On a chilly afternoon in late February, I set out on snowshoes at Northfield Mountain (in the northern part of the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts) with the goal of just seeing how the conditions were and getting a little exercise for the day. The trails weren’t groomed this year due to the pandemic so there’s been no charge and very few other people around most times I’ve gone. This time there were only six cars parked in the spacious lot. After following others’ tracks up the Hidden Quarry and Porcupine trails, the signs of fellow people out there diminished until all I saw were a few sets of Nordic ski tracks along the access road. I tromped through light powder alongside the tracks to the top of the mountain where the snow-covered reservoir gave me that vaguely sinister feeling that it sometimes does (somehow it just feels… unnatural up there). The sun felt good, though, and the exertion from climbing kept me just warm enough. With sunset approaching, I looked for a good return route, and found one. Descending the Bobcat and West Slope trails, gravity did its thing and tugged me into a run. Boisterous puffs of snow kicked up around me as I leap-jogged down numerous fun little drops and flung myself around twisty turns. Late-light sun filtered through the tree trunks, but the day felt fresh... and I looked forward to the future.
