A Quick XC Ski Around Saint-Gaudens National Park
It was a cold bright sunny Saturday morning and we had just got about 4 inches of fluffy snow the previous day. My plan was to take a ride up to Cornish, NH and take my skis around Saint-Gaudens National Park.
But then I thought with all this fresh snow right here why waist time and gas. Maybe I should just stay local. But then I thought, it is a perfect day with perfect conditions. Why wouldn’t I take the ride to such a beautiful place and ski the trails? So I packed my stuff and headed out the door.
| Date: | 02-20-2021 |
| Location: | Cornish, NH |
| Distance: | 1.27 mi |
| Fee/Pass | $0 |
| Elevation Gain: | 66′ |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 14 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Easy |
Saint-Gaudens is about an hour and a half drive from my home. When I arrived I was the only car in the parking lot. The grounds looked beautiful covered in a blanket of fresh fluffy snow.
I got my skies out and took the well traveled trail from the parking lot to the visitors center entrance. (Since it is winter all the buildings are closed). From here I visited the Abraham Lincoln Statue.
Then I made my way down the path and back up through the hedged gardens. In side one of the “rooms” is the Adams Memorial. A seated hooded figure cast in bronze.
From here I went through the shrubs to the famous Shaw Memorial. I came in from the far side and as I entered the garden the Shaw Memorial was about 30 feet away. I skied closer to get a better look.
I do like this sculpture. I like what it represents. I’m always taken back when I look at the expressions on each of the soldiers. I took a moment to think about what might be going through their heads as they march through Boston.
I exited the Shaw Memorial into a line of old Birch trees. So of course I had to ski down the middle. From here I made my way to the outer trail and passed the Ravine Trial entrance.
I continued down to the Temple monument, took a few pics and kept moving on. The snow was deep where no one had walked on. So I tried to stay on the barley noticeable snowshoe paths.
There were a couple of small hills that were a lot of fun to glide down. I made it to the Blow-Me-Down Trail and considered going down but thought that would be a better adventure if I have company with me. So I just kept to the permitter of the grounds.
I soon came upon the summer time RV parking. This is where the packed trail ended. At this point I had to decide to walk up the road about a 1/4 mile or break my own trail up to the entrance. I decided to break trail.
There was a slight incline and a crust that I had to break through but my Fischer S-Bounds did great. This was a long drive for a short ski but it was a perfect day with perfect conditions so it was all worth while.
