1st Annual South Pond Shuffle 4-Mile Snowshoe Race

February 21st, 1998 - Florida & Savoy,  Massachusetts

I directed the first WMAC Snowshoe Series Race at Savoy Mountain State Forest...

The event had 36 starters and finishers, and circled North Pond, South Pond, and Tyler Swamp.  Our snowshoe series began during the 1995/1996 season, but this was the first actual "race".  

Once the event was over, DL and I took Dusty out for a mile snowshoe.

A Mile and a Half of rugged snowshoeing at Hawley with Dusty.

South Pond Shuffle "course" with Dusty;  we covered 3-miles in 1:45:00.  Deep snow.

Dusty and I snowshoed "Little Egypt" today, 8-miles in 3:45:00.  Deep, deep snow.

4th Annual Moby Dick Marathons
February 1st, 1998 - Lanesborough, Massachusetts

The 4th Annual Moby Dick Marathons were held over Greylock. I completed my 17th marathon in 6:19:40, with Johnny Bandit.  It was the second time I wore snowshoes for this 28-mile adventure.  It would be the last time I would snowshoe this distance!

View off the Top

Greylock Memorial Tower

Dusty and I snowshoed the Metacomet from Phelps Road north, 3.5-miles in 41:33.

Again at the Lewis Farm Bird Sanctuary, same 3.5-miles this time in 46-minutes, with Dusty.

3.5-mile snowshoe in Lewis Farm Bird Sanctuary with Dusty, 44-minutes.

Drove out to visit the folks, and take Dusty up the climb to High Bridge along the Tophet Brook.

It was tough going, we managed 5.5-miles in 2 hrs.

Morning snowshoe with the Old Goat in Bigelow Hollow to snowshoe 5-miles in 1:18:49.

Later on, some additional snowshoeing with Dusty in the Lewis Farm Bird Sanctuary for 2.5-miles, roughly 38-minutes.

5-miles of snowshoeing with the Bandit on Metacomet, Phelps Road North (1:05:03).

Snowshoe day in Dubuque State Forest with Dusty.  

We parked at King Corner Maintenance Area, and pushed uphill to the Hawley Pass crossing.  

Enjoyed our way down to Basin Brook and turned north downstream for a bit before making the turn and long climb up Hitchcock Meadow Trail.

Once Hitchcock Meadow emptied onto Moody Spring Road, we broke our way over to Gould Meadow before taking Hallockville Road back to King Corner Road, and our finish.

We completed a worthy 7-miles in 1:56:03.

Another outing along the Metacomet, from our normal parking spot along Phelps Road.  

Dusty and I pushed through the snow totaling 6-miles in 1:20:04.

Stuck close to home, bringing Dusty out to the Lewis Bird Sanctuary on Hill Street for a 3.5-mile snowshoe adventure.  Completed our run in 47:10.

Moody Spring Snowshoe Ramble II
January 17th, 1998 - Hawley, Massachusetts

 LACK OF LOST MOUNTAIN

Well, despite Wuzzam insisting that we would “find that lost mountain”, Mt. Riga would have to wait for the ice to leave before any of us ventured out that way to search. Instead, a quick call to Farmer Tom in Ashfield put us in the direction of Hawley for the second time in two weeks. There was plenty of fresh light fluffy snow within its confines!

We ended up breaking trail no matter where we went, and the conditions were as perfect as one could hope for. Our stop at Moody Spring had us in tears (due to laughter) as Wuzzam rambled on and on about how he had imagined it to be a huge tourist attraction with signs and all. The pipe shooting out of the stone with the tasty mineral filled water exiting it wasn’t exactly what he had expected, but he did admit to its power of “regeneration”. When I let him know that it took me 9 years to find the thing, he could understand why. Up until last February when the Old Goat, Uphill and I finally made it to the water, it was “Lost Spring” along with “Lost Mountain” we were searching for.

Several of the trails we explored are not on maps, and are not exactly “trails” either. Blasting down the slope to Moody Spring had someone mentioning that it “wasn’t much of a trail”, to which Karl laughed and said “who needs a trail??” That about sums it up for snowshoeing... you really don’t need a trail, just snow.

MOODY SPRINGS SNOWSHOE RAMBLE II
JANUARY 17, 1998 HAWLEY, MA

Keen-Eye           20km         3:21:00

Old Goat            20km         3:22:00

Bandit                20km         3:23:00

Wuzzam             20km         3:24:00

Farmer               20km         3:25:00