On President's Day weekend, Leesa and I made the time to go see my mom & dad and brother Robert in Vernon, CT. We get down there a half dozen times a year or so, but time this time instead of just visiting at the house, we brought our cross country skis to do a little skiing. Vernon has been blessed with more snow this winter than the Adirondacks and we've been anxious to get out there.
My dad is an avid XC skier and he still gets around pretty good (he was moving faster than Leesa). He still does some work with various trail groups and maintains quite a few miles of trails.
He took us to two different places in the morning and then we went to the Bolton-Vernon rail trail in the afternoon. We didn't take a lunch break because the wind chill was supposed to get to -20 degrees late in the afternoon. We wanted to be out as long as possible in the sunshine while it was still bearable.
We started at Bolton Notch and skied 4 miles to Valley Falls Park in Vernon. In not usually a big fan of skiing on rail trails because they are too flat for my taste. I like rolling terrain better in general, but this rail trail has gorgeous scenery and it's just a fun place to go.
I didn't think to take many pictures (I only have three), but it's not because of a lack of scenery.
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| My dad heading south near Bolton Notch |
The most scenic part of the trail is the southern half, but the whole trail is a delight. The best part for me was getting to ski with my dad. Since we live 3 hours apart, we haven't skied together in a long time. It was nice to get out with him. He loves XC skiing just as much as I do. He is out every chance he can.
After we finished this 8 miles of skiing, we went back to the house. Wprobably did a total of 12 miles of skiing. That was enough for this cold day.
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| Icicles on the cliffs near Bolton Notch |
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| The route (click image to enlarge). |
My house is on that map!
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