A few days ago, I had a curious self-realization about this blog. For all intents and purposes, each blog posting is my version of the classic “Shaggy Dog Story”. For my readers who don’t know what exactly a Shaggy Dog Story is, here is the Wikipedia definition: