XC Skiing - Charleston State Forest

Today's ECOS Tuesday morning ski trip was a return trip to Charleston State Forest, up 1,200 feet in nearby Montgomery County. A group of friends, Holly, and I went there last week, and found very deep snow remaining from a storm a few weeks ago. Today, we'd be skiing a different section, and this time with about 20 people. So we split into two groups. Our group skied these two loops counterclockwise from the southern parking area, taking about 2 hours to get all the way around, at a leisurely pace and with a short stop for lunch included.



With temps in the 40s, the snow was mushy in the strong March sun and crunchy in the shade. Overall, it was much firmer than what we found last week, and we were skiing on top of the snow rather than sinking in deeply as on that last trip.