Kroka Vermont Semester 2014: Vermont Semester Update #13

Bonfire at Earth Sky Time Farm

Back at Kroka Base Camp, 5/27/14

WE DID IT!!!

We’re back at base camp after three months of expedition, and Kroka is much greener and warmer than we remember. There are new staff to meet, new animals to take care of, and new chores to do, so we are working away as usual.

Our biking portion was amazing. We had absolutely fantastic weather, sunny and warm everyday except for the last two where we experienced soaking rains. Our spirits were not dampened as we found that biking in the rain was fun too. We crossed the spine of the Green Mountains towards the beginning of the leg. That day was pretty tough going, but we made it to the top of the mountain, and we covered a whopping 51 miles the next day! We also climbed Putney Mountain towards the end of our trip - a long dirt road climb. That day was also difficult, but we rode it at a steady pace.

On our first day, we stumbled across an Amish barn raising. It was pretty amazing to watch so many people working on one project together, and getting so much accomplished in such a short amount of time. We stopped at the Slate Museum in Granville, New York where we learned about slate quarries and their history in this region. Our destination that day was Merck Forest. Some of us ended up calling it Murk-wood, but the place was anything but murky. It was beautiful! The ride there ended with a very long and steep hill, which, after 33 miles of hard biking, seemed impossible to climb. We slept in an awesome cabin-like lean-to. The next morning, we did some firewood stacking and trail building in exchange for our lodging.

Our next destination was Earth Sky Time Farm. We arrived mid-afternoon, swam in their pond, set camp, and shared dinner with the farmers. After dinner, we had a meeting on their in-ground trampoline, and attended a bonfire. We did some service work in the morning before leaving: pulling weeds from the blueberry patch, painting a foundation, and moving some re-purposed windows.

The next day, we had a short ride to Mt. Equinox where we met up with a geology professor named Roger Hadock. At the bottom of the mountain we talked about the geological history, and on the way up, he taught us about the different plants on the mountain and why they grew there. It was super interesting to learn about how the mountains were formed, and how that effected the plant life. That evening, we arrived at Someday Farm, which was also at the top of a fairly ridiculous hill.

The next day was a live-over. We packed our bikes with minimal gear, and rode to a local cave for a day of caving. I myself did not go into the cave, but the group had a good time and were extremely muddy when they returned. We then biked back to Someday Farm, back up the ridiculous hill, and went to bed. The next day was another live-over. We did service work on the farm for most of the day consisting of expanding the living space for the chickens and clearing some beds in the greenhouse in preparation for spring planting. That afternoon, we worked on academics and softening three deer hides for making moccasins. We stretched the hides by creating a trampoline and bounced each other on top of them. That was a ton of fun!

We left Someday Farm the next day with some regret, after some more hide work and academics. The ride the next day was a lot of uphill as our route took us up and over Mt. Tabor. We camped at the top of the mountain, next to a very pretty brook.

The next day was the 51 mile day. It was mostly downhill or flat, but it was a really long day. We stopped at a place called Taylor Farm where they very generously gave us some cheese and apples. We continued on after that and ended our day at Trollhaugen Farm (otherwise known as “old Kroka base camp”) where we set camp, ate, and promptly went to bed.

We had another live-over the next day. Lisl came and helped us make moccasins for the whole day. I had a lot of fun making mine, and I’m really excited to wear them after they’ve been smoked properly.

We left Trollhaugen Farm the day after making moccasins, and biked about 12 miles up and over Putney Mountain to Green Mountain Orchards. We ate our lunch there, set camp, swam in their pond, ate some apples, and worked on academics. We also played some fun games including one called Mingle, where one of the requirements was to leap into someone else’s arms rather unexpectedly. Lots of laughter ensued.

The next day we did some service work by clearing out pruned apple tree branches from the orchard. Just after setting off on our bikes, it began raining hard. Everyone got soaked, but we had a wonderfully dry barn to sleep in at Basin Farm, inhabited by several goats and their kids, six cows, and some extremely cute kittens. After hanging the multitudes of wet clothing and gear, we ate dinner with the community and shared some songs and stories. We visited a little more and then went to bed, warm and dry!

The next morning, we did some service work and transplanted sweet corn in one of the many 100 square ft. garden plots. The soil at Basin Farm is incredibly rich and loamy river bottom soil - perfect for growing crops. I don’t think I have ever seen or felt such high quality soil.

Last Friday, we packed our panniers for the final time and set out on the home stretch to Kroka. It was mostly uphill, but the pace was quick. We arrived back at Kroka, to be warmly greeted by the staff with music playing. We were done with the bike leg and we only had a scraped elbow and knee, an not one flat tire!

On Pain by Rosa Dews, prompted by a passage from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

And so, unwilling, I find the dark one again

And drink his bitter brew---

He is a well-known, hated friend to me,

One never ceasing, following my tracks...

And he, as sun, cracks the fruit’s stone

And the life inside has in its choosing:

To grow and seek the warmth,

To flourish, feeding others as it feeds itself,

And to become, once grown, so much more

Than it could have ever been unopened---

Or in darkness chosen,

To succumb to the plague of its very being

And choose the easy path,

The well-worn trail to self-indulgence,

The slow but steady downward spiral,

To be resigned within its newborne shell---

A door that never opens leads to

Nowhere by its nature...

So, fruit’s stone, choose easy

Or choose right,

Seek the sun, or in the darkness

Know a decaying bliss.

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We have finally finished our journey of hundreds of miles and we’re back at where we started. The realization dawned on us all, and there was laughter and hugging with everyone. It was a triumphant and happy moment!

Now we are here at base camp and it’s a bit strange to be back. The grass is green and warm, and the mosquitos are flying. It’s rather surreal to be back after traveling so far. We are knit as a family in a way that we were not when we left, and we are reliving memories all together here. With graduation approaching, however, we are still very busy building our lodge, doing chores, and finishing all of our leftover work. We will be doing morning chores with school groups as they come in as well which we are all looking forward to.

We hope many of you can make it to our graduation on Saturday, June 7th at 1PM!

-Rosa