XC Siamese Ponds Wilderness - Barton Mines Road to Hour Pond - 3/23/14

 

What a blessing to have such a fantastic stretch of great weather for early spring cross country skiing.  Knowing that day would probably be my last day out for the season, I went to an all-time favorite spot to ski my heart out.  The network of trails surrounding the Botheration Loop in North River are just a fantastic collection of ski trails.

I parked at the Barton Mines Road trailhead off Route 28.  From there I skied 1.4 miles to the NE corner of the Botherathon Loop.  I skied the loop clockwise, but when I got halfway around, at the Old Farm Road, I headed west on a different trail to Hour Pond.  This was a trail I had not skied before.  Conditions were perfect.  The Hour Pond Trail provided some nice hills to get a few nice downhill runs.

I only saw 6 skiers all day.  I'm sad that this will probably be my last ski day of the season, but I got in quite a few trips this winter, especially the last half of the season when we had a pretty good snow pack.  With a couple 50 degree days on the horizon, the powder conditions will be over.

I'll let a pictures below tell the story of how pretty it was in the woods today.

 

 

Sign at Baron Mines Road parking area

 

 

 

 

Blue skies all day!

 

 

 

 

Great bridges with some decorative twig railings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hour Pond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XC Ski Stats

Trip Distance:  16.3 miles

Trip Time:  5 hours, 45 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1800'

 



 

The route (Click image to enlarge)