white mtns

I have been looking forward to a long ski tour of the white mountains for YEARS now, but especially the last few months I was SO excited for this trip... but mother nature wasn't very cooperative and we had to cancel the trip. It was much too cold for Kristen and Ned to travel with the baby, and while I thought about going alone - I only lasted ~ 10 miles in the brutal cold wind before I bailed myself. But it wasn't a total bust, the wind finally died down and I went out for the last night of the trip and skied a 38 mile loop (the original trip plan was 75 miles/5 days). The trail conditions were awesome - no backwash! just great skating.

It's hard to explain the appeal of the white mountains... they're nothing like the white mountains in my backyard in Maine. The landscape is vast - 1 million acres of wilderness. And at any particular point it feels like the view goes on for at least 1/2 million acres. Just rolling hills, and motley and monotous stands of black spruce. In March, the sun reflects off that million acres of snow and the warmth is intense. For a deprived Fairbanksan, it really thaws you somehow, and makes the winter misery seem easily worth it.