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Updates and News
Volume 7
3/20/2009

Update March 20, 2009

Hello everybody!

We have arrived at Sterling College in Craftsbury Vermont, our last layover before we reach Northwoods, to clean the ice out of our bindings for the last time! The winter trail is winding down. And though we will miss it, the weather is telling us it is time for a change. The sun is gaining strength as it gains height in the sky and we find ourselves stripping down to our t-shirts and lounging in the sun in our free time instead of huddling around the woodstove. This morning the sky clouded over and the rain began to fall. The snow is going fast, and we still have to make it to East Charleston. But no worries, we will arrive there, smiles on our faces, be we skiing through lovely powder, on an icy crust, or trudging through mud.

This third leg began from Maple Wind Farm on March 1st. We skied out in the afternoon and camped near Teal Farm, a permaculture project we visited the next day. The farm was an interesting take on a subject that is closely related to the way we have been living for the past two months. Melissa Hoffman, the owner of the farm explained her vision to us: living not just on the land, but in harmony with it; using alternative ways of making electricity, heating water, insulating the buildings; meeting her own needs and but also giving back to the land.

Two days of travel from Teal Farm brought us to the Winooski River, where we would test out our paddling skills for the first time. We pulled the canoe out of the bushes where it had been stowed for us a few days previously. Then we lowered it down the bank and into the cold waters of the Winooski. The first few times back and forth we just transported gear. Our backpacks went, then our skis and poles, then the sled. After that we went across in groups of three and four until finally we had gotten everything to the other bank. Then we hoisted the canoe onto our shoulders and headed down the road to the Smilie School, a K- 3 school in the town of Bolton.

We stayed the night on the playground of the Smilie School and planned the presentation we would be giving the next day. In the morning we got up early and did a little more practicing, and at 9 o’clock we headed into the school. We sang songs, did a skit about our typical day, and had show and tell, showing off our mitten shells, knives, spoons and mukluks. When the inside presentation was over, we took the kids outside in groups and let them look around our campsite. We had a lot of fun and would like to thank the school for letting us use their time and space.

When the kids went back inside to class, we took down camp. We packed up as usual and got ready for the next big event of the leg: climbing Bolton Mountain and the Bolton Trapp Traverse. We were very happy to have two guests for the day: Lisl, our lovely semester coordinator, and Jim Fredericks, the executive director of the Catamount Trail Association. We put our skis in our packs and headed up the road. On our journey up the mountain, the trail kept getting steeper and steeper until we finally reached Bryant Camp, a small cabin in the Bolton Mountain Ski Resort, where we decided to spend the night. The next day we finished the last of the uphill climb, contoured around the ridge, and reached the wind-stunted trees on the peak of Bolton Mountain, the highest point on the Catamount Trail. We had a navigation lesson with Chris, discussing how to take bearings and declination. When we had all enjoyed the view enough, we started down. Oh, and how we went down. And how many times we went down. And how many times we got back up, adjusted our backpacks, brushed ourselves off and headed down again. Yes indeed, it was a considerable downhill. I am happy to announce however that all are still alive and, in fact, enjoyed
themselves very much… even the going down parts…

We next traveled to Mud City and the home of the Lepine sisters. Gert, Jeanette, Marie, and Therese were eating breakfast when we arrived at their house on the 8th of March. We all sat down around their warm kitchen as they smiled and looked us over, asking us each our name, where we were from, how we were doing, and making sure everyone was comfortable. When we were all settled and listening intently, the women began to speak. The subjects of their stories may not have seemed remarkable at first, but the way in which they told them pulled us in. There was insight in their words, little bits of wisdom to build your life on: always help somebody if you have the chance; do what you are passionate about so that even if you never take a day off for 60 years, you never have to “work.” Gert was especially vocal, telling us about her years farming these fields and woods, raising a herd of prize jersey cows, making maple syrup and driving the tractor. She and her mother and sisters have been honored as the first farm run completely by women. We talked all morning and left feeling like we had been given a gift.

