Leominster State Forest Snowshoe

The great thing about this winter is that there's been plenty of snow for winter activities where snow is needed.  However, it has also been the case of "too much of a good thing".  It's been so snowy, that it's been hard to actually do some of the usual fun things like snow shoeing or cross country skiing.  And it's been cold.   Today, there was enough moderation in temperature and conditions to actually make it a good day to get out for a winter hike on snowshoes.

The ladies are away on a retreat weekend, so it's time for three generations of the guys to get out for an adventure.  The destination:  Parmenter Road in Leominster State Forest.  (Actually, this was a secondary choice, since there was no parking due to snow at our first choice trail head).

All bundled up, Dominic is along for the ride today.

Nice clearing with towering trees connecting snow to sky.

Alex has a little heavier load to carry.

The trail is nicely packed out thanks to the snowmobiles.

A little bit of a stream, but almost buried under all the snow.

There were snowmobiles out enjoying the day as well.  We just pulled off to the side whenever we heard them coming.

This trail keeps going and going.  And when there are no snowmobiles, the only sound you hear are your snowshoes on the snow.  Here's a curve in path (you can see Alex ahead of me, a little off to the right).

Here's a panorama of Rocky Pond, the body of water for which the road is named.

... almost like a long hallway.

This proves where we were since this sign is down the trail a bit.

The ViewRanger app on my phone told me that this hike was a little longer than I originally had in mind, but Alex was very pleased.  For the record, I was sore for a couple days afterward

Here are the stats:
Total Distance:  4.96 miles
Average Speed:  2.1 mph
Total Time:  2:22
Altitude Gain: 522 ft
Max Altitude:  957 ft