Furnace Brook, Short Path, Fox Hill Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Furnace Brook, Short Path, Fox Hill Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: Tracing Loopty-Loop

Distance: 5.30 miles

Elevation: 551 feet

Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace (2x), 52 Hike Challenge 2026; Blue Hills Grid

The Hike 

The plan for today was to ski at Magic Mountain, but with ambient temperatures of -10°F and forecasted wind, we decided we didn't want to drive three hours both ways to freeze. Instead, I have a lovely introverted day and made way back over to the Blue Hills, where it was a balmy 6°F! I had already completed the St. Moritz Area, so I planned to finish the trails east of Fox Hill/Little Dome today. Based on my last hike, I started in snow shoes, which were beyond necessary. There were no clouds, abundant sun, a fresh coating of 2-3" of snow, and just a slight breeze.

I am getting a sick joy in packing down a choppy trail, which is just what I did with the Shawmut Path and the connector to the Skyline Trail along Rattlesnake Hill (even though I tripped on myself and went down into 2' of unconsolidated snow). 

My Nano Puff came off in the Rattlesnake/Crags col. The only cold part of me were my toes, which warmed up after about 20 minutes. I did buy the snow gaiters, but they hadn't come in yet, so my ankles where already coated in snow. I also think I might buy some earmuffs...

There was a cold headwind on the Old Furnace Brook Trail but there was no breeze on the Short Path, which actually had me almost breaking a sweat! I found myself really enjoying these last few snowshoe hikes. I feel like they're helping build my confidence for when I get back up to the Whites (more on that soon...). Also, these COLD temperatures we've been getting in the Boston area have also been conditioning me.

There were MANY deer tracks all around Fox Hill, and it looked like the path descending off the summit was not yet broken out... I might go for it later... I passed the first people of the day at 11am and they were three snowshoers who were really cruising. Once I made it to the Great Dome Foot Path I noticed that it was 100% unbroken (well, 99%, one deer had traveled the path in the past week). I decided it was time to truly break trail for the first time!

I sunk about a foot with each step, but the snowpack was at about two feet, so the snowshoes were doing their job! To my delight, the single deer actually followed the foot path perfectly, which is crazy to me. I stumbled over a few logs and rocks, but otherwise it was smooth, slow sailing. I was starting to break a sweat, though! I descended to the Pine Tree Brook, carefully crossed it, and then truly stumbled up the embankment on the other side with my televators (and following the deer tracks still!). I was HUFFING and PUFFING at this point, but feeling good! It felt really cool to be surrounded by just a blanket of snow. 

There was one set of old tracks on the Pine Tree Brook Path, or I thought there were... it was another deer! More breaking out! Thankfully the snow wasn't too heavy. The White Tail Path was also untraveled, and I think I truly did a horrible job following the trail up. I basically zig-zagged up the shoulder and then did my best to follow the dotted line on AllTrails. I felt a huge relief once on the Fox Hill Path, which had a dusting of snow on a firmer trench. 

But don't worry, I was back to only deer tracks for my descent. I made it to the little knob before truly descending, and saw one of the deer in question! After that knob, the deer tracks fully disappeared and I was on my own. Again, I did the best I could, but definitely did not thrive. For the final steep descent I felt like I was basically moon walking down the hill! I did get a cool view of the Crags, which was nice.

The last stretch of trail I needed for the day was the little loops near the Pipeline between Wampatuck and Fox Hills, which were also mostly unbroken... I was tired! It was good to know how breaking trail felt and how it impacted my body. I did a little bit of retracing my steps at the end to avoid the Skyline Trail up and over the Crags, and then I was back at the car! My socks were soaked and snowballs were frozen to the tops of my boots. It was a toasty 19°F once back at the car, and I was feeling tired, but good!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Shawmut Path trailhead.

- Start hike at Shawmut Path.

- At Crags Foot Path (green), turn around.

- At jct., turn right toward Rattlesnake Hill/Skyline Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Skyline Trail. 

- In col between Crags and Rattlesnake Hill, turn right.

- At terminus, turn left onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At jct., turn left onto Crag Trail.

- At 4135, turn left onto Indian Camp Path.

- At 4155, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- After, continue left onto Crags Foot Path.

- At 4145, turn right onto Old Furnace Brook Path.

- At 4180, turn left onto Sawcut Notch Path.

- At 4133, turn left onto Short Path.

- At 4124, turn left onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At 4142, turn right onto Furnace Brook Trail.

- At 4120, turn right onto Indian Camp Path (green).

- At 4090, turn left onto Great Dome Foot Path.

- At 4073, turn right onto Pine Tree Brook Path.

- At 4080, turn left onto White Tail Path.

