Fri 4/19 - AM 3 hours, Barr Trail

Not exactly how I would have planned it. Got a late start after staying up until the wee hours following the goings-on in Watertown on twitter, unable to pull myself away. Woke up feeling decidedly not refreshed as a result. Some dawdling before finally hitting the trail late morning. I don't think it's possible to go any slower than I was and still be running on the lower steeper stretch of the Ws. Being very deliberate so as not to blow up. The packed snow that I came across almost immediately upon hitting the trail only reinforced this idea. Where the trail meets the Incline I stopped for a look at the throng ascending and decided as a lark to go up the rest of the Incline, the last 1/3 or so. 

 looking down from the "bail out"

 pet owner of the year walking her dog down the Incline, the dog looked thrilled

snow is deeper at the top

From the top of the Incline it was a no-brainer to put on the yaktrax for the rest of the trip up. It was also quite clear I wouldn't be making it as far as Bottomless Pit as originally planned/hoped, and Barr Camp would be as far as I would go. Unsurprisingly, the snow got deeper as the trail went higher, while there was some previous foot traffic lower down to pack the snow soon after the Experimental Forest it was just me making fresh tracks. This quickly became tiresome, and the last 1.5 miles or so leading up to the camp were even more drawn out than usual. The yaktrax kept slipping on the unpacked snow, not what they're made for of course but quite frustrating anyway. 

 snow was packed at this point

 not so much here - summit in the distance

 it collapsed a minute after photo was taken

looking down from just above Experimental Forest

Approaching wit's end by the time I got to the camp, took a leisurely break. It took right around 2 hours for the ascent. I was acutely aware of how pleased I'll be not to running in any snow for a good long while after today. Hoping I would be able to get back down in half that time, which ended up being the case. As it was now mid-day and the sun was out, the snow was rapidly turning to slush and further down the trail was a shallow stream in places. Despite legs being tired from the sloppy ascent, barely a misstep on the trip down.