Florida & Monroe snowmobile trails, I Snowshoe'd 5.5-miles from just behind Whitcomb Summit through the Fife Brook area to South & Hunt Hill Road area in Monroe State Forest.

Beginning of a week or so of exploring Florida Mountain and Monroe trails with Tippi.  

Most of this snowshoe run was extending the snowmobile routes from our property on Blackstone Road, seeing where things lead or connected to.  We managed 7.5-miles along this mapped route, from Turner Hill Road north into Readsboro, Vermont.

Took Tippi out again to snowshoe Ashfield, this time to connect Watson Spruce Corner Road to Peppermint Park over in Plainfield.  The snowmobile trail was simple to follow, and we ended with a nice, solid 4.8-miles on our feet.

Today would be a duel challenge, between snowshoe activities in Florida as well as Plainfield.

I had been meaning to snowshoe the loop around Whitcomb Summit, the Mohawk Trail, and our property on Blackstone Road.  Despite the extra effort doubling up would entail, Tippi was game.

Our end total for the day seemed to be 6.8-miles, broken down as follows:

5.0-miles on the Bruiser's - Chilton Loop (the Florida Mountain Section).  Excellent loop in cold, winter, conditions for the end of March!

We got in the car, and on our way back to Conecticut we stopped off in Plainfield to connect to our stopping point from our February 25th adventure.

We totaled another 1.8-miles on the Plainfield Out-and-Back.  Great day, great effort.

Northfield Mountain 4.7- Mile Snowshoe Race
Massachusetts State Championship

March 15th, 2008 - Northfield,  Massachusetts

Good friend DD organized again, and I managed an 8th of 27 racers.

I took Tippi out to Ashfield to connect more snowmobile trails to our "circled world".  We parked along Bear Swamp Road, ran in through the fields and ventured left at the first intersection, moving toward Peter Hill.

We kept moving east until hitting Lilliput Road before turning back.  At our prior intersection, we took the south option and stayed the course until crossing Bug Hill Road.  From there, our course charted west until hitting Watson Spruce Corner Road, which was our signal to turn around and get back to the car.

Finished with a tiresome 10.5-snowshoe miles, done in 2:30.

Snowshoeing again with Tippi, this time above Berkshire East on Labelle Road with the plan to connect to Middle Road in Hawley's Dubuque State Forest.

We covered an out-and-back total of 9.5-miles in 2:15.  Interestingly, we had company for the run with a shepherd mix throughout.

Snowshoeing with Tippi in Buckland.  

Explored for 6.1-miles from the corner of Labelle Road down along Cooley Brook, to  the crossing of Ruddock Brook and Dodge Corner Road, then to Shepard Brook and Road.

11th Annual Hawley Kiln "Notch" 5-Mile Snowshoe Races
March 2nd, 2008 - Dubuque State Forest - Hawley, MA

Another organizing effort, this time for a Notch version.  47 finishers in the race, I managed a 41st spot, and we ended the day with a trip to South Face Farm!

Snowshoe in Buckland on snowmobile trails with Tippi;  6-miles.

Hawley Kiln Notch Course Marking w/ Pop, PH, Farmer Tom and Tippi.  

The route covered 4.8-miles.

3-miles in incredibly deep snow (no snowmobile traffic as of my footprints) from Middle Road up to East Hawley Road in Dubuque, with Tippi.  Our effort for the three-miles took us 90-minutes in knee deep heavy snow.

Took Tippi out to Cummington, planning to get to Plainfield on the snowmobile trail.

We had a great day in the bright sunshine, covering 12.8-miles in 3:16:52.

3rd Hallockville Pond / Moody Spring 6-Mile Snowshoe Race
February 24th, 2008 - Dubuque State Forest - Hawley, MA

I directed another event in Hawley, with 36 finishers.  I went out early to mark and track, and finished in last spot.

Greylock Glen "Covered Bridge" 4-Mile Snowshoe Races
February 23rd, 2008 - Greylock Glen - Adams, MA

PH and I continued our directing efforts.  I crossed the line 35th out of 36 due to course flagging / marking ahead of the actual race.