- At 4096, turn right onto Fox Hill Path.

- At Fox Hill Summit, turn left and descend on path.

- At 4120, turn right onto Indian Camp Path (green).

- At 4135, turn right onto Pipe Line.

- Hike network of trails around the southern Pipe Line, then turn around and return to 4135.

- At 4135, continue off of Pipe Line onto Crag Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At next jct., turn right.

- At terminus, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- At next jct., turn right.

- At terminus, turn right onto Shawmut Trail.

- Follow Shawmut Trail to car.

Blue Hills Reservation Map

Photo Album

Skiing Pats Peak (Day 18/Indy Day 15)

Skiing Pats Peak

Saturday, February 7th, 2026

Runs: 16

Distance: 11.27 miles

Elevation: 9,245 feet

Max Speed: 27.9 mph

Avg. Speed: 11.0 mph

Moving Time: 1hour, 1 minutes, 38 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 29 minutes, 6 seconds

Time for Gen's return to skiing! After our Maine vacation last year, her granfather got injured, and then became sick, and then... well, you know, so her season was over without her really knowing. This year, she wasn't able to start skiing with the rest of us because of a wrist injury that required surgery, but she texted me asking if I'd be down to go skiing with her before vacation next week so she can dust off the cobwebs, and of course I said yes! We decided to hit up Pats Peak, one because of its accessibility (driving & skiing-wise), but also because that's famously where we were headed when my car flew off the highway last winter - redemption part two!

Our drive was dreadfully slow due to a surprise few inches of snow that New Hampshire seemed to ignore - it took us about two hours to get to Hooksett (and I was having a CODE: BROWN for the last hour, it was stressful!) with about three decently bad accidents on the way. Hooksett to Pats was much better, but the back roads to the ski area were still decently slippery. I did not get the princess parking I had last time, which was a bummer that I accepted. We waited in a long line of cars to park, grabbed our gear, got our Indy's, and then booted up in the Valley Lodge and left our bags outside - it was snowing the whole time, which was exciting! After a slow boot up we headed outside and had our eyes set on the Triple! We were on the lookout for Sarah, her Mom, her brother, and his girlfriend, too!

Snow Report

The hard work of our snowmaking team throughout the season, combined with nightly grooming, has the mountain in great shape for mid-winter skiing and riding. With colder temperatures, please remember to bundle up and protect exposed skin.

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Zephyr - Blast

[1.08 mi; 5:56; 751 feet; 19.4 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]

Run 2: Peak Triple Chair - Backdraft

[0.43 mi; 2:33; 289 feet; 17.3 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]

Run 3: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Zephyr Woods - Blast

[1.25 mi; 6:05; 827 feet; 21.1 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]

Run #1 and Goal #1 was for Gen to remember how to ski (and have a good time getting down the hill!). We followed the easiest way down down Breezy, Zephyr, and Blast. To my delight, the snow was absolutely wonderful! We'd ski one segment at a time and see how it goes. The first third of the run Gen skied super cautiously but started to get her groove back for the second half. The runout of Blast is beautiful with some tree islands, but otherwise pretty flat and slow, so nothing crazy there!

It was after 10:00am when it was time for Run #2, so we headed down Backdraft to Cascade Basin, which was a mistake! Everyone else had our idea, so we waited in a long line for the Cascade Basin Triple and then skied back via Crosswind, Zephyr, Zephyr Woods, and Blast. Since I was going slower waiting for Gen (not mad about it in the slightest!), I was really focusing on making good turns in both short and wide radiuses (radii?) - the snow was NICE. The Zephyr Woods were even easier than last time since the trenches were filled in - I love that they're a signed double black - they're flat and WIDE open. I guess a good deterrent for fearless kids, though (maybe...)!

Runs 4-6

Run 4: Hurricane Quad Chair - East Wind - Lower East Wind - Lower Tornado

[0.86 mi; 4:22; 758 feet; 24.1 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]

Run 5: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Squall Line - Lower Tornado

[0.97 mi; 4:43; 751 feet; 22.2 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]

We found Sarah and company at the top of Run #4! They were all super excited to see Gen since it had been so long. Initially we thought about skiing together, but I told them we were going to be slow slow and to not wait for us. Mom said we could all rendez-vous at the bottom. We went down Gen's first blue of her great return - East Wind, and it went well! She said it was a good challenge. I enjoyed it for the deeper snow on the edges of the trail. We maneuvered our way down and I was going to tell Sarah and family to not wait for us and we'd see them later, and they got the memo because they were already on the lift! I waved to them as they went up.

