Hi all,

I groomed a single pass for classic only, on the lower road to point O
(where it begins to head up into the meadow), and on the entire upper
trail network (including Dave's and TJ's loops) up to the meadow.

The classic skiing was quite good this morning, but the meadow was still
drifting heavily when I ran it last evening, so it was already in an
ungroomed state again and like skiing over huge buried whales. There was
about an additional inch or two of new snow over the tracks that were set
last night and which had already set and frozen solid. So, the tracks
were a little shallow in spots and quite deep in others depending on the
hardness of the underlayer and the exposure to the new snow.

The best thing was that I didn't follow the sharp curves of the trail as
we usually do while setting classic tracks. The track is much straighter
and made for much nicer classic skiing, not having to transition around
so many or tight curves.

Again, the lower road groomed out very nicely and seemed to be the best
skiing for some reason! Perhaps it is because of the more straight
nature of the trail and the absence of so much side-slope.

It was snowing again this morning (filling up the tracks again), and
quite cold. The kick was solid using Blue/Violet hard wax, at least as
of this morning. It may be more of a violet to darker purple (maybe even
a little red) later today.

It is not good for skating, as the track is often right down the middle
of the trail, and is not groomed out on the sides. It can be regroomed
in a day or two if someone is still motivated to groom for skating.

I lost one of the tractor weights (but found it this morning) about 1/2
way between the upper Dave's Dogleg junction and the rock below pt. J.
It had frozen solid to the trail, but I dug it out and it is leaning
against a tree now on the lower side of the trail. If anyone (not
likely?) gets out to groom, please look out for it and retrieve it.

I will not personally groom anymore this week, and will most likely spend
the rest of my hill efforts pulling equipment down, fixing stuff, etc. I
may get out for one more "smooth things out" session early next week just
to keep a nice path up to the meadow for crust skiing during April
mornings (should be really nice!).

So, get your classic skis out for the last few strides. This is a rare
opportunity to ski a much straighter (and nicer) line on the Pajarito
Nordic trails. Be sure to try the lower road before the walkers and dogs
chew it all up.