We have had quite the run of unusual winter weather here for the past couple of weeks. It started out on January 25 with several inches of snow, followed by a full day of sleet, resulting in densely-packed snow that the locals have affectionately dubbed “SnowCrete”. After that, we went into an extended deep freeze where temperatures barely made it into the 20s. As a result, the “SnowCrete” has stuck around for quite a while. Now, 16 days later, the cold snap has finally broken, and the stuff is starting to melt down.

While the SnowCrete was more of an annoyance than anything else, there are a couple of things I’ll miss about it. It was packed down so hard that you could (mostly) walk right over it without sinking down. It was great for snowshoeing, and I managed to get out twice, hiking 3 miles the first time and 4 miles the second. It also worked really well with studded bike tires. In Patapsco Valley State Park, I could ride right over the unplowed pavement, on top of the snow. Contrast that to most snows we get, where the unplowed sections quickly turn into icy, rutty messes of footprints and bike tire tracks. It stayed that way for over two weeks, but today was the day it ended. I rode my bike to work, and this morning, I was able to ride over the snow for one last time. This afternoon, I had to push the bike through the same section, with my feet and tires sinking down with every step. It was fun while it lasted, and we probably won’t see another snow like this for a long time. All the same, it will be nice to get back to some of my usual outdoor activities like mountain biking and geocaching.