snowy chapin

I drove out to Chapin this afternoon at the tail end of the latest lake effect snow episode. There was some automotive carnage on the roads. The Geauga side of Kirtland Chardon Road was epic bad. There were some bumper prints in the ditch on both sides of the road and a cop was helping a woman who spun out and went into the ditch at the bottom of the hill.

I cut over to the 306 parking lot on Billings Road, which was covered in fine snow. The sight jogged some dormant memory cells. I used to live near the Sperry/Kirtland Chardon Road intersection back in the 90s, and we had a couple crazy snowy and brutally cold winters including a -15F day, which ruptured the huge natural gas main on Route 6 near the Farm Park, about a mile from the house. It sounded like a jet engine.

The trails at Chapin hadn't been groomed, but there were only a couple of inches of fresh powder on top of the packed base. It was a struggle heading up the road toward the hill (aka Gildersleeve Mountain). I originally planned to work on my technique, but had to concentrate pretty hard just to keep my balance. By the time I got to the top of the hill, the groomer went by, so I got to skate on the brand new surface. Sweet!

I did two back and forth laps from the 306 parking lot to the lodge, and took side trips on every trail that had been groomed, but even with all that, it was only 9 miles and about two hours including time spent adjusting gloves and getting a powerbar at the lodge. I didn't have enough gas in my tank for a third lap.