Run #5 was our final run on this side of the hill (aside from the black runs) - Breeze to Squall Line to Lower Tornado. It was a solid run! Snow was still good, the hill wasn't TOO crowded, and Gen was having fun! We skied across the lodge area and ended up at the Turbulance side for a few more runs before lunch.

Runs 7-8

Run 7: Valley Double Chair - Puff - Glades - Puff

[0.56 mi; 2:55; 348 feet; 19.8 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]

Run 8: Turbulance Triple Chair - Turbulance

[0.48 mi; 3:08; 400 feet; 22.7 mph max; 9.3 mph avg]

In the spirit of avoiding parks, we hit just two runs on this half of the hill. Run #7 was up the Valley Double and down Puff (I took a detour through the glades, which was similarly wildly easy), and then we went up the Turbulance Triple and followed Turbulance back to the Valley Lodge, which was a wonderful run with immaculate show! Gen had a good time dodging the lift towers.

Lunch involved sitting, hydrating, and eating my cold breakfast sandwich (our bags were buried in snow being outside all day). Gen was feeling good and said the words "I like skiing," which wasn't a surprise, but good to know that it still reigns true!

Runs 9-13

Run 9: Hurricane Quad Chair - Backdraft

[0.44 mi; 2:57; 292 feet; 20.6 mph max; 8.9 mph avg]

Run 10: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Cascade Brook

[0.43 mi; 2:19; 371 feet; 18.8 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]

Run 11: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Blizzard - Blizzard Woods - Cascade Brook

[0.40 mi; 2:40; 364 feet; 19.2 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]

Run 12: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Temptest (Black)

[0.37 mi; 1:39; 371 feet; 26.7 mph max; 13.4 mph avg

Run 13: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Lower East Wind - Squall Line - Lower Tornado

[1.28 mi; 6:23; 853 feet; 25.2 mph max; 12.0 mph avg]

Now that we were in the afternoon, it was time to get back to Cascade Basin! It was also at least 10 degrees colder than it was before, which was surprising and uncomfortable. Run #9 was up the Hurricane Quad and down Backdraft, which was still in great shape. Runs #10-13 were all on the Cascade Basin Triple, and all lovely! Cascade Brook continues to be a favorite, although I wish it was longer. Gen and I went down Blizzard, and I jumped into the Blizzard Woods, which was closer to a more traditional glade, but it was at low tide which made for some surprising turns. Run #12 was down Temptest (I encouraged Gen to go down the black side, especially because it was eaiser than many blues she's done at Jay, but she was psyched out - it was FUN), and finally we made the long return trip down Crosswind back to the main area. 

Runs 14-16

Run 14: Hurricane Quad Chair - Duster - Squall Line

[0.68 mi; 4:05; 699 feet; 22.2 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

Run 15: Vortex Double Chair - Cyclone - Squall Line

[0.61 mi; 3:21; 682 feet; 21.4 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]

Run 16: Vortex Double Chair - Tornado - Squall Line

[0.62 mi; 4:01; 738 feet; 27.9 mph max; 9.2 mph avg]

At this point, we were cold and tired. Gen called her two more skip the last and I said "eh maybe." Sarah was able to meet up with us for this run, so it was nice to share Gen's last run with her! For Gen's final run we followed Duster to Squall Line. Duster had some excellent bumps on the right side, but a kid was going super slow so I had to bail on them halfway down. The middle was a bit skied off, but overall it still was a solid run. We said goodbye to Gen, and Sarah and I decided to hop on the Vortex Double to hit a couple steeps before I called it (I was COLD). Run #15 was down Cyclone, which was a little scratchy, but it was fun to go fast! My final run, Run #16, was down Tornado since we saw some bumps from the bottom, and we didn't regret it, but we didn't jump for joy either... The upper half was scratchy and the bumps were skied out in the middle, which made for some adventure skiing. 

Afterwards, Gen and I booted... off? and we got a famous BIG cookie (it was DELICIOUS). We did our chores, hit the gift shop (I got a sticker and immediately lost it...) and we slowly made our way back home, with a quick stop to Taco Bell in Lawrence. It was so good to have Gen back, and she seemed to enjoy it just as much, if not more!

Map of Pats Peak

St. Moritz & Green Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

St. Moritz & Green Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: oooO Loop

Distance: 4.35 miles

Elevation: 371feet

Time: 1 hour, 51 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace (2x), 52 Hike Challenge 2026

The Hike 

After a wonderful day at Waterville Valley yesterday, I needed a quiet, introverted day. I somehow took another sick day and decided to spent part of the day back at the Blue Hills to continue tracing the Quincy side of the park. It was a sunny day in the mid 20s and I made it to the Shea Memorial Rink parking lot a little after 10:00am. To my dismay, a Quincy Trial Court van popped up with folks doing what I assumed to be court-mandated community service by chiseling out the snow bank blocking the Skyline Trail entrance. To avoid any akward intersactions, I followed a broken out side path down alongside the tennis courts to the dam between the St. Moritz Ponds. I meandered my way to minichiello Path and then onto the Pipe Line, which had a nice trench going.

