Skiing MacDowell Reservoir in Peterborough

It was an unusually good early cross-country skiing season this year. That December cold snap kept powdery snow on the ground for a long time. We skied the fields around our house in Chesham and the ever-dependable Dublin School Nordic Center, which has expanded their snowmaking capacity making more of those trails less dependent on natural snow. We've gone across the river to the Brattleboro Outing Club trails and up into the Green Mountains for a delightful ski at Wild Wings in Peru, Vt. where there's been more snow than in the Keene banana belt. Our new local discovery, first last year and then just before New Year's this year, has been skiing on the MacDowell Reservoir in Peterborough. This form of marsh skiing is available in a very specific sliver of winter season. Phenology is the study of recurring biological events, like plant flowering or bird migration, and how their timing is influenced by seasonal changes and climate. I have started to evolve a phenological approach to outdoor winter sports. There's a separate and distinct wild ice season in early winter when marshes and lakes freeze over, before there's snow, which makes for great ice-skating. Then, when there's two or three inches of snow on top of frozen marshes, there's a unique phenological opportunity to marsh ski. Five or six inches of snow, and marsh skiing becomes a trudge. We skied MacDowell Reservoir on Dec. 28 with just a few inches of snow, and it was glorious. Blustery and gray to start out then turning unexpectedly sunny and still. Two days later, after four more inches of snow, we tried to ski Seaver Pond in Chesham and it was a slog. Therefore, your mission, should you choose to accept, is to tune your phenological awareness to the perfect combination of weather conditions that allows you to ski MacDowell Reservoir, or any other large, expanse of winter-accessible marsh. If you can find the window, here's a possible outing. MacDowell Reservoir in Peterborough is an Army Corps of Engineers property which dams the flow of Stanley Brook from Thorndike Pond in Jaffrey and Nubanusit Brook flowing down from Spoonwood and Nubanusit lakes in Nelson. Floods in this watershed in the 1930s devastated downtown Peterborough, so MacDowell Reservoir was completed in 1950 to prevent similar flooding. The result is extensive, usually inaccessible, marshes that stretch back up the Stanley and Nubanusit Brook flowages that make for great exploring. Park up near the dam at the end of the access road and head down the road towards the beach just above the dam. Wend your way around the first gate, ski downhill towards the beach and picnic area and wend around a second gate to a small boat launch onto the reservoir. Looking north, there's a large expanse of open reservoir that eventually branches into Stanley Brook to the left and Nubanusit Brook to the right. Head towards the western shore, cross between the shore and a marshy island and head up into the Stanley Brook marshes. You're sure to see lots of animal tracks — fox, coyote and perhaps the bound-bound-slide distinctive pattern of otters. Gradually you'll wind up on the main stem of Stanley Brook, being careful to check for competent ice, until you bear right into a cozily enclosed marsh pocket that feels far, far away from any civilization; completely still, completely alone. From here, there are three choices: Keep following the well-defined path of Stanley Brook towards the northwest, staying along the banks of the stream before turning around when desired. Turn around and essentially retrace your tracks back to where you started. For the truly adventurous, go to the back corner of the marsh pocket and bushwhack over a bit of a ridge into the main Nubanusit Brook flowage and follow it east and then south back onto the open reservoir. There's a bit more pitch to the streambed over here, making for less dependable ice, so you should hug the bank and be cautious. My son and his wife explored this option and said it was negotiable and beautiful. Whichever option you choose, you'll have a memorable day. Moreover, it's free; no admission price other than your own gumption. There's something pure, serene and exhilarating about creating your own trail in a marshy wilderness while your tracks interweave with coyotes and otters. You'll appreciate what Wallace Stevens describes in his poem, The Snowman, as the "Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is." Après Nordic If you're looking for a beer and a bite to eat, there are lots of good options in downtown Peterborough. Post and Beam Brewery is located in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall. It was originally a school, then a club for veterans of the Civil War and then went through many incarnations before being empty for years. It's nice when breweries revitalize unused yet historic town buildings. Enjoy an Our Town — a quintessentially hazy, juicy New England IPA along with a pretzel or soup. Or on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Blackfire Farm serves wood-fired, farm-to-table pizzas sourced mostly from their farm in nearby Hancock. Of course, there's always Harlow's, serving 18 different New England microbrews and burgers, fries, quesadillas, healthy salads and an award-winning chowder that might be just what you want after a chilly ski across the frozen tundra. It's always dependably buzzy and cozy tucked into a booth here.