Winter Hiking
by
Elizabeth Bassett

If you stored your hiking boots for winter, dig them out. No doubt
mice have already filled them with bird seed or doggie nuggets anyway.
With birdsong replacing the alarm clock our body clocks have lurched
into spring. Long hours of daylight taunt us. But wait. Four feet of
snow still drape Mt. Mansfield and sugaring has only just begun.
What's a body to do as the meager snowpack seeps away? Take a hike. Go
Up!
"Winter hiking is unbeatable- no bugs, allergies, tourists, rocks, or
roots!," says Eddie Krasnow, a veteran of Camel's Hump in all seasons.
"Even on the same trail, the hike is often unrecognizable from the
previous week, day, or hour as weather on Camel's Hump continuously
renews the landscape. I've had more good conversations with neighbors
on any given Saturday along the trail, yet always feel alone with my
thoughts and sweat."
In the summer of 2001, then 75-year-old Dick Reid of Shelburne set a
goal of hiking the Hump every month for a year. "I summited on
September 12, 2001. It was eerily quiet with no planes in the sky."
As the weather got colder, Reid's daughter Jessie Bradley said, "Dad,
you can't hike alone, I'm coming too!"
"Camel's Hump in winter is a serious undertaking," Reid says. Bradley
recalls the pair always carried snowshoes but rarely strapped them on.
"We always took the Burrows Trail and it was usually hard-packed snow
from all the foot traffic," she says. "This winter, however, with
little snow and lots of rain, it's so icy out there. We haven't even
tried Camel's Hump."
In late February, with snow lacking even at higher elevations, a
group of backcountry skiers with plans to ski the Catamount Trail
resorted to Plan B, hiking. Rain and freezing temperatures had turned
some sections of the Burrows Trail into an icy toboggan chute. Shod in
Yak-Traks and snowshoes they skidded into spruce boughs and birch
trunks on the upper reaches of the mountain. Only those with crampons
got purchase on sections of the summit trail. "I wish I'd brought my
climbing rope," the trip leader said, and not in jest.
"It's a different world out there in winter," says Molly Roland, who
with husband Tom or daughter Erin and her husband John, takes the
occasional winter hike. "It's exhilarating and so varied. A change in
elevation of 1,000 feet results in drastically different conditions,"
Roland says. "Good clothes are even more important than in summer. You
can't afford to get hot and sweaty. Layering with wicking and
breathable clothing is essential."
Texas Falls in Hancock offers a less daunting winter outing, a walk
rather than a hike. In the foothills of the Green Mountains at an
elevation of 1,900 feet, this gentle trail collects more snow than the
Champlain Valley. Ice sculptures tilt at improbable angles over the
potholes and tumbling waters of the Hancock Branch. Some stone steps
along the one-mile loop never see sunshine so footwear with good
traction is in order. Texas Falls is on Route 125 east of Middlebury,
a bit more than an hour from Charlotte.
On a recent Sunday, as ski areas across northern Vermont idled on
wind hold, Jessie and Jeff Bradley snowshoed north from the
Appalachian Gap on Route 17 to Molly Stark's Balcony, an undulating
route of 1.3 miles. Expansive views open north to Camel's Hump with
the Worcester Mountains to the northeast. "It was challenging at
times. We were on our hands and knees," Jessie Bradley says. "Most of
the hike is protected from the wind below the tree line. The
round-trip took us a little more than two hours."
The same sunny March Sunday this reporter snowshoed up Mount Hunger
via the Middlesex Trail. Snow drifts obscured the trail as we rose
into higher elevations and some blue blazes had peeled off the white
birch trees. We waded through hip-deep snow searching for our route.
"I come here all the time," my companion said. "I hiked this two weeks
ago and I don't even recognize it." Ice lurked beneath the frothy
white swirls, poised to send us sprawling. On the descent we slipped
like otters, making up lost time, and we stuffed our packs with
branches of hobblebush (also known as moosewood), a high elevation
shrub with hydrangea-like blossoms. As the buds swell on my kitchen
table I think back to the blinding sunshine and endless views from the
summit.
On April 15 all trails on state lands close and don't re-open until
Memorial Day weekend. Nearly all of the Long Trail north of Mt. Abe is
in state forests. "Wet treadways are particularly vulnerable," says
Matt Larson, office coordinator for the Green Mountain Club, "and
higher elevations are especially at risk."
Larson adds, "In spring there are plenty of other ways to get
outdoors and stay in shape, like biking and walking on dirt roads."
Larson recommends logging roads in the Cotton Brook watershed of the
Mt. Mansfield State Forest. Like the History Hike in adjacent Little
River State Park, Cotton Brook basin was home to nineteenth century
hill farms, communities, and lumber camps. A map features sites of a
school house, sawmills, covered bridge, stone bridge, log cabins, and
numerous farms. "Miles of dirt roads with hardened surfaces reach into
the higher elevation hills," Larson says. From the parking area at
about the 500-foot elevation, roads climb to nearly 2,500 feet.
Driving access is from Moscow, just south of Stowe. Observing the 25
mph speed limit, continue through Moscow village. When the road
reaches a T-intersection, turn left and continue to the gate at the
end of the traveled lane.
When you return from a wintry outing, settle in with a mug of tea and
your garden catalogs. When the soil is dry enough for planting, you'll
be ready to plant.