Trip Report - Sections 5, 6, 7, 8 January 19-22

[Rick Molz]

Hi everyone

My apology for posting the wrong dates for this trip (January 12 to 15 was not correct). The outing was a success, mainly due to the great people who joined in!

Section 5 on Saturday was skied by Pete, Dagny, Rick & Jill. It was quite crusty; Pete's boots took some heavy abuse. There was a bit of open water but plenty of snow. The crust was not friendly.

Section 6 on Sunday was a repeat of section 5 with the same people and generally the same conditions.

Section 8 we skied on Monday, the original four with the addition of Andrew and Todd. This was the nicest ski of the four days. There was still some crust, but it was not as thick and unforgiving. It had been colder the night before, so there was less open water. The long downhill on the snowmobile trail at the end was a cruise.

We skied the northern half of section 7 on Tuesday. This section was Todd, Jill and Rick. The crust was not too bad, and there was little open water.

All in all a very good four days of skiing, thanks to the great people who joined Jill and me. The crust certainly added some challenge, but the Catamount trail is all about challenge and enjoying the great wilderness of Vermont.

We hope to do section 12 on a weekday in the middle of February. Please contact me at rickmolz@yahoo.com if you would like more information.

Rick

[Todd H]

Good skiing with you guys on the 21st and 22nd. That was a nice tour through an interesting mix of places. At times we were deep in National Forest, at others in neighborhoods. The trail went by the site of an old homestead, then by an interesting stone ruin, and then by a Golden Lab (who bid us a friendly good morning). The headwaters of Utley Brook is a particularly nice area. After insisting on a good climb, the trail rewarded us with beautiful scenery around Moses Pond and then a zippy descent down Jenny Coolidge Road.


photos below are:

1. River Otters know how to deal with breakable crust.
2. Dagny and Pete between Root Beer Ridge and Peabody Hill.
3. Farm, Peru-Landgrove line.