From the Lepine home we skied to the Lamoille County Nature Center to talk with Keith Morris, another permaculturalist with a different perspective to offer. Chatting with Keith about his permaculture philosophy was truly uplifting. He stressed the need not just to talk about all the negative things that are going on in the world today, but to look for positive solutions. He encouraged us to experiment and find solutions ourselves. We talked about the new “green” fad that is going around, and all of these terms that are being used like “reducing our impact” and living a “sustainable” lifestyle, and how we need to think about what those things mean. Do we have to reduce our impact? Or can we work instead to increase our impact in a positive way? And what kind of lifestyle do we want humans to sustain on the earth? It was a really fun and eye-opening discussion for everyone.

The next day we went back to the Nature Center to do a service project. We helped cutting staves out of willow stems for planting in riverbanks to prevent sedimentary run-off and erosion of farming fields in Vermont. We worked for a couple of hours in the morning and then headed back up to where we met with Keith the previous day. We had a quick lunch of soup prepared by Chris and then talked group solos logistics. The next three days and nights we would be moving and camping on our own, headed towards Green River Reservoir, where we would be having the parent weekend. After looking at some maps and pondering assorted situations for a while, the teachers headed out and we had a hula. Then we packed up and started our solo. We skied 8 kilometers the first day and, due to some trouble with a puddle, the sled, and Miron’s extremities, we found ourselves making a rushed camp and drying socks and mittens for most of the evening.

The next day we skied about 12 kilometers and camped on the other side of Mount Elmore. Due to some more trouble with a couple of streams, the sled and a gallon of espresso chip ice cream from the Lepines, we had coffee snow cream as a midday snack. It was a rather silly experience… That night we looked at the skies, and observed some unsettling clouds; it looked as if it was going to rain. And rain it did. The next morning found us fumbling around in our stuff sacks, trying to find our rain gear. The day was spent robed in bright orange, skiing through the drizzling gray. We also had a mission: to find ourselves someone in need of helping, a damsel in distress, per say, that we could ride up gallantly and rescue. Unfortunately, we found no damsels, only a couple of bewildered homeowners, an appliance salesman and a woman walking her dog, none of whom were in need of assistance. We made it across the towns of Elmore and Lamoille and arrived at Green River that night to make our last solo camp.

The next morning we were greeted at the door of the tent by Chris. He told us that we needed the same amount of firewood for the weekend as we had needed for our entire time on the trail together, and so, he advised, “You’d better kick it into gear.” Which we did. We spent the next two days chopping, sawing, gathering boughs, constructing ice sculptures, setting up tents and making an extraordinarily luxurious winter village for the parent weekend. Our families arrived on the 14th, and the festivities began. We had an amazing time showing our loved ones the life that we have been immersed in for the last two months, and enjoyed spending time with each other’s families. We were excited to meet some people who had not been at the previous weekends, like Dylan’s mom, Daniela’s parents and Ari’s brother. It is really fun to see how far our community extends.

When the parents were gone and the tents packed up, the boughs turned into rabbit houses and the poles leaned neatly against a tree for future use, we started the next part of our journey: the personal solos. We got up early on the 16th and packed all of our gear into our backpacks. Then one by one we put on our skis and headed out of camp and down the trail. The next two days we traveled alone, each person navigating along the Catamount Trail, stopping and making camp for the night, cooking his or her own supper, and going to sleep. In the morning we each got up of our own will, ate breakfast, packed up and skied out again. We arrived in Craftsbury throughout the day on the 17th, the first to arrive being Miron just as the sun rose and the last being Ida, who got a little lost and finally trudged into camp at around 5 o’clock in the evening.

So we are here, settled in at Sterling for some long awaited academic work. We eat lunch and dinner with the students in the dining hall and take turns going to classes at the college. We also got a tour with one of the students around the campus and got to visit the school’s sugarhouse while they were boiling the maple sap. Today we gave our presentation to some students who gathered in front of the dining hall.

Five days remain of the winter trail. Five days to savor the glory of gliding across frosty silver fields, the satisfaction of carrying a well-stuffed pack, and the joy of chewing on a dense, sour dough trail biscuit. And may there be glory, satisfaction, and joy in all of our endeavors. Wish us luck!

For the Vermont Semester this is Nelly Detra

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