on our snowboards (with Damon joining us on his Alpine Touring skis).  Each day we managed to find the best conditions and plenty of soft fresh snow in and around the resort.

Friday quickly arrived and it was time to pack up our gear and head north-east to the town of Revelstoke to explore a different kind of terrain.  Andrew and Brenda are both bona-fide backcountry skiers and they regularly ski in the mountains around Revelstoke and Rogers Pass near the continental divide.  We were lucky enough to be invited to join them for a couple of days exploring the easier slopes in this area.

On Saturday we parked at Rogers Pass and headed to some easy slopes from the NRC parking lot.  Avalanche conditions (and perhaps our skill level!) limited our options and this option seemed like a sensible way to spend the day.  When we left the car there was a low cloud level and we weren’t expecting too much of a view.  Thankfully as we headed higher so did the clouds, and by the time we stopped for lunch the sun was out and the views were plentiful.  We were on our split snowboards and managed to descend through the small trees and outcrops without to much ado.  We got back to the car by mid afternoon and all agreed to head back to Revelstoke for an early dinner and a few drinks.

On Sunday we were somewhat tired from the previous day, and we opted for a short adventure from the Asulkan valley parking lot.  The picturesque ascent wound through the trees and we emerged at the bottom a couple of small and relatively untracked slopes. This time we did two laps (ascent and then decent) before heading back to the car and because we fell down a lot we were thoroughly exhausted by the end of it all!  Thankfully Andrew, Brenda and their friend Steve waited for us at every intersection despite our slower pace.  We thoroughly enjoyed our adventures with them and finished our trip off with a quick meal in Revelstoke before heading back to the airport for our trip home to Connecticut the next day.  Overall, it was a great trip with fantastic skiing opportunities and great company!

In the first week of the new year Sheri traveled to Bend, Oregon for work.  In spite of a lot of snow on both coasts and travel delays across the country, she made it to Bend without complication.  Bend has received records amounts of snow this winter, and while she was there they received an additional 16″.  She enjoyed seeing lots of snow in town and on the distant mountains, including Mt Bachelor.

It was a productive week, and fun too.  One evening Pfizer employees were treated to a tour of the Deschutes Brewery followed by dinner in the tasting room.   Deschutes Brewery was one of the first craft breweries in the US.  It was fun for the pharmaceutical scientists and engineers to compare the stainless steel equipment and bottling process in a brewery to those in a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.  The Mirror Pond Ale is excellent, and highly recommended!

We had a quiet New Year’s Eve.  We celebrated with a relaxed dinner and went to bed early in preparation for a day on our snowboards.  On New Year’s Day we headed to Black Mountain which is located in Jackson, only a few miles down the road from our chalet.  We arrived to learn that the lifts were not working.  No worries! This gave us the opportunity to get some practice on our split-boards.

We made a quick trip back to the chalet, exchanged our regular snowboards for our split-boards, and returned to Black Mountain.   We made several trips skiing up using skins and riding down in board-mode. This was the perfect preparation for an upcoming trip to British Columbia to do some back-country riding with our split-boards.  With each lap we were able to practice the ski-to-snowboard transition and the at the bottom of the hill reapplying our skins for the ski back to the summit.  It was great fun!

Each year as we take down the Christmas cards we have received we conduct a straw poll to identify our favorites.   This year (once again) we had a lot of good cards to choose from.  A special highlight this year was a 3D card that looked like a Poinsettia which we really enjoyed.

After a festive start to the holiday with Christmas in Song and dinner at the Weekapaug Inn with Mark and Jen, we headed to New Hampshire to celebrate Christmas and New Years. We arrived in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and happy to find snow on the ground. We settled in for dinner with plans to celebrate Christmas with a XC ski outing.

The last few years we have enjoyed attending “Christmas in Song” at the Watch Hill Chapel with Mark and Jen, followed by dinner at the Weekapaug Inn. This tradition has become one of our favorite ways to start the holiday season.

Christmas in Song, hosted by the Ocean House,  includes musicians from local schools and singing groups.   There was a group of carolers at the entrance  of the chapel when we arrived, which immediately put us into the Christmas spirit.  This year the musicians included a quartet from Stonington High school and a four-some that played carols on the bells. The finale was the song “Feliz Navidad” sung by everyone in attendance.

Dinner at the Weekapaug Inn did not disappoint. We had a drink by the fire when we arrived which gave us time to catch up on the last few months which have been busy for all of us.  Our dinner was lovely, the service attentive and relaxed, and the food was fantastic.  But mostly it was the company that we enjoyed.  Jen and Mark are like family and it was a really special to share an evening with them in such a spectacular place.

This year’s “fun with marzipan” project resulted in a family of snowmen.  We enjoyed making them and we hope that you enjoyed eating them!

In early December we enjoyed a weekend taking it easy at our chalet in New Hampshire after several weeks of travel for work.

On the way to the chalet from Connecticut we made a short diversion to IKEA to pick up some shelves for the spare room.  On Saturday, after several hours assembling the numerous parts, we were able to organize our hiking, camping and ski-in gear on the shelves.  It looks like we have a real gear room now!

On Sunday we ventured out for a short hike to Square Ledge near Pinkham Notch.  There was a decent covering of snow on the trail and we were grateful to have our microspikes and a thermos of hot tea with us. The “view for effort ratio” was very high and we enjoyed a nice hike with great views.

Rocky features along the way

A nice place to rock climb in the summer

Tea at the top

Views from the summit

We had a really nice visit with Mike and DiAnn who traveled to Connecticut to see Duke play at Mohegan Sun. We joined the for the final game of the tournament, Duke vs URI.  It was a close game but Duke clinched it.

After the game we relaxed in Mystic, had pre-dinner drinks at the Engine Room followed by dinner at the Oyster Club. We toasted to an early Thanksgiving and to Mike’s Birthday.  It was a very nice evening.

On Monday morning Mike and DiAnn took a tour of Pfizer before heading back to New York and home to Raleigh.  We really enjoyed our visit even though it was a short one.