Kroka Vermont Semester 2014: Vermont Semester Update #7

We have been blessed this leg with superb snow and weather conditions. On the first day out from Archie Bunker, we only traveled four and a half kilometers as we tried to reestablish the groove of trail life again. A south/south west wind had been blowing all day and the snow started to fall just as camp set up was complete. It got slightly warmer in the middle of our week and then temperatures dropped pretty drastically as we climbed Bolton Mountain. We skied the Bolton-Trapp Traverse on Tuesday. Prior to that day, we kept hearing stories about how challenging it was and how it was going to be one of our most difficult days. Along the trail we kept seeing signs that said; “Danger, the Bolton-Trapp Traverse is narrow, long, steep and unpatrolled. Do Not ski alone. Experts Only.” We are not quite experts but we have definitely come a long ways since the middle of January! That traverse was pretty much hands down the best of the Leg 3!!! It may have had to do with the beautiful views or the deep untracked powder but I think a large portion of it hangs on the fact that we ate a lot of chocolate!

During Leg 3 we worked on mastering our winter skills list. This list includes skills such as processing all of the firewood for the evening and following morning in 1 hour with 3 other people, making a sturdy stove set up, boughing the tent floor in 15 minutes with a partner, leading the group navigationally for a day, cooking a delicious, timely meal with a buddy, skiing all terrain with confidence, making your knife shaving sharp, etc… To help make this more entertaining, the cook’s challenge was instigated. Each day two people cooked. In the evening they were judged by a large panel of judges on five categories: taste, timeliness, tea, flow, and flair. The famous Per Pytte hosted the rounds. It was great because each day people would try to get more and more creative with making bannocks (biscuits). We had wonderful bannock masterpieces come about such as garlic braids, meat stuffed, cheese stuffed, chocolate turnovers, apple turnovers, heart shaped topped with meat, and dipped in chocolate. Those last ones tasted like donuts! People also got creative with teas; mixing lavender with sumac that they collected during the day.

Something fun that we occasionally do is find a nice hill along the trail, drop our packs at the bottom and ski back to the top. From there we either practiced our telemark and/or parallel turns, snow board, do some kind of modified ski racing technic, or just book it straight down. On one of the groomed trails that the Camel’s Hump Skiers Association had worked on, we spent a good deal of time coming up with new kinds of ski racing. One version was butt racing where you squat or sit on the back of your skis as you go down the slope. It may sound easy but it actually takes a lot more balance than you would expect.

Later that day we also had a “boil-up.” We stopped around mid-day, made a fire using the fire chain and cooked some spaghetti. It was really strange to have a sit-down lunch since we usually just have our varied snack bags. After having lunch, it was like starting the day over again and we had a lot more energy.

Another time, it was the early afternoon and we came across a logging road. It was quite steep and bumpy and looked like fun so we dropped our burdens and headed up. I had a blast and some people even did tricks, the most spectacular of which were the summersault tricks and the wipeouts that ensued.

As we skied through these Vermont woods, we talked about logging and the changes that humans bring to the landscape. That was one of the themes of our natural history lessons with Emily Turner who was with us for this leg. We also learned about forest communities and that was neat because you could see with your eyes what had been taught as you skied along through the woods. We also learned about Vermont geography and how that affected the way in which this lovely state was settled back in the mid 1700s. My personal favorite was our lesson on early farming. We stopped along the edge of a field that is still part of a farm today and took a moment to look around us. From where we stood we could see another two fields across the valley on the hillside. The fields were surrounded by stone walls and large trees that were left as borders a long time ago. As we skied away, back into the woods along the Catamount Trail, I saw a lot more signs of fields and farms. It was neat because now I know that there is always some evidence of human interactions with the land – you just have to know what to look for.

My favorite part of Leg 3 was crossing the Winooski River. We were planning on a 20 kilometer day, more than half of which was planned to be a walk next to Interstate 89. The day sounded really challenging to me. After we got down off of Camel’s Hump, there lay the Winooski, completely frozen over. Emily checked the ice by chopping a string of holes to measure the thickness. It was found to be around 4 inches at it’s thinnest and so we were able to cross. Walking over the ice cut the travel distance for the day down to around 10 kilometers and so that was really exciting! The day only got better though – Molly and Emily stopped at a Sunoco station and bought ice cream. We proceeded to eat it with our hand carved spoons while standing in a circle in the parking lot.

As I write this letter to you, we are enjoying the fantastic hospitality of the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont. What a treat to be here in this beautiful, historical, world-famous landmark, with soft beds, hot showers, a swimming pool and hot tub, and sweet chocolate treats. Yesterday we attended a sing-along workshop and today we are helping the Trapp Family staff in pruning brush along their ski trails.