Scouting Out Winter Snowshoe and Cross-Country Trails

I know it seems I'm rushing things, but it's time for me to begin preparing for winter wilderness adventures. In my spare time this past week, I've been trekking all over, searching for the best winter trails. Finding great cross-country ski trails has been more difficult than finding new snowshoe hikes because of all the down trees and the fact that snowmobilers didn't maintain the trails last year, due to the lack of snow.

But I found a beautiful ski trail yesterday that will make a fantastic wilderness day trip. The trail is gentle and rolling, perfect for beginner and intermediate skiers, and leads 2.5 miles through woodlands to a remote bog just north of Eleventh Mountain. Very, very few down trees over the trail. (So unusual!) The bog itself is long and narrow and will be fun to explore come winter. I was thrilled to see numerous bear tracks on the trail and hoped I'd catch a glimpse of one, but because it was a a warm mid-day hour, the bears were surely snoozing.

I'd like to say I can't wait to ski it, but that would be almost blasphemous, rushing this beautiful season.