Tuckerman's Ravine and Butt Sled

I've been wanting to hike Tuckerman's Ravine and butt sled down the Sherbourne Path for ages, and today I finally did!  It was SO fun, I definitely want to do it again!  I went with a meet up group - I was kind of scared when I signed up for it because there were 67 people signed up for the hike!  But, today there were about 25 of us.  I didn't bring my hiking poles because I was worried about getting poked by them on the way down, which was a Huge Mistake.  My legs were killing me, and there were some steep parts where I was seriously off balance.  Although in Boston we only had like a foot of snow this year, there was a huge snow pack up there, it was my winter :)

The hike up was killer!  I think because I started out too fast, trying to keep up with the fast folks, and burned out.  After about an hour I decided Hike Your Own Hike, and slowed down to my pace, and it was much better.  There were people in the group who came after me, and I wasn't the slowest, but definitely not the fastest either.  It is early in hiking season...

There were a ton of people skiing up the trail.  It was so fun to be a part of this group of people headed up to this back country ski area!  There's a caretaker's cabin about .7 miles from the top (I was so glad to see it) and it was just full of people with ski equipment - so fun!  But, after that it got super misty, by the time I was close to the ravine, I could see about 20 feet.  So, after all that, I didn't even get to see the ravine.  Next time.

The best part, of course, was sledding down.  I was last up in my hiking group, but first down on the butt sled.  The trail was about 5 feet wide, the snow was perfect, there were only a few icy patches, and the steep parts were followed by flatter bits that you could see, so you could go fast.  People in my group kept stopping, and so I kind of ditched them :)  Towards the bottom, there was this group of skiers hanging at the side waiting, and they were all approving as I went past them really fast over the bumps.

Really great day, tiring, my legs are killing me.  When I do it again I'll bring my polls.  I have rubber tips that I can put on for the sled ride down, in case I fall off.