Day 89 - walking around Dallas Fort Worth airport

Well - that was interesting!

I had a trip planned to Indonesia, and then it got cancelled while I was en route to the destination. 

Fortunately, my first stop was at DFW, one of the country's largest airports. I walked between terminals A and D and came across this rather empty area celebrating American Airlines' employees and relatives of employees who serve our country. Thanks for your service!

Day 88 - semi spring at Sugarbush (March 29)

It was an amazingly clear day at Sugarbush Sunday. We could see the Adirondacks in the distance!

The groomers at Mt Ellen were skiing with West Coast smoothness, and the trees were not bad as long as we stayed at higher elevations. We made sure to hit our favorite run at Mt. Ellen, Exterminator Woods, since it was our last day on Mt. Ellen for the season. Next weekend, we will be home for Easter.

After lunch we headed to Lincoln Peak, where winter was in full force at the top of the mountain, but spring was starting appear off of the Gatehouse lift. The hero bumps were pretty good on Waterfall!

We finished off the day with a Slidebrook run with Doug. The top was good. The bottom was pretty challenging for me! Poor Katie and Doug had to wait while I adapted the full defensive mode.

Day 37 of snowboarding this season. 

Yes - those are the Adirondacks in the distance!

Katie on Highway 21

Katie at the top of Panorama

The view from the Summit lift at Mt. Ellen

Day 87 (March 28) - Quick hike out to the resevoir

It was snowing Saturday, and I headed out to the reservoir in Winchester to capture a few shots of one of my favorite subjects, the red house. It was a nice hike before heading up to Vermont for snowboarding Sunday.

Starve: https://www.strava.com/activities/275240700

Day 86 - Winchester photo walk (March 27)

I was a bit challenged for time to find some activity, but I managed to get out for a couple of walks and take some photos of both Winchester Center and our neighborhood.

Documentation
https://www.strava.com/activities/274910599
https://www.strava.com/activities/274928703

East Hill neighborhood

Water wheel at Griffin Photography Museum

Birch between buildings, Winchester Center

Day 85 - bushwhacking and sliding on slush

Oof! Today was a difficult hike that involved lots of bushwhacking near Medford High School and lots of concentration due to sliding around on the slush a bunch.

It was bright, but overcast, so I was able to capture a few interesting photos of the trees and defrosting ponds. It wasn't too cold, and the birds were very loud in the woods, so all signs point to the start of spring! All the photos were taken with the Sony A6000 with the Sigma 19mm prime lens.

Proof: https://www.strava.com/activities/274371372

Another leaf waiting to come free from its frozen state

Fascinating intersection of trees

Same trees, different angle

Same trees, different angle, out of focus (on purpose)

These trees aren't actually touching...

Day 84 - concentration hike

Anita and I went for an "unlogged by Strava" hike this morning in the Fells. The ground was firm, but we still had to concentrate to avoid sinking into the bootpack. At one point early in the walk we heard this very loud pecking noise on the tree. When we looked up, there was a huge woodpecker with bright plumage straight overhead.

The spring light was lovely, and I was able to capture a few nice photos with the Sony A6000 combined with the Sony 35mm prime lens. 

Spring tree

Headed towards the lake

Woodpecker

Day 83 - last day in the Fells until trail closures are over April 17

I learned today that the Fells are closed for the season until April 17 to allow the snow to melt. It will be a difficult three weeks, but it was good to get a ride in and actually do a little bit of single track around the resevoir. 


If you look carefully at the Strava page, you'll see I was riding ON the reservoir for a brief period of time. It was a bit slippery and scary, but at least it wasn't making any booming noises like on previous rides.

Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/273320266

Low hanging tree 

Spring clouds from the frozen reservoir

Selfie on ice

Work hard, play hard, but don't party with predators!

Day 82 - bike ride fail (March 23)

Oops! It was below freezing, but the sun came out and slushified the snow, making a ride attempt pretty much a failure. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/273035273

Day 81 - full on winter!

Katie and I had a nice wintery day at Sugarbush. We got first tracks on a bunch of runs. At the end of the day we skied with Doug, which was very fun since he knows the mountain so well. We went into some woods sections we had never done before. We'll have to try them out some more next weekend!

Day 36 of snowboarding

Katie at the top of sunrise

Shadows of North Lynx lift chairs

Organgrinder to the valley

Day 80 - group bike ride! Saturday March 21

We had a pretty interesting group bike ride in the semi-frozen snow, which meant lots of crashes, sudden stops, swearing, and cheering for our friends.

Strava log: https://www.strava.com/activities/271680052

Matt gritting his teeth on the way to Breakheart reservation

Dangerous ice!

Where we are

Day 79 - hiking frozen slippery ground

If ever was there a day for yak tracks, today was it! The ground was quite frozen and slippery. The light was terrible. Most of the photos came out poorly. These two were just ok...

https://www.strava.com/activities/271376776

Broken tree

Texting

Day 75 - crazy boottracks in the Fells

Oops - forgot an entry. On Monday, Anita and I had a very nice hike in the Fells. Nice except that the boot tracks were deep!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/269106533

Day 78 - demo day at Cannon

I went back to Cannon mountain for the first time in 2 years today. The mountain seems much smaller after being at Sugarbush for the last two seasons. The conditions were okay but a bit wind scoured, and the trees didn't have much coverage. But overall, it was a fun day, and I got a chance to demo a couple of snowboards - Rome Mountain Expedition and Jones Ultracraft. I really liked the Jones - I'll have to get one in a couple of seasons.

