The white pines reach high into the sky here, their needles covering the forest in a thick coat. The frosted grass crackles under my rubber boats as I make my way across the meadow. The wind howls through the cedars, and the cold bites into the flesh each morning and night…yet everyday the sun warms the earth with the palm of its rays, the frost slowly thins, the ice starts to drip, and the day begins. The Northeast Kingdom is warming in the breath of spring.
We arrived at NorthWoods Stewardship Center, just outside of East Charleston, VT, from our solos on the 23rd and 24th. Ari, Eliot, and Yarrow arrived first and began the setup of camp, our home for the coming month. By the time Erica and I arrived, the main cook tent was set and warm. We all continued the setup of base camp until dark when Paul, Scott, and Oliver tumbled into the tent in time for a late dinner. We spent the night exchanging stories of our adventures, and laughed into the late hours until we fell heavily into the cocoon of our sleeping bags. When we awoke the next morning we continued in the preparation of our camp. We had to set five large, canvas wall tents – a combination kitchen and dining tent, boys tent, girls tent, staff tent, and guest tent - build up a month’s worth of firewood, collect boughs for all the floors, and organize all of our gear and personal equipment. By midday we heard Anna, Kendra, Melody, and Mistral coming up the path and soon our group was whole again. They jumped right into the work and we continued on until dinner. The meal was filled with and everyone told tales of their journey to Northwoods. It was a five-day solo which some of us turned into four days. Each group arrived safe, sound and pleased with their adventure.
When we set out from Heartbeet, we spaced the time between each solo group so as to avoid bumping into each other. We traveled along the V.A.S.T. (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) snowmobile trails the whole way. It was a total of 56 kilometers with very little elevation change. The trail wound through beautiful farmland, thick forests, and rolling fields. The weather was warm and rained most of the time. We waded through mud the whole way, leaving our skis packed in the trailer. We passed through many small towns and had a chance to talk with the people living there. Yarrow, Eliot, and Ari found themselves on an adventure when they hiked all through the night during the pouring rain, and arrived at Northwoods at 1:30 in the morning, two days early.
Melody, Anna, Mistral, and Kendra spent one night in a barn full of rare, miniature Scottish sheep, sleeping in the hay next to the animals. The barn was warm and the hay was soft and
thick. Paul, Scott, and Oliver’s adventure brought them work hauling firewood for a man on the mountain. Erica and I witnessed the wildlife first-hand as we traveled along, standing right next to a pair of fighting mink and tons of birds. When we left, Misha gave each of the groups the assignment of meeting someone new and telling them our story, and volunteering for a service project for someone in need. When you came across someone who needed a hand, your group would help out without anything in return, just for the pleasure of it. All of the groups got to meet new a wonderful people this way and we all had a wonderful time doing a kind act for a stranger. Solos were an amazing experience for us all, and learning to survive and make decisions in a small group is a skill that will serve us for the rest of our lives.
Now as I write, our camp has been officially set and we can begin to focus on our projects for the spring and the rhythm of our day-to-day life. We wake up and jump into chores like we did in January, back at Kroka base camp. There is still firewood to be split each morning, two people start cooking, water has to be hauled from the stream, and someone needs to take care of our bathroom waste and dump it in the compost pile. During the day we have been organizing all of our winter expedition gear. It has to be separated into what needs to stay for the canoe trip and what needs to be sent home. All of our skis have been waxed and our poles and boots put away; our spring boxes have been pulled out and combined with our winter boxes in this unusual weather, one day hot and one day freezing cold. We are washing all of our clothes in the stream. We also have to finish up our individual Big Job work as we prepare to switch into new roles for the spring. Then we will be presenting our Big Job overview from the winter trail to each other.
We are writing thank-you cards to the many wonderful people who have helped us along the way, and writing main lesson pages on the myriad things we have learned on trail. For example, we have been studying trees since the beginning of our trip and now each tree we have met will get a page in which it is drawn in detail, along with natural history information. We are also doing pages on our experience of making shelters, all the first aid training we’ve learned. All of these will be bound together at the end of the semester into a main lesson book that people can read for years to come and each of us will get a copy. This way all the great things we’ve learned can stay with us for the rest of our lives.
As soon as our workload has settled down some, we will begin with our spring projects. We will be pounding ash for pack-basket making when Chris and Ashira Knapp arrive, then we will make our pack-baskets in two days. We will be building a canoe with Rollin Thurlow of Northwoods Canoe in a weeklong period of time. We will then begin paddle making with Ray Reitze, mentor and Grandfather to Kroka. Our time here is filled to the brim and there is lots to do. Every minute is filled with joy.
As I mentioned before, we will be switching Big Jobs soon. The spring awakens, as does a fresh new voice of our journey. I’ve told all there is for me to tell, and now I pass the pen on. I wish I could put to words how being the semester scribe has affected me. I wish I could write some elaborate ending that flourishes and leaves you thinking hard, but I’m not sure that’s my style and I’m not sure that’s how I want to end. I’d rather tell you it’s merely the beginning and the good part has yet to come. So thanks, thank you for listening to our tale. The river awaits and so begins the second chapter.
Truly yours,
Iyla Therese
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