I made the decision to finish up the St. Moritz area before crossing Wampatuck Road, so I made my way down Murphy Path and then hit the Ski Jump and Obbatineway Paths on the return trip, all which needed snowshoes. I decided to keep the shoes on for the rest of the hike, even though it felt goofy walking across Wampatuck Road in them (I was just too lazy to take them off and put them back on again! The bit of the green loop that paralleled Wampatuck Road was in brutal shape, mostly made up of frozen, postholed slush.

The Pipeline on the other side of Wampatuck Road only had a cross-country ski track in them, so I had a flirting with breaking trail which was just uncomfortable. I ended up taking my puffy and fleece off for this stretch (and most of the rest of the hike). It got a little better after the Skyline junction, but it was FAR from a superhighway!

I clumsily navigated some blow downs, which was tricky in snowshoes, but it was wildly satisfying to look back at the neat trail behind me. There were occasional deer tracks in the trench and criss-crossing the trails, which was fun to see. 

If this hike taught me one thing it was that I really needed to buy snow gaiters (purchased immediately after the hike) - my socks were SOAKED. Thankfully they were not cold! The green loop once off of the Pipeline was more traveled but wildly choppy and unconsolidated, so the snowshoes continued to stay on for the remaineder of the hike. I only passed one person near the end of my travels. I took the snowshoes off to cross Wampatuck Road for the second time and bare booted it back to the car. Overall a solid hike, and I was learning to enjoy the snowshoes!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Shea Memorial Rink.

- Follow footpath from west corner of parking lot to St. Moritz Ponds' dam.

- At dam, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Minichiello Path (green).

- At 4205, turn left onto Pipe Line. 

- At 4202, turn right onto Murphy Path.

- At 4220, turn sharply right onto Pipe Line.

- At 4205, turn right onto Ski Jump Path.

- At terminus, turn left onto Murphy Path.

- At jct., turn left onto Obbatinewat Path.

- At terminus, turn righ tonto Pipe Line.

- At Wampatuck Road, cross Wampatuck Road.

- Continue on Indian Camp Path (green).

- Follow green dots all the way back to the dam.

- At dam, follow path back to west corner of the parking lot.

Blue Hills Reservation Map

Photo Album

Skiing Waterville Valley (Day 17/Indy Day 14)

Skiing Waterville Valley

Wednesday, February 4th, 2026

Runs: 11

Distance: 12.19 miles

Elevation: 13,743 feet

Max Speed: 38.2 mph

Avg. Speed: 14.2 mph

Moving Time: 54 minutes, 50 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 48 minutes, 55 seconds

A few months ago, Indy Pass launched the "Learn to Turn" program, which granted participants three days of beginner lessons, lift tickets, and rentals for $189 (or $149 if they knew someone with an Indy Pass like me!). I mentioned this to Ray and he was immediately on board - yay! We wanted to redeem his first lesson at Jay Peak a couple weekends ago, but the -30 forecast deterred us (and the mountain ended up shutting down for the day). We couldn't make any weekends work, so we opted for a week day! Emma and Patrol Sarah drove down from Vermont to join us, too!

Ray and I had a relatively pain-free drive up to Waterville Valley, arriving soon after 9:00am. We got into the lodge and I got Ray all set up with clothing before we went over to the rental shop to get his gear. We got him a "1st Day of School" sign to take photos with, which was an EXCELLENT touch! Once he was booted up we went back into the lodge for final preperations, and that's when Emma and Sarah landed! We got some family photos, walked him to the lesson rendez-vous spot, took a few more photos, and then dropped him off with his instructor, St. Nick from the North Pole. Since it was a Wednesday, he got a private lesson with the man himself!

After we dropped him off, the three of us went inside to boot up and get some runs in. We were on the lifts around 10:15am with beers in pockets and ready to have a super fun day! It was chilly, but the sun was poking through snowglobe skies.

Alpine Snow Report

Current Weather: 13F, Snow Showers. Updated 8:41AM February 04 2026

This morning we have received a surprise inch of snow with flurries still coming down! Don't forget to check our Ski & Stay packages we're running through February - get discounted lift tickets included with your stays making it easy to book that trip to Waterville! Lifts open today at 9am.

