It is time for following the tracks; storm no. 5 came through at mid-week giving us about three more inches of snow (season total is now about 29″); we saw these tracks just off the trail. There is just enough snow for the machines to start operating. When the pond freezes enough, the trail will be connected to the western trail network and machine activity will greatly increase. We are probably real close to suitable frozen lake conditions since it has been cold all week.

In fact, the cold has managed to knock out my remote temp. sensors (frozen batteries).