Main content

Exhausted — but happy — after another day of exploring the backcountry

Posted Sunday, December 9, 2018
— Backcountry skiing, Fall & early season

Sunday brought day two of sunshine and day two of skiing in the backcountry in northern Vermont.

We had discussed exploring the forest on the flanks of Camel's Hump. So off we went this morning.

After a long approach by car to Camel's Hump State Park in Duxbury, Vt., we buckled into our telemark boots and headed for the Monroe Trail. It's a busy hiking trail in the summer. Today there were hikers, snowshoers and a few skiers. 

I learned it's challenging to skin up a hiking trail. This is because there are lots of bumps, turns, ups and downs so my skins didn't always have a lot of contact with the foot-packed snow. I had a better time when I went off trail into the powdery snow.

After a while, we started traversing across the hardwood forest away from the Monroe Trail to make our own way downhill. We broke our own trail. We found mostly tight trees and hobblebush. And we crossed many streams with running water. Some crossings required creativity to get across! The snow was challenging. There were about five inches of light powder on top of a breakable crust.

But the sun was out and we were exploring in the snowy woods. The only sound in this remote area was the cracking noise from cold trees and the busy work of woodpeckers. So nice.

Share This Blog Post

 

Post a Comment

No Account Needed! To post a comment without any kind of account, you can type in a name, nickname or trail name and an email (which we do not collect or use) then select "I'd rather post as guest." We'd love to hear from you!

Link to get a Protect Our Winters membership

 


Telemark skier makes a turn toward camera in snowy woods

Pretty spring ski tour in a bit of fresh snow

Posted 3/27/23

Woods covered in 2 inches of new, spring snow. Waxless skis and three-pin bindings. Light fleece layers. Wax to rub on skis to keep the snow from clumping. Mix all these ingredients for a…

View of birch trees and ski slopes of Mt. Mansfield

Zoomin' on the groomin' at Trapp Family Lodge cross-country center

Posted 3/20/23

I like to keep my eye on the weather — especially this time of year. We had that wonderful dump of snow last week. It was then followed by some rain. Looking ahead, we may see rain again on Thursday.…

A snowboarder plows through some snow

Big snowfall this past week! Then some rain on Friday.

Posted 3/17/23

Wow — we've seen some crazy snow totals of up to three feet from this week's snowstorm! We got out to cross-country ski while the snow was winding down, then some downhill skiing on Thursday morning,…