Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Snowshoeing - Featherstonhaugh State Forest

Several times each winter, snow and weather permitting, I lead a moonlight snowshoeing outing for Schenectady ADK.  Featherstonhaugh, unlike other local preserves, doesn't close at dusk, and at a relatively high local elevation, is a perfect place for these outings.  Since this month's trip is scheduled for sometime in the next several days if we get a clear night, and since there is very little snow remaining down here in the valley in Schenectady, I thought I would take a short scouting trip to see if this trip would even be possible.  I was surprised by what I found.


Aside from the 1" or so of new snow coating everything, there was a surprising amount of old base remaining, firm but not concrete-like underneath.  All of the wet spots of the past few weeks have frozen solid in this week's cold weather, and the ski trails are very well-covered.  I wouldn't want to ski on them right now, but snowshoeing was great, and would be even better under a bright nearly-full moon!  Fingers are crossed...

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