Trails and Lifts: We plan to open with 58 trails on 252 acres of skiable terrain. For lifts we anticipate spinning: Tecumseh Express, Green Peak Triple, Valley Run Quad, Exhibition T-Bar, High Country T-Bar, Lower Meadows, and the Lower Pasture Carpet.

Anticipated Lift Hours: Tecumseh Express 9am-4pm. Valley Run 9am-4pm. Green Peak 9:30am-3:45pm. Exhibition T-Bar 9am-4pm (4-5:40pm for PRHS training). High Country 9:05am-3:45pm. Lower Meadows 9am-4pm. Lower Carpet 9am-4pm.

Snowmaking and Mountain Operations: Snowmaking is shutting down the system for the rest of the season this morning. Shoutout to our snowmakers! Without the hard work of our mountain operations teams day in and day out and night in and night out, we wouldn't have the excellent skiing conditions we're enjoying today.

Conditions and Weather: We anticipate partly cloudy skies today with temperatures expected to reach a high of 21 degrees at the base and 13 degrees at the summit. Northwest winds are expected to reach 14-20 mph at the base and 20-35mph at the summit.

Terrain Parks: The Exhibition Terrain Park is open, featuring 6 rails, 2 medium jumps, and 2 large jumps! The Fun Run, Banked Slalom Course, and the Boardercross Course are open. The High Country Park rails are now removed leaving 2 medium jumps. We also have 2 small rails and 2 small boxes on The Pasture! Finally, there is a terrain park being built over the next week on Stillness!

Runs 1-4

Run 1: Tecumseh Express - High Country T-Bar - Hassle - Oblivion - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[2.02 miles; 6:11; 2,113 feet; 37.4 mph max; 19.6 mph avg]

Run 2: Tecumseh Express - Tangent - Periphery - The Boneyard - Lower Periphery - The Pasture

[1.50 miles; 6:48; 1,765 feet; 24.3 mph max; 13.2 mph avg]

Run 3: Lower Meadows - Stemtation

[0.23 miles; 1:25; 177 feet; 24.3 mph max; 9.7 mph avg]

Run 4: Lower Meadows - Baseway

[Not on Strava]

Our first run of the day was simply to be good friends to Ray. He had bough a full-mountain lift ticket becuase he wanted to ski after his lesson, and his pass only came with carpet access. We took the six-pack up and then the T-Bar to the tippy top, skied the skier's right side of Hassle down (which was not a park run, just a groomer), and then took the easiest way down via Oblivion. I remember the initial entrance to this run being daunting as a beginner, and the headwall was an additional challenge. The snow was in GOOD shape, and depending on how the lesson went there was a chance we would bring him up here... to be determined! We absolutely bombed it down Oblivion and Valley Run, which felt fun to go fast after a bunch of days of more technical skiing.

Run #2 went down the other side of the mountain. We hopped on Tangent because it said natural snow and... it sucked. Periphery was scratchy, but the bumps on the right side of Boneyard were mostly good! We followed Lower Periphery and hoped to catch Ray mid-lesson on The Pasture, but instead we found an empty slope and a baby park. Naturally, we all hit the two boxes. We figured he must be at the Lower Meadows double, so we skied down there and found him! He didn't seem thrilled to see us, but St. Nick said he was doing a great job!

Run #3 was down Stemtation with the only goal to ski the fresh corduroy, and Run #4 was down Baseway to get back to the six-pack. Ray had about an hour left in his lesson.

Runs 5-6

Run 5: Tecumseh Express - Sun Run - True Grit - Fun Run - Rock Island

[1.20 miles; 4:50; 1,703 feet; 31.8 mph max; 14.9 mph avg]

Run 6: Tecumseh Express - Upper Bobby's Run - Lower Bobby's Run - Sugar Shack Glades - Rock Island

[1.22 miles; 9:23; 1,640 feet; 25.8 mph max; 7.8 mph avg]

Our next two runs were our adventure runs! Run #5 brought us down True Grit, which was steep and either scrapey or wonderful. I might need to get my edges done before I go to Maine... I'm still on an upwards trajectory with my technique, but it's slow and steady and steeps are typically where my carving goes back to skidding. We finished this run on "Fun Run" which had some nice banked turns and then Rock Island, which was... alarming? Firm ungroomed base which led to endless hard mini jumps and then a few rollers that were basically actual jumps... Exciting!

Run #6 was down Upper Bobby's, which was still set up for a mogul competition with a groomer track on the left side. The groomer track was actually in awesome shape. We dipped into the woods at the bottom at the Sugar Shack Glades, which were fine. We found the mythical Sugar Shack (we didn't know about it until we found it), skied through it, and then bailed as the woods got very tracked out and lowkey miserable afterwards! We finished with another bumpy lap down Rock Island.

