Extreme Backcountry Sledding

For Nick's 13th birthday, we went to the Mt Cardigan Reservation for some extreme backcountry sledding.

The sun was shining and the trails were covered with 8 to 12 inches of new snow. Life was good. Nick and his friend Mikey made good time in their snowshoes on the flat trails at the base of the mountain.

A couple of hours later, we were breaking trail on the steeper sections and the boys began to tire. Mikey said, "This isn't at all what I expected. I thought we would be walking up the mountain. This is HIKING!"

Near the top of the Firescrew Mountain, the Manning trail goes past a couple of huge boulders and you have to be careful not to slip and fall 20 feet. So Nick decides that it would be fun to slide down these rocks on our butts. Despite my reservations, he was right. It's scary sitting at the top of the drop, and on the way down you free fall for a few feet, but the snow cascades down in front of you acting like a brake and making for a soft landing.



Nick in the starting gate.



Wheee!




Mikey's turn.



Woo Hoo!



Rejuvenated from our play in the snow, we pushed on up the trail. At the Ledges the trail comes out of the woods and opens up to some excellent views and large snow fields. We made two or three runs on our sleds and got some serious speed. We were amazed that we would sled down for a seemingly short time and then it would take us 5 or 10 minutes to hike back up, gasping for breath.

Then after eating our lunch at the Ledges, the real fun began. We rode our sleds back down the narrow, twisty, tree lined hiking trail we spent all day climbing up. By now, enough snowshoers had climbed up the trail that their track was packed down and resembled a bobsled run. This was extreme sledding and required deft steering and quick reflexes to avoid going off the trail and hitting a tree.

We went so fast and had so much fun that we don't have any photos from the steep sections. The only sledding photos are from the much flatter trail at the base of the mountain



Nick on his Swiss Bob sled. The Swiss Bob is easy to carry and worked great on steep and packed trails, but it doesn't have enough float for powder, and is so short that our backpacks dragged in the snow acting like a brake.



Mikey on his surfboard. Although more awkward to carry, the surfboard offered lots of options for sledding. In addition to the belly flop, Mikey could ride sitting or on his knees.

After six hours of hiking and sledding, the boys barely had enough energy to make it back to the lodge. Only the promise of hot chocolate and dry clothes got them back on their feet to walk the last 15 minutes back to trailhead.

The AMC Lodge was hosting a group Scottish musicians and dancers. I enjoyed listening to their music while I relaxed by the fire. But the boys were in a hurry to leave, so we loaded our gear in the car and headed into Bristol for dinner. Mikey confided that he had to get out of there because the music was making him sick. In fact, he did look ill so we gave him a plastic bag so he would be less likely to christen the back seat of our new car.

It began snowing as we finished our hike, so by the time we left the lodge there was a layer of new snow making the dirt road very slippery. We couldn't make it up the hill, the wheels just spinning until the car came to a halt near the top. I suggested spending the night at the lodge and hoping the road was cleared by the next morning, but Mikey said he'd rather walk home (120 miles). Fortunately, on our fourth attempt, we crested the hill and coasted down the other side. Of course, the downhill was equally slippery and even locking the brakes didn't slow our descent. Good thing we were the only car on this narrow road.




In Bristol, we ate at The Mill which serves excellent soups and veggie sandwiches. After a couple a couple games of chess, Mikey felt better and ate a artichoke sandwich. Then the band started to set up on stage and we beat a hasty retreat in case bongos make Mikey sick too.

It was still snowing pretty hard and the traffic on I-93 was crawling along between 10 mph and 30 mph. The boys promptly fell asleep and after half an hour, I was able to speed up to 50 mph and we eventually got home, safe and sound.



Below is a rare photo of the trip leader, driver, photographer, and journalist.