After teleworking until 1400 today, I had just enough daylight left to check out the cross country trails in Thetford, Vermont. With my work week completed, I got ready for the cold and then drove into Hanover to get gas at Irving (1455). Next, I drove north (via I-91 and VT-113). Once I arrived at the Thetford Academy, I explored a bit further down the road until I located the parking lot for the Thetford Hill State Park (1515). Unlike my last visit (no skiing involved), this appeared to be a much better starting point and I was quickly "EVO'd up". Since moving to the Upper Valley, my timing and the snow conditions have never been good enough in Thetford but today they were great! Starting at, 1520, I began skiing uphill on the (closed to cars) access road. By the time I encountered the trails groomed by the Academy’s ski team, the true range of trails I had to explore became evident. Wow! I made my way through almost the entire system, including climbing to the summit of the Hill (found their Yurt) and finding the camping areas. The trails lived up to the name of the state park - if I wasn’t huffing and puffing my way up, I was sliding downhill so fast (due to steepness)! The only living creatures I encountered were a barred owl and noisy crow. Otherwise, my 90 minutes (3ish miles) in the woods was the epitome of solitude. Temps were in the mid 30s and it was clear that a thaw-freeze cycle was just barely good enough to create today’s conditions. Before departing the area (1645), I checked out another trailhead (very close by) with its own system - this is definitely a reason to return to Thetford! To get home, I used the reverse directions from my outbound route - one difference, though, was that I encountered protesters (RE: Ukraine) on the way through Hanover. I was home by 1715, feeling great about my ski adventure. More snow is coming, so I hope the season isn’t over - ominously, though, I noticed on the way home that the summit of Ascutney was nearly bare...
