Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:36 am. It was surprisingly warm at just over 40 degrees when I started, so it was nice to go in shorts this morning. It's still pretty dark at this time, and I've chosen to start without a light when starting out at this time. I figure it forces me to start out conservatively, which should be a good thing. Not having been up Green in eight days and having done nothing the past four days, I was hoping I could put in a hard effort this morning. Not to be. The conservative start over the first 10 minutes or so felt good, but after that I just couldn't get myself to work hard.

The trails weren't as good as I was expecting them to be. I was hoping the snow would be well-packed, perfect for the Microspikes, but some sections, particularly on Greenman, were drifted over (although Tom K and Kirsten had gone up Greenman ahead of me). And even where things weren't drifted, the snow wasn't as packed as well as I'd like. I guess those ideal conditions are rare. Maybe we're lacking the base that we usually have. Or maybe those conditions will come later in the winter. Or maybe my Microspikes have gotten too dull.

Disappointed with the up, I decided to work hard on the down. Was really spinning the wheels from Greenman spring back to the Greenman/Saddle Rock junction, as the drifting was a mess through there, so I didn't expect my overall time to be that great. Also didn't feel like I really went all out. So fairly surprised to see that I came down in 19:43. I think my best from last winter (and probably best all time for me) was 18:56 on 2/5/2010.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:38 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:02 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
51:27 - Green summit
53:43 - started down
1:13:26 - Gregory TH

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