3.3 and I left 99's at approximately 5pm tonight having the goal of homebase.
The Brookline trails can be fickle. One small section can appear to have been recently groomed only to come over the hill or around a tree to find miles of whoops and stutter bumps to follow.... I often wonder where did the groomer tun off. It is almost like it vanished into the maple sugars along with the ufos. We started out and the trails to the first road crossing where excellent. I picked up the pace hoping to get to a clearing ten miles away that we had visited on the last outing before the sun went down. Over the road and into the junction that leads down to the lake and the trails turned into an amusement ride. Across the lake. Some dozen or more ice fishing shacks are littered across the ice. At least half had people in them. The Brookliners seem to taking this past time seriously. Up the bank on the other side and across the road and the trail up the hill was flat again for 263 yards. We did make it to the field on top of the hill before dark. It was difficult to get a bearing. The lights of Wachusett could be seen to the south. On to 13 north and quickly the trail for Pratt Pond and West Townsend turns south west. From here the trails steadily improved. Even the rail bed from Greenville to the Mass border was flat for the most part. We where able to keep a good pace. This trail now closes at night. I believe the signs claimed that it was ridable until 9:30. There were a couple of these signs over on the Hollis side as well a couple of night before. Once over the Mass line, the trees encroach the trail and it gets narrow. The rails are still in place but there is plenty of snow. An unmarked right, turns you towards the Poor Farm and the route to the Killing Fields. Get out and ride boys. I do not remember it ever being this good in terms of being able to get around. With global warming and all, it may be decades before we see a winter like this again. We pulled in at just after 6. 30 miles total distance. I am looking forward to going back the other way. Any takers?