We finished the run at 11:58am, which was perfect! We skied down to collect Ray and they were just a minute after us. St. Nick gave us the full parent report of how he did. He said Ray did a great job! He comically said "since you're patrollers I know you won't take him to the top of the mountain" while we were fully planning on taking him to the top... He also told stories of crashing at Brekenridge and going 70mph down the Jet at Jay. Santa! We collected Ray and all went in for lunch, which involved a pendant beverage and food from the Freestyle Lounge. 

Runs 7-8

Run 7: Green Peak Triple - Chandler's Way - South Street - Bourbon Street - Baseway

[1.10 miles; 5:52; 1,066 feet; 25.3 mph max; 11.2 mph avg]

Run 8: Green Peak Triple - Chandler's Way - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[1.03 miles; 6:09; 1,086 feet; 29.9 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

After a long lunch it was time to get back out there! We asked Ray if he wanted to go back to the double or hit the Green Peak Triple, and he was ready to level up! I remembered the easiest way down from the triple was genuintely easy, just longer than what he'd been doing. I was ready for some sleepy introvert time, so I sent Ray on the chair with Sarah and Emma and I rode solo. We congregated back at the top, and it was time to shred! The run was good, and Ray was doing great! Emma would give some pointers and ski ahead, and rinse and repeat! The only challenging part was that there were whales at the Wayne Wong Way intersection for Ray to navigate and that Chandler's Way was closed with whales at the end of Wayne Wong Way, so Ray had his first blue run - South Street - which was a perfect soft level up for him. Emma and I got a little silly and tried hugging and spinning while skiing to moderate success? We all got back to the triple eventually, and it was time for another!

Run #8 brought us back down Chandler's, but then we brought him to Valley Run. He initially said "oh my" at the "headwall," but he was completely fine once he did it. The rest of the run involved Ray making it down successfully, Sarah disappearing into the woods, and me really focusing on dropping my hip to carve. We checked in with Ray near the bottom, and he said he was feeling good! We proposed going all the way up, making note that there is one more difficult section, and he said he was game!

Runs 9-11

Run 9: Tecumseh Express - Oblivion - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[1.57 miles; 6:47; 1,729 feet; 34.8 mph max; 13.8 mph avg]

Run 10: Tecumseh Express - Obilivion - Upper Valley Run - Fun Run - Rock Island

[1.52 miles; 5:25; 1,709 feet; 32.2 mph max; 16.8 mph avg]

Run 11: Valley Run Quad - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[0.82 miles; 1:58; 755 feet; 38.2 mph max; 24.9 mph avg]

We hoped to get a drink at the Schwendi Hutte, but it was closed by the time we got there (~2pm on a Wednesday). Time to ski! Ray (and Sarah) were big fans of the cozy seats and the bubble on the 6-pack! Ray initially paused at the top of Oblivion, but I told him the worst part is looking at it and just to get going, and he agreed. He absolutely crushed the upper portion and then got a personal coaching with Emma down the headwall. I told him to say "wheeee!" - I like to believe I helped most. We had a nice run down Valley Run, which is actually a wonderful trail when it's not inundated with weekend crowds. 

Run #10 was just as good as #9, but Ray was a bit stronger on Oblivion - yay! Sarah, Emma, and I got a little ahead of him, and apparently two ski racers were skiing like jerks and were joking about the guy taking up the whole trail and cutting him off (which is a dick move but only a little funny becuase someone was equally annoyed with Gen when we were learning two years ago). Afterwards, we all decided after this run we'd do our two-more-skip-the-last on the Valley Run Quad. I went down the Fun Run and Rock Island while Ray continued on Valley Run. We all rendez-voud'd at the quad for one more lap!

We got BLESSED with chair #69 for our final run, and we all had a power run going down! Emma and Sarah FLEW down. I blased off to the best of my ability while trying to continue working on my turns. Ray crushed it with his pizza turns and traverses! 

After our final run, Ray returned his rentals and we all got changed before a nice and easy drive home. We had Hooksett dinner and Ray was already asking about buying his own equipment... Heck yeah!

Map of Waterville Valley

The White Mountain Sampler of Hikes (White Mountain National Forest)

The White Mountain Sampler

I had a mission - bring Christien to the White Mountains and ideally spark an obsession with how beautiful this region is and hopefully, selfishly and selflessly, inspire a new peakbagger! I initially wanted to bring him to Mt. Pierce. Since he has hiking experience is is no stranger to Type II fun, I thought that would be a perfect first hike in the whites. Moderate grade throughout, spectacular view at the end, a little bit of zest with winter going strong. The problem was that it was going to be cold, windy, and cloudy, so I made the executive decision to pivot from one big hike to a sampler of smaller hikes, which would also show him more of the region by doing the I-93, US-3, US-302, Kancamagus Highway driving loop. We talked gear, he did some shopping, and with a 4:45am wake up, we were off!

