Beautiful Skiing at Witch Hole Pond & Hadlock Loop

A quick note to say I skied around Witch Hole on Thursday with a friend, which was great, then around the Hadlock Loop on Friday, rested Saturday, and today Frank and I skied around Witch Hole again. This was his first time out this year and he had tons of fun. Conditions were perfect once again, it was a little on the warm side, around 26 degrees, but the trails were well-groomed and we had no sticking problems. One weird thing that happened was that a plane landed on the pond just as we were coming down the section we call the Paper Clip, which is right after Signpost 3, between Signposts 3 and 5. It was a real North by Northwest moment!

(Photo: The "Paper Clip" on the Witch Hole Pond Loop in Acadia National Park.)

Maine Outdoor Journal article

Here's a nice new article from the Maine Outdoor Journal about cross-country skiing in Acadia:

http://maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=308989&ac=Outdoors

Lots of Nice New Snow

Yesterday and today it snowed all day, leaving a lovely six inches of powder so far. The forecast is for a total accumulation of 8-12 inches by the end of tomorrow.

I was able to ski for an hour today though it was almost too warm, just under 30 degrees F. Again because I am so out of shape I skied from Brown Mountain Gatehouse (Signpost 18) to the Hadlock Brook Bridge (halfway toward Signpost 13) and back, about 2 miles.

My waxless skis usually stick to the snow when it's warmer than 27 degrees and I had to remove my skis a couple of times to scrape off the snow. Once when the AWTA volunteer was coming by on the snowmobile I had to stand off to the side in the deep snow to get out of his way, and then I was stuck again and had to remove the skis and scrape them off, then unclog the snow from the clip on my boots, etc. But I'm not complaining! The AWTA is doing a heckuva job this year.

In short, it was warm, snowing, I was getting stuck a little, but the cross-country skiing in Acadia today was as lovely as ever.

There must be a better technique for getting the snow unstuck from the bottom of your waxless skis. I have tried the Swix wax for waxless skis and it only works for a few minutes, so hasn't been a good solution, not for me anyway. Here's an article I found at Cross Country Skier that might help. http://www.crosscountryskier.com/kick_and_glide_nov_2003.html

I have the Swix base cleaner so I will see if cleaning the base helps. Enjoy the snow!

Hooray! First Ski of the Season.

Today after a nearly three-week bout with the flu I finally got out there and skied for an hour at the Upper Hadlock Pond Loop. I am really out of shape, still not at 100% lung power, and about 20 lbs. heavier than the last time I skied probably 9 months ago, so I wanted to take it really easy. Being a conscientious self-coach, I told myself to ski only in the tracks (because I wasn't sure I'd be steady on skis yet), to go slowly (because I didn't want to collapse into a coughing fit), and to ski for only an hour. My plan was to ski just from Brown Mountain Gatehouse (Signpost 18) on the lower part of the loop to the Hadlock Brook Bridge, a total distance of about two miles.

Conditions were pretty darn good. (My apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but it was taken with a cell phone and it's the only shot I have of that particular stretch of Carriage Road alongside Upper Hadlock Pond.)We have about a foot of snow on the ground but it hasn't snowed for about a week, so the tracks were a little icy and grimy in places. The center was better and had about an inch of powder on it, very good for skate skiing. It was about 20 degrees out and overcast. I warmed up in 10 minutes. I found I wasn't as unsteady as I thought I would be and my mood improved 100% after skiing for 1/2 an hour. The trail was nicely tracked. Thanks Acadia Winter Trails Association. I'll be back tomorrow.

Dying to get out there and ski!

There's a foot of snow on the ground, conditions are perfect and, according to the Grooming Chart (http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/crosscountryskiing.htm), all of the carriage trails have been groomed, but I regret to say I haven't been out skiing yet due to the flu! I am still at about only 65% lung power, but I'm pretty sure I'll be skiing the Upper Hadlock Loop tomorrow if the weather holds, which it surely will. Until then I thought I'd post some pictures from last year to keep myself psyched!