Angus

No good way to drive east west across northern NE. It is both a curse and a blessing.

A friend of mine who lives in Brunswick out on the water seems to live on his generator during the winter months. Over last sixth months, been there three times, the backup generator been running twice.

I love western Maine but it is far especially from metro Boston. See my prior comments about Rangeley as a true 4 season destination and I love Sugarloaf. We have a family summer home in the NH lakes region - we open Memorial Day and close Labor Day. It is a special place with many great family traditions. It is large enough that we share the place, rather than divide the place up by family branches over the course of the season. We share the maintenance which is nice. Anyway, a long winded introduction - the place is 2 hours door to door from our primary residence with moving traffic - I find that after 8 to 10 weekends over the course of the summer, I'm ready for a break. Flip side is I could see moving to NH or ME for the lifestyle but I'd need to find the right town - I'm a 'people person!'

See what happens when the amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere is reduced for just a short time, a Spring of yore! Just back from Maine, heavy snow squalls while I was there and the # of line trucks still coming into the state is impressive.

Thanks - will pass along!

@dryslotand @Lava Rock can you provide me any observations about the road conditions - I'm assuming they are fine - headed up to Poland in a bit and want to give myself enough cushion. Thanks.

Could I get an update in morning about roads going to Poland off gray - RT. 26. Trying to figure out how much extra time I need to give myself.

Knife Edge is unique from anything in NE - I took my son across when he was 14 - kept grabbing him. He was not happy. Same protective instinct when he summited King's Peak in UT when he was 11 and he kept looking over a several thousand foot sheer drop. I don't remember being intimidated on Kineo but I was with my wife so we were probably well back from the edge of the trail!

I love the northern Presidentials. King Ravine is spectacular. The RMC huts are very cool. Also, far less foot traffic than Ike, Monroe, et cetera. I had to laugh b/c Katahdin is tops, especially when you come into via chimney pond - as a friend of who had hiked all over West said, it's the most western of the east.

Looking forward to discussing the pro/cons of wildcat, BW, Black Mtn, Sunday River ski pass with you. Enjoy hiking Adams/Madison as well as the Carters from the Gorham/Randolph area. Congrats.

snowing hard at sugarloaf base.

Graham Parsons played Cosmic American Music.

I was sharing ski pictures from wildcat on april 22 2007 with my nephew this morning - of course, there will no one to enjoy the bounties this time around - as long as @HIPPYVALLEY can stop himself from promoting it among the flatlanders! ;-)) I need to go to Poland Maine on Friday morning and hoping this is all wrapped up by then. I am going to then drive to NH and spend nite at our camp and thinking I will do a drive around mt. washington given I will have time and daylight.

That was a crazy month for SoVT. The reports from Magic were insane. My son drove up to Mt. Snow to ski after they got the 3' storm - the problem was the front face of mountain wasn't steep enough to ski outside the narrow paths they had groomed.

Take that back!!

My two-cents, I really like skiing Bromley. The terrain is pretty tame but the trails are interesting and kind of old-school. They have some nice, short but well space tree skiing and the vibe, family oriented, is very welcoming. Magic has great terrain but they need snow. I like Mt. Snow - the north side has some more challenging terrain but like Stratton, you get crowds on weekends.

one thing you might want to do before buying a big lot is a bit of discovery on is the prospective cost of road building. I happened to be riding a lift earlier this season with a guy who was relocating up into ski country and had a big budget - $1mm plus - and he told me about all these great pieces of property he kept finding but they were all thwarted by the road cost he'd incurred getting to the desired home location. I can't remember exactly but the per foot cost was crazy...the road was going to cost as much as his 4-5K sq ft home.

The prices along the lake are crazy. A few years back, when Saddleback went up for sale initially, I was speaking to someone - who I believe might have been considering a bid - and they described Rangeley as Maine's only four season resort town between the lake and mountain. South of the height of land on RT.17 is desolate. I think there is property that can be purchased along lower Richardson lake but winter access I believe would not be viable without a snow mobile. RT 17 use to be in horrible condition but I think I've been told it has been improved substantially - I probably haven't driven it in a decade.

It's weird about your location and retention, are you higher than Farmington or get more snow. I'm always disappointed with the snow in Farmington late season in my infrequent drives to Saddleback or Sugarloaf.

If you are a Nordic skier as well as a alpine, look around Craftsbury.

folks at sugarloaf said they got about 7" last night.

Lightning in metrowest Boston, Concord specifically.

that's what wildcat seems to have done on their base cam. hasn't been working for a week plus at this point.

Another day yesterday at WaWa. From last weekend, equivalent # of skiers but more hikers and the hikers were definitely families; and if had to speculate, groups of multiple families or couples not practicing good social distancing. Definitely shaking my head. Really no snow loss higher up mountain. They have pushed snow at base up the hill to facilitate melting? Basically took multiple runs on a couple different bump runs. Came home and roller skied around my neighborhood. Expect I will be back again. My son said he expects his next skiing will be the auto road on mt. Washington but I doubt it opens until the pandemic is in better place.

I hope it is a BIG THIRST!!