Snowshoeing Watatic

(c) Roger Leo

Enjoying the snow while it's still falling is a good idea this winter of little snow and lots of thaw. This day, the route was up Watatic and over to Nutting Hill, both in Ashburnham, Mass. My friend used Atlas Elektra 1025s -- a women's snowshoe -- and Black Diamond poles, and wore a Camelbak. I was on Atlas 1030s with Exel backcountry poles.

Icy trail

(c) Roger Leo

A dash up Mount Wachusett in Princeton, Mass., this morning found the Pine Hill Trail fairly icy, and the Mountain House Trail fairly ice-free but sopping, with every sign of icing up with the weekend’s bitter temperatures.
A friend and I abandoned the Pine Hill because our ice gear was safely at home – after we both had vowed never to be caught without it – and opted instead for the Mountain House.
It was a good decision.
Maybe we’ll be wiser next time. But you never know.