Gladed in the Drainage

Suriously... a good day to Pugs around...

Gore pass- INVALID (President's Week).... Lapland Lake, skied there a bunch yesterday and even demoed some Tubbs Snowshoes...  Oak Mountain? ... not feeling it. BC? Crusty in the drainage and not wanting to drive... might as well go mountain biking!
Went up to Stewart's Creek and the trail was in great condition. Grunted up out of the East Branch of the Sacandaga valley and pedaled across Stewart's Creek. Rolling terrain for awhile and then out and across a vly. In five miles came to a decision point: turn around, keep going to Garnet Lake or head towards Stoney Creek road. I chose to turn around and made it a 12 mile day.

Fine looking machine.

Sign says STEEP HILL... it is.

Lost..

Look closely, it says DANGER C4...

Groover...

or how to handle Poop in the Grand Canyon and other Western Rivers. Although back East we don't have many overnight river trips and certainly not extended multi-day trips, the popularity of whitewater rafting day trips continues to grow. Outfitters and private boaters alike need to seriously consider how to eliminate the impact of human waste on the riparian corridor.
Welcome the Groover:

Rat Tail

As per the last few times out backcountry skiing with my 'ratty' old skins. It became apparent that some repairs were needed.

Glued and clamped. Use plastic to prevent the adhesive from bonding to the wood.

The skins had completed de-laminated from the nylon that holds the adhesive.  First job was too repair the skins using some 3M auto-trim adhesive.

I've been meaning to improve the tail attachment for a few years (decade).  I had heard of the  Rat Tail a long time ago and found the online directions with a quick search.  I modified it somewhat, using hooks instead of screws and washers.

The Hook.

Top fitted in the notch.

Bottom view with skin trimmed to fit the notch.

A couple zip-ties on the bungee cord...

Marking the skin to cut the tail...

Securing the bungee loop to the Rat Tail

Finish with some static cord...

 I  added  a zip-tie to stitch the rat tail of the skins to the bungee cord and shortened the bungee cord using a length of regular static cord. 

Now all we need is some fresh snow.

Tracks In The Drainage

Not just ski tracks. Last week as I was skiing the approach to some glades I came across these tracks. At first I thought they were coyote or fox but then I cut some more tracks that looked like a bobcat.  The dog tracks ran parallel with the ski trail while the cat tracks criss-crossed the trail.  They're tracks never crossed even though they were in the same area.

Bobcat Tracks

Off into the woods...

Coyote or Fox?

Dinner got away?

Whitetail winter run.

Updated 3/30/11 :  I read this from the Adirondack Almanac 

http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2011/03/phil-brown-questions-about-adirondack.html

Comment by Joe H., "In fact, wolves commonly use roads for easy travel and to prey on edge-adapted, whitetail deer. However, Radio-telemetry studies in Arizona and Utah, indicate that cougars actually avoid roads whenever possible, either paved or dirt."

I find it very interesting that the same behavior is supported here, but involved coyotes and bobcats on an infrequently used trail.

BC InThe Drainage

 Lunch on the trail looking down into a local creek in the drainage.

 Setting up in the hardwood ledges.

 Looking down hill for a fresh line.

Hut!

Jody and I made a lap yesterday In The Drainage glades.  I had broken the trail in and up the day before and scouted out the snow conditions. Two days of sun had formed a breakable crust on the East face. This southern exposure surprisingly had decent powder.

The Bench

Projects projects projects... a picture ? Worth a thousand words? Maybe not a thousand but there was a lot going on here: skis to be mounted with tele bindings Voile Bindings, Alpine Bindings to get on eBay, not to mention the left over MTB project, Riot Turbo overhaul, and then it started snowing and we skied... and skied more...