It's mud season — and so much more — in New England
NEXT: Stomp around a vernal pool.

By Lois Shea, Globe Correspondent, 03/21/03

Introduction
Stomp around in a vernal pool
Get to Fenway for Opening Day
Go ahead and ski
Hike to a waterfall
Watch sap boil
Bet on ice out
More links:
More on New England
Maple syrup season
Skiing in New England
More on Vermont
More on New Hampshire
More on Maine

Printable version
What to do

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
Plum Island
978-465-5753
http://parkerriver.fws.gov
Thirty-five miles north of Boston, near Newburyport. From Route 95 take exit 57 and travel east on Route 113, then continue straight onto Route 1A South to the intersection with Rolfe's Lane (a total of 3.5 miles). Turn left onto Rolfe's Lane and travel a half-mile to its end. Turn right onto the Plum Island Turnpike and travel two miles, crossing the Sergeant Donald Wilkinson Bridge. Take the first right onto Sunset Drive and travel a half-mile to the refuge entrance.

Open daily from sunrise to sunset but subject to temporary closures. A daily entrance fee is in effect year round. Refuge headquarters are at the north end of Plum Island near the Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse. Open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m-4:30 p.m., excluding federal holidays.

Tuckerman Ravine
Appalachian Mountain Club
Pinkham Notch Visitors Center
Route 16 North, Pinkham Notch, N.H.
603-466-2721
www.amc-nh.org
The trail to the ravine begins behind the visitor's center, 18 miles north of North Conway and 10 miles south of Gorham. From the south, take Interstate 93 North to Route 104 East (exit 23). Follow that to Route 3 North (near Meredith). Follow that to Route 25 East (intersection in Meredith), take that to Route 16 North (near West Ossipee). Follow that to Pinkham Notch Visitors Center/Joe Dodge Lodge, which is located roadside on Route 16.

Consult a trail map for detailed information. Call to check trail and weather conditions before setting out, and never set out without proper equipment (for checklist, see www.outdoors.org). Also check avalanche warnings posted by the US Forest Service before hiking or skiing at Tuckerman Ravine.

New Hampshire waterfalls
www.nhstateparks.com/water
falls.html
Diana's Baths is off the West Side Road, a half-mile from the turnoff to Cathedral Ledge on West Side Road, Bartlett, N.H. (near North Conway). Silver Cascade and Flume Cascade are both in Crawford Notch, visible from Route 302. Crystal Cascade is alongside Tuckerman Ravine Trail, which begins behind the Appalachian Mountain Club's visitor's center at Pinkham Notch (see above).

Maple season
This is Maple Weekend in New Hampshire and Maple Open House Weekend in Vermont. The full list of participating sugarhouses (and directions) is available online at www.nhmapleprodu
cers.com and www.vermontmaple.org. Today is also Maine Maple Sunday (www.getrealmaine.com). And the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association has declared all of March Maple Month (www.massmaple.org).

Ice out wager
Hastings Store
PO Box 58
West Danville, VT 05873
Store stops selling ice out chances on April 1. Send $1 and your vote on ice out time to the above address. Make sure to mark a.m. or p.m., and include name, address, and phone number.

Second only to bleak November as the most despised quasi season in New England, this not-quite-winter-but-not-yet-spring time of year has been known to drive New Englanders to acts of true desperation. Like cleaning the house.

The spring equinox (the "official" start of a season that wears at least five faces in New England) was Thursday. Depending on where you are in the region, there might still be 2 feet of snow on the ground. No matter.

Snow will give way soon to mud, and there is something gleefully appealing in the combination of mud and hope. In March and April, the sun rides higher in each day's sky, on a steady climb to summer's solstice. Buds redden. Returning migrant birds touch down at Plum Island, New England's birding paradise. Receding snow allows moose to roam unhindered.

New England becomes, in e.e. cummings's perfect word, "mud-luscious."

The weather changes fast, and it's easy to get caught off guard in shirt sleeves. "Spring" weather in New England can go from 70 and sunny to a 40-degree drizzle in a matter of hours. But that's no excuse to go to the (gaack!) mall or to hole up and (horrors!) do the dusting.

Instead, pack the car with gear for every possible weather condition. Sure, go out in shirt sleeves, but bring the fleece, the mud boots, and the windbreaker. And quit worrying. Nobody ever caught a cold from getting cold; ask a doctor, not your mother.

Soon enough, we'll be infested with bugs — and with tourists who wonder what the capital of New England is and where they might see maple syrup being made in October.

But right now, natives get the chance to explore New England in peace. And at its most mud-luscious.

Lois Shea is a writer who lives in New Hampshire.


		Introduction Stomp around in a vernal pool Get to Fenway for Opening Day Go ahead and ski Hike to a waterfall Watch sap boil Bet on ice out More links: More on New England Maple syrup season Skiing in New England More on Vermont More on New Hampshire More on Maine

		Printable version What to do Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Plum Island 978-465-5753 http://parkerriver.fws.gov Thirty-five miles north of Boston, near Newburyport. From Route 95 take exit 57 and travel east on Route 113, then continue straight onto Route 1A South to the intersection with Rolfe's Lane (a total of 3.5 miles). Turn left onto Rolfe's Lane and travel a half-mile to its end. Turn right onto the Plum Island Turnpike and travel two miles, crossing the Sergeant Donald Wilkinson Bridge. Take the first right onto Sunset Drive and travel a half-mile to the refuge entrance. Open daily from sunrise to sunset but subject to temporary closures. A daily entrance fee is in effect year round. Refuge headquarters are at the north end of Plum Island near the Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse. Open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m-4:30 p.m., excluding federal holidays. Tuckerman Ravine Appalachian Mountain Club Pinkham Notch Visitors Center Route 16 North, Pinkham Notch, N.H. 603-466-2721 www.amc-nh.org The trail to the ravine begins behind the visitor's center, 18 miles north of North Conway and 10 miles south of Gorham. From the south, take Interstate 93 North to Route 104 East (exit 23). Follow that to Route 3 North (near Meredith). Follow that to Route 25 East (intersection in Meredith), take that to Route 16 North (near West Ossipee). Follow that to Pinkham Notch Visitors Center/Joe Dodge Lodge, which is located roadside on Route 16. Consult a trail map for detailed information. Call to check trail and weather conditions before setting out, and never set out without proper equipment (for checklist, see www.outdoors.org). Also check avalanche warnings posted by the US Forest Service before hiking or skiing at Tuckerman Ravine. New Hampshire waterfalls www.nhstateparks.com/water falls.html Diana's Baths is off the West Side Road, a half-mile from the turnoff to Cathedral Ledge on West Side Road, Bartlett, N.H. (near North Conway). Silver Cascade and Flume Cascade are both in Crawford Notch, visible from Route 302. Crystal Cascade is alongside Tuckerman Ravine Trail, which begins behind the Appalachian Mountain Club's visitor's center at Pinkham Notch (see above). Maple season This is Maple Weekend in New Hampshire and Maple Open House Weekend in Vermont. The full list of participating sugarhouses (and directions) is available online at www.nhmapleprodu cers.com and www.vermontmaple.org. Today is also Maine Maple Sunday (www.getrealmaine.com). And the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association has declared all of March Maple Month (www.massmaple.org). Ice out wager Hastings Store PO Box 58 West Danville, VT 05873 Store stops selling ice out chances on April 1. Send $1 and your vote on ice out time to the above address. Make sure to mark a.m. or p.m., and include name, address, and phone number.