Our drive up north was nice and easy - he was sleepy, but he was a solid trooper. We got breakfast at Hooksett (I gave the building a nice christening), and we continued on up. The sun was up by the time we reached the White Mountain Region, and the Mt. Tecumseh complex was illuminated in a stunning morning pink. I gasped when I saw the clear Franconia Ridge from the highway (and was a little cranky about doing smaller hikes, but I reminded myself it would be MUCH colder up high!), and we soon made it into the Cannon/Artsit Bluff parking lot. While everyone was trying to park closest to the lodge, I happily drove to the back of the massive parking lot and parked right at the trailhead. It was a balmy 2° out. We took our time getting suited up, and soon we were off!

Hike 1: Artist Bluff Loop

Hike Type: Loop

Distance: 1.43 miles

Elevation: 374feet

Time: 1 hour, 13 minutes (50 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2026

He soon learned that I am insufferable with my camera, stopping every few feet to take photos. We rambled along the trail that paralleled the parking lot, mostly making comments about how beautiful the trees were. I was checking in with him frequently about how he was feeling and making sure he wasn't too warm or too cold. At the sharp turn, I took off a layer before the steep but short climb to Artist Bluff!

It was a bit of a luge from folks buttsliding, but I was able to kick my spikes in to get a good enough grip to climb. About halfway up, he stopped to tell me that he needed to christen the woods immediately. I thought he was joking at first, but he was so serious. I happy threw down my pack, offered some advice, and sent him on his way, postholing through knee-deep snow to a safe place to be his most vulnerable. Not even I have had to christen the woods in the winter! Naturally, we also saw the only person of the hike during this episode, too.

After that we resumed our climb - I always forget how steep it is! I was winded, but he was fighitng a bit harder than I was. I was trying my best to balance my summit fever, the need for the climb to be over, but also being a mindful hiking companion/essential a guide. We soon made it to the top, said hello again to the other hiker, and spent a moment enjoying the view into Franconia Notch. It was sunny out with a frigid breeze and the tops of the peaks had some morning summit fog, but overall it was an absolutely stunning day!

We continued on the loop while the other hiker went back down. I forgot that there was still a bit of climbing to do after the bluff! We slowly made our way up to the first knobby view, and I definitely went faster than I should have, the poor guy was gassed (as was I, in fairness). Thankfully, the view was quiet and lovely. We descended and rose to the next knob and view, and then descended again through absolutely stunning forests to the junction with Bald Mountain. We decided to skip it - I personally didn't want to worry about 1) navigating the slabs and scrambles and 2) worrying about him navigating the slabs and scrambles. Our final descent was quick and easy and soon enough we were back at the car!

Hike 2: Mt. Willard

Hike Type: Out-and-Back

Distance: 3.27 miles

Elevation: 909 feet

Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

We got back on I-93 and onto US-3. Naturally, I was yapping about the mountains surrounding us and dropping small stories of when I climbed certain ones. He said he enjoyed the first hike, which was a huge win! I screamed when I saw the northern Presidentials from US-3, completely cloud-free with bluebird skies behind them. First, becuase they were absolutely stunning, but two, because I wanted to be up there! Again, reminding myself that the weather would still be gnarly up there... Crawford Junction was reasonably busy with cars, but nowhere near summer levels. A few parties of hikers went onto the Avalon Trail, but they all must have gone up to Avalon/Tom/Field, since we never saw them again. We got booted up for round two, I put on fresh socks and a dry buff, and we were off!

I hadn't hiked Mt. Willard in years, and I remember it really gassing me out during the climb. I was delighted to see that I am in significantly better shape and neither of us got too out of breath throughout this one. We crossed paths with hikes on their way out every few minutes, but it never felt too crazy. The monorail was in excellent shape and spikes were all that were needed. We enjoyed light conversation and each others' company as we climbed on up, passing the partially frozen Centennial Pool (we weren't sure what the sign said, so we took turns throwing snowballs at the sign until it revealed itself). 

We passed a larger group once on the final plateau and they delightfully told us that we were about to have the viewpoint to ourselves! The final bit of trail was through a spectacular winter wonderland of mostly-flat trail and soon led to the literal light at the end of the tree-tunnel. 

