{"id":3393,"date":"2021-02-22T17:59:39","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T17:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/?p=3393"},"modified":"2021-02-22T18:03:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T18:03:29","slug":"from-the-granite-state-walker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/from-the-granite-state-walker\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Granite State Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Granite State Walker: \u00a0On Just Right Snow<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been a Granite Stater for a few decades now, but I grew up in Florida. \u201cSnow\u201d to a Floridian is all alike, just cold white stuff that falls from the sky, ideally several states away. My first few New Hampshire winters were a revelation: powder, heavy slush, the dreaded \u201cicy mix,\u201d thawed-and-refrozen, and so on. I\u2019ve learned to appreciate the variations that give each winter day its own personality.<\/p>\n

Even for a onetime Florida girl, winter has its moments. A sunny day on packed powder, for example, is as wonderful for a walker as for any skier. A recent Saturday on the Nashua River Rail Trail was as good as it gets.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Nashua<\/a>
Nashua River Rail Trail at New Hampshire\/Massachusetts state line. Ellen Kolb photo.<\/em><\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Snow on several bitterly-cold days had piled up powder along the trail. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the NRRT, and there\u2019s no snow grooming, so users had to make their own paths. By the time I got to the trail, a few informal lanes had already formed. Cross-country ski tracks were evident, as was a packed-down lane suitable for walkers wearing snowshoes or cleats. There was plenty of untracked snow for snowshoers wanting to get a workout. Best of all, while the trail had obviously seen traffic before I arrived, hardly anyone was out there during my walk.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been on NRRT in every season. It\u2019s shaded in the summer, colorful in the fall, and adorned with a succession of flowers from mud season until hard frost. It\u2019s popular on summer weekends, when segments of it are as crowded as a carnival midway. Winter is its quiet time.<\/p>\n

I drank in the quiet the other day. The prop plane from the nearby skydiving school was in its hangar; no one was mowing a lawn; the crowds were home awaiting warmer days. Snow covered the pavement, muted every sound, and concealed the ground where bluets and columbines will bloom a few months from now. I spent two hours on the trail and wished I could have spent two more.<\/p>\n

Since that visit, I\u2019ve seen winter\u2019s messier side. The snow\u2019s now crusted with ice. A few thaw-refreeze cycles in the coming days will leave roads looking much better than trails to me. That\u2019s fine \u2013 but when the powder falls again, I\u2019ll be ditching work for a few hours.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Nashua<\/a>
On Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Massachusetts. Ellen Kolb photo.
\n-by Ellen Kolb
\n<\/em><\/sub><\/sub>To read of more of NHRTC Director Ellen Kolb”s walks – go to her blog https:\/\/granitestatewalker.com<\/a><\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Granite State Walker: \u00a0On Just Right Snow I\u2019ve been a Granite Stater for a few decades now, but I grew up in Florida. \u201cSnow\u201d to a Floridian is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-exploring-nhs-rail-trails"},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3393"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3397,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3393\/revisions\/3397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}