1HappyHiker
Well-known member
Perhaps the "newness" for me will eventually wear off, but this winter I'm having a wonderful time by combining Nordic/XC skiing with hiking. It's certainly not my intent to over glamorize, oversell, or make this out to be something that it isn't! But I thought it was worth sharing my experience in case there might be others who might have an interest in considering this as a way to expand their winter fun.
Had it not been for the urging of a member of this Forum (Zman), I might never have become so taken with XC skiing. But having become "infected" with this bug, it has undoubtedly expanded my winter explorations to places that I probably wouldn't visit if I were just doing the same hiking routine as in winters past. For example, I've recently been on XC-skiing adventures that have taken me to places where horses are kept, and to places where folks are ice-fishing. These are things not generally experienced along the traditional hiking trails.
Also, I've strapped my snowshoes on to my pack and skied to a spot to begin a bushwhack. For example, on a recent excursion, I skied along the Presidential Rail Trail to a location near Pine Mountain where I stashed my skis in the woods and then whacked to a pair of un-named ponds a few tenths of a mile off-trail. The ponds themselves didn't provide any "knock your socks-off" views. But nonetheless, I would NEVER have slogged along the Rail Trail in snowshoes to visit this spot!
(And as a side-note, I wouldn't ski this trail except during mid-week when snowmobile traffic is extremely light.)
Presidential Rail Trail
View from UnNamed Pond (Bushwhack off Presidential Rail Trail)
Besides multi-use trails like the Presidential Rail Trail, I've also had fun skiing on a few conventional hiking trails, even though they could just as easily have been hiked on snowshoes. I'm not skilled enough to attempt trails to 4K peaks like Moosilauke. Therefore, my ski explorations have been on rather tame trails like the Sam Willey Trail opposite the Willey House site in Crawford Notch. I was motivated to do this particular trek by Steve Smith's blog about hiking this trail. I'd never been on this trail before, and was pleasantly surprised with the nice views looking up the Notch toward Mts. Willard and Avalon.
View from Sam Willey Trail
I've also done some off-trail explorations while still on my skis. I know this type of adventure is routine for many folks on this Forum. However, please understand that I'm talking about doing some real "baby steps" into the world of off-trail skiing. If it gets too scary or hairy for my personal comfort level, then I remove my skis and slap on the snowshoes! Possibly as I gain more experience, I'll want to get into some beefier equipment for some "real" off-trail skiing. But for now, I'm pretty happy with my Rossignol BC-90 skis. And, with my rather mild-mannered step-in bindings (Rossignol BC Magnum), I can literally get in/out of my skis faster than I can put on my snowshoes!
Anyway, thus far I've not skied to any overly exciting off-trail destinations. For example, I've skied into beaver ponds that I probably wouldn't have taken the time to do as an off-trail snowshoe trek.
Off-Trail Ski to Beaver Pond
Besides using a trail (like the Presidential Rail Trail) to reach a bushwhack location, and besides doing some itsy-bitsy off-trail skiing, I've also enjoyed skiing along designated XC ski trails, some of which are in a more urban setting than most hiking trails. These urban trails can sometimes provide views that are comparable to those from more remote hiking trails. Yes, you might need to sort of overlook a plowed parking lot, or ignore some electrical wires overhead. But those factors aside, these urbanized trails still provide winter fun, and they have expanded my horizons by getting me to locations that I otherwise would not have visited.
So, as said at the beginning of this thread, my intent isn't to over glamorize, oversell, or make this out to be something that it isn't!
I merely thought it was worth sharing some of my more recent Nordic/XC-ski experiences, just in case there might be others who might have an interest in considering this as a way to expand their winter fun.
1HappyHiker
Had it not been for the urging of a member of this Forum (Zman), I might never have become so taken with XC skiing. But having become "infected" with this bug, it has undoubtedly expanded my winter explorations to places that I probably wouldn't visit if I were just doing the same hiking routine as in winters past. For example, I've recently been on XC-skiing adventures that have taken me to places where horses are kept, and to places where folks are ice-fishing. These are things not generally experienced along the traditional hiking trails.
Also, I've strapped my snowshoes on to my pack and skied to a spot to begin a bushwhack. For example, on a recent excursion, I skied along the Presidential Rail Trail to a location near Pine Mountain where I stashed my skis in the woods and then whacked to a pair of un-named ponds a few tenths of a mile off-trail. The ponds themselves didn't provide any "knock your socks-off" views. But nonetheless, I would NEVER have slogged along the Rail Trail in snowshoes to visit this spot!
(And as a side-note, I wouldn't ski this trail except during mid-week when snowmobile traffic is extremely light.)Presidential Rail Trail
View from UnNamed Pond (Bushwhack off Presidential Rail Trail)
Besides multi-use trails like the Presidential Rail Trail, I've also had fun skiing on a few conventional hiking trails, even though they could just as easily have been hiked on snowshoes. I'm not skilled enough to attempt trails to 4K peaks like Moosilauke. Therefore, my ski explorations have been on rather tame trails like the Sam Willey Trail opposite the Willey House site in Crawford Notch. I was motivated to do this particular trek by Steve Smith's blog about hiking this trail. I'd never been on this trail before, and was pleasantly surprised with the nice views looking up the Notch toward Mts. Willard and Avalon.
View from Sam Willey Trail
I've also done some off-trail explorations while still on my skis. I know this type of adventure is routine for many folks on this Forum. However, please understand that I'm talking about doing some real "baby steps" into the world of off-trail skiing. If it gets too scary or hairy for my personal comfort level, then I remove my skis and slap on the snowshoes! Possibly as I gain more experience, I'll want to get into some beefier equipment for some "real" off-trail skiing. But for now, I'm pretty happy with my Rossignol BC-90 skis. And, with my rather mild-mannered step-in bindings (Rossignol BC Magnum), I can literally get in/out of my skis faster than I can put on my snowshoes!
Anyway, thus far I've not skied to any overly exciting off-trail destinations. For example, I've skied into beaver ponds that I probably wouldn't have taken the time to do as an off-trail snowshoe trek.
Off-Trail Ski to Beaver Pond
Besides using a trail (like the Presidential Rail Trail) to reach a bushwhack location, and besides doing some itsy-bitsy off-trail skiing, I've also enjoyed skiing along designated XC ski trails, some of which are in a more urban setting than most hiking trails. These urban trails can sometimes provide views that are comparable to those from more remote hiking trails. Yes, you might need to sort of overlook a plowed parking lot, or ignore some electrical wires overhead. But those factors aside, these urbanized trails still provide winter fun, and they have expanded my horizons by getting me to locations that I otherwise would not have visited.
So, as said at the beginning of this thread, my intent isn't to over glamorize, oversell, or make this out to be something that it isn't!
I merely thought it was worth sharing some of my more recent Nordic/XC-ski experiences, just in case there might be others who might have an interest in considering this as a way to expand their winter fun.
1HappyHiker
Last edited:
