[Journal entry for March 29, 2015; Livermore Road, Waterville Valley Ski Area, New Hampshire]. Dallas, Gigi Estes and I cross-country ski Livermore Road at Waterville Valley Ski Area. Christopher Estes and Paul Estes have come with us, but hike separately on snowshoes. The day is sunny, the air is crisp and the temperature is a little above freezing; I feel energetic.

On the way up, we have been following the Mad River since we left Interstate 93. We stopped briefly at the dam in Compton for the view and crossed the river again, along West Branch Road near the trailhead parking lot. It is flowing briskly with snowmelt, but still has abundant snow in drifts along its banks and in caps atop boulders, midstream. We set off down the road, which rises gently up into the hills, following the Mad River and then two of its tributaries, Cascade Brook and Avalanche Brook. We make yet another crossing of the Mad River a quarter mile or so from our start. Surface water, running through the woods and emptying into river, is making a little waterfall on its bank. I make two short detours, one down to Cascade Brook, to examine a very large boulder, at least ten feet high, sitting in its bed and another to a grove of very large White Pine trees, growing in a sheltered hollow along the Mad River. Bright sunlight streams through gaps between branches, high above. They are impressively tall, yet their trunks are not nearly as wide as those in the Hermitage in Gulf Hagis (Maine). I sign a tiny mouse or vole when it scurries across the trail. It is the only animal that I sight today.

I catch up with Dallas and Gigi and we continue up the road until we reach a bridge over Avalanche Brook near a road intersection. Dallas heads back, but Gigi and I ski about a quarter mile up the Livermore Trail, a narrow extension of the road that follows the bank of Avalanche Brook. Just before turning about, I ski down to the brook and admire its snowdrift covered surface. We then turn about and head back, reversing our outbound route. We ski fast on this mostly downhill return trip and soon pass Dallas. We meet Paul and Christopher near the parking lot.

We stop at the Blue Moon café in the Town Square in Waterville Valley for Lunch.

About two hours (excluding lunch).