Insanely Poor Snow at Fairfield Hills

Had a little time to kill today between dropping off the Qball at the bike shop and getting the kids off the bus so I thought I would bring the skis and see what all the warm weather and rain did to the snow at Fairfield Hills.  Around my house we have tons of snow, however, it's pretty well shaded and takes a while to melt but up at the old Mental Hospital Complex, it's very exposed to the sun and subject to a lot quicker melting than what we get around here.

The good snow was mostly in the woods but there were still patches in the fields that made it fun.  Being out in the open, however, meant being subject to the winds which made the conditions a lot different from last week.

I found these trail markers in the fields on the eastern portion of the property that I think are part of the last Hunter Pace to have taken place at Fairfield Hills.  It's something to think about doing for an idea I have for this place concerning XC Skiing in the future.

I couldn't find any snow that connected this lower field from where I came on the back trails so I had to pop off the skis and walk a 100 yards to the lower fields.  I felt shameful and likened the experience to riding on the road with my mountain bike.  But the lower fields were great.  I criss crossed them and snowplowed down to the bottom of the field and then cut across to where I parked.

The snow was rock hard through here.  It would have been nice to have some edge but I had to make do with what I had (30 year old cross country skis) and I made it without falling.

When I got back to the car I checked the Lowrance, didn't take any chances this time and brought the Garmin, too, and I found it off again.  Once I got home, I put new batteries in it and found that it died 3/4s of the way through the trip, so I should have checked the batteries.  Still, that doesn't explain why it didn't work the last time.  The only thing that I can think of is that quite possibly it lost signal while I was walking through the woods, they were kind of dense and mostly evergreens.  Maybe, if it loses signal and can't require it figures it shouldn't waste anymore battery so it shuts itself down.  If that is the case, then that's mega stupid.  

Above are the two tracks in comparison.  Red is the Garmin and Blue is Lowrance.  Somehow, I am not surprised at the variance between the two because the Lowrance was in my pack and more vertical on the Garmin was in cell phone pouch perched on my shoulder.  The last time I did a comparison like this the Garmin was on my stem and while the Lowrance was in my pack, when I ride I am bent over the frame, thus putting both GPS' at the same angle to the satellites..