Photos are kind of lame... snapshots...

Day 35 of snowboarding

Day 77 (March 18) - photographing industrial parks?

Yesterday I went out for a ~2 mile hike through the industrial park near my hotel and attempted to find some subject material to photograph. Fortunately, I came across some interesting subject material, which you can see below.

https://www.strava.com/activities/270119406

Abandoned shed

Three trees in an industrial park

Day 76 - awake for too many hours

It is now 11PM, and I was up at 4AM. 19 hours is too much waking time for me for certain!

It was a bit of a sad day regarding activity. I went on a walk from Arlington, Virginia to Washington DC over the Francis Scott Key bridge, which was not even two miles. And then I did a bunch of walking in the airports at the arrival and departure end. Pathetically, I am going to use the ~12000 steps I took as "proof" that I actually did some activity. The photo walk along the bridge is pretty underwhelming as well:
https://www.strava.com/activities/269896318

Dulles sunrise

Francis Scott Key bridge

Leaving the Capitol

Day 74 - fresh snow and an adventure

The snow was falling today at Sugarbush. The main trails at the resort ranged from decent to downright awful. Katie and I spent a lot of time in the woods, where conditions were pretty good to just short of spectacular, as can be seen from the photos below shot with the Sony A6000 and 35mm prime lens.

The really interesting story of the day, however, was our last run of the day. We decided to head into the woods in Middle Earth to skier's left. I had done this with my friend Rob on a couple of occasions last week, so I knew it would be fun. However, at a critical juncture, we greatly extended the run and headed to skier's left instead of exiting the woods to skier's right.

The first sign that we might be off track came when I told Katie I had to slow down to avoid a sinkhole with a small pool of water showing. However, we came into a beautiful field of powder with sparsely spaced trees and continued to skier's left. The problem was that after we exited that section, we were sent down a chute and were looking down at a gulley.

I told Katie we could either hike back up or try to continue down the gulley. We decided upon the latter. The gulley was really a river, and we were basically going very slowly next to it, skiing and riding what we could, all while trying to avoid falling into the numerous sinkholes. At one point, we crossed from the left side of the gulley to the right, and then we started heading uphill. That was fine for Katie on skis, but it took me a while in the snowboard, since I had to get out, and when I tried to walk, I was sinking to my waist. We were more than a tad bit worried, so I pulled out the Sugarbush app to locate us. It seemed like we were headed towards a trail we knew, which was a relief.

At that point, we kept on going, but didn't see any signs of a trail. Finally, Katie spotted a trail we knew. But it took me a while to catch up with her due to my slow progress in the deep snow. Finally, I caught up with her and we both made it out. Fortunately, there was plenty of snow, and it was only 3PM in the Spring, so it wasn't too late in the day. We were glad to make it out...

Unfortunately I don't have photos to document the adventure. Katie and I both thought about getting the camera out, but we were actually much more concerned about just trying to get out that taking photos. It was lovely, but you'll just have to take our word for it.

Day 34 of snowboarding

Day 73 - snowboarding the freeze after the thaw

For what seems like the first time all season, a thaw happened mid week and then the refreeze occurred prior to the weekend at Sugarbush. Katie and I had a great day on the groomers with my friend Mark in the morning. In the afternoon, we did a bunch of runs our housemates and friends Amy, Doug and Donna. And for the last run of the day, we followed our friend Robert's advice and headed into the woods. It was much better than we expected and Robert was right - fun times!

Day 33 of snowboarding

Friends in the fog

Katie ripping through the Spillsville woods

Day 72 (March 13) riding on the reservoir

Friday the 13th! Dave and I attempted to ride some of the deep boot holes in the Fells. It wasn't that great. He smartly bailed. I decided to forge ahead. Maybe not so smart. Lots of sections were not that great, but it turned out that the untouched sections next to the trails were best. And I got onto the ice. The ice actually made some loud noises when I was out on it. It was scary. But fortunately, I was able to take one picture, and it was a good one. Sony NEX-F3 / Sigma 19mm

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/267409174

Selfie on the lake

Day 71 - sunrise action

After yesterday's sink-fest, I figured that if I was going to head out into the woods, I should have snowshoes. It was a good decision for both the reason I expected and also for the unexpected snow-free icy surface on the reservoir. That was a nice place to take some photos early this morning. It was just great seeing everything unfold.

Starve: https://www.strava.com/activities/266919917

Cloud family

Lone lead

Buried leaf

Day 70 - sinking to our knees

Things are melting. Fast. Which means that firm snow is now a trap for our feet. And ankles. And knees! Anita and I were giggling with all the sinking we did on our hike today. Great fun.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/266496042

Anita spotted these dew drops and wanted a picture. Here we go!

I love the pine needles on a winter's day!