The view was absolutely stunning and I was blown away (he was too, but he's less crazy than I am with views and for some reason did not scream). The towering walls of Jackson/Websiter and Willey/Field hugged us in while US-302 and the Conway Scenic Railway traced a wiggling line out through the notch. The sun felt warm, there was no breeze, there were no clouds, and it truly was perfect. I took a bunch of photos, got my magsafe tripod to get a photo of the two of us, and poked around some more before my camera battery died from the cold. Around the left corner of the view we caught a nice view of the Presidentails, including Mr. Washington himself! We had hot chocolate curtosey of my JetBoil with some Rum Chata and just enjoyed being there with each other. After a nice break, a few people began to show up, and that's when we started to wrap thing up and get a move on.

The trip down felt much colder, likely due to the headwind and descending versus ascending, but it was nice and simple. We crossed paths with a few more on their way up and passed a few folks that we saw earlier who were taking their time on the descent. Soon enough, we were back crossing the trail tracks at Crawford Depot and getting ready for the scenic drive into North Conway (and to get some food!). We ended up at the Scarecrow Tavern where we got poutine as an appetizer, I got cheese steak egg rolls, and he got a grilled cheese pulled pork situation with french onion soup - we mighttttt have over indulged. We were both stuffed and sleepy afterwards, but there was more exploring to be had!

After lunch we conitnued down NH-16 and then turned onto Kancamagus Highway. I had the Lower Falls and Rocky Gorge as possible stopping points, but neither had been recently plowed, so we decided to take a peek at Sabbaday Falls. The parking area was plowed, we grabbed just our spikes (no backpacks for this short one), and got to it!

Hike 3: Sabbaday Falls

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop

Distance: 0.90 miles

Elevation: 98 feet

Time: 30 minutes (23 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

The Sabbaday Brook Trail was another super highway up to the falls, which were just a few minutes from the parking area. The lower viewpoint at the bottom of the falls was mostly frozen with a few windows into the moving water below and you could carefully meander around and peek into the gorge, which was really unique and beautiful. The boardwalk proper was closed for the winter, and there were a bunch of young adults up there without any foot traction. For legal reasons, I will say we did not go around the fence, but I can imagine it would have been really cool with slippery stairs. The frozen water falls would be relatively quiet except for a distant hissing of falling water through likely feet of ice, surrounded by icicles. Well worth a wintertime visit! I imagined the upper stretch of the boardwalk was trickier to navigate with snow drifts, and I can say the part of the Sabbaday Brook Trail that connects to the upper boardwalk was less-traveled, but walking towards the parking lot became more and more traveled until we were back at pavement! I did not pay the $5 day use fee, because it seemed like they were not charging in the off-season. 

Back in the car we go! We drove past the three scenic overlooks, only the middle of which was slighty plowed. The Hancock Trailhead overlook was fully plowed with a commanding view of the Osceola Complex. I continued to yap about the moutains and Christien said "so do I need to start working on these lists now?" to which I let out a maniacal giggle. Our final stop of the day was to the Lincoln Woods Trailhead, where the plan was to see the bridge and then walk until it was time to turn around! The parking lot was reasonably empty for a Sunday evening in the dead of winter. I paid the $5 fee (good thing, too, because there were two police cars there handing out tickets), we used the WARM bathrooms, and got going!

Hike 4: East Side Road & Pine Island Viewpoint via Lincoln Woods

Hike Type: Out-and-Back

Distance: 1.92 miles

Elevation: 105 feet

Time: 57 minutes (45 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

We used our spikes to get to the suspension bridge which had just a wonderful view of the frozen East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. There was one guy finishing up a nordic ski and a few other folks taking photos - just beautiful! Christien kept saying "I love a water feature!" which made me giggle. I opted to go for a walk along the East Side Road, since I'd never gone that way before and assumed it would be similar to Lincoln Woods. It was similar in that it was flat, but it did not hug the river like Lincoln Woods did, so we missed out on some of the views. That was okay, though, because we opted to explore the abanoned Pine Island Trail (which was tracked out) and found a really wonderful view looking at the river flowing downstream. We stood here for at least 10 minutes just enjoying each others' company, the stillness of the air, and the sound of the river. He loves a water feature! The trail up to there was well traveled, but snowshoes would have been helpful.

We did continue on the Pine Island Trail for maybe 10 yards, which was comprised of unconsolidated snow. We turned around at our designated turn-around time, made our way back to the East Side Road and then to Lincoln Woods. 

This was truly such a wonderful day in the mountains. The only change I think I would have made is swapping Artist Bluff for Lonesome Lake (oh, and having a lighter lunch). We stopped at the Tilt'n Diner on the way home (excellent food for excellent prices with excellent portions) and continued all the way back to Boston. He likes hiking and he likes the Whites! A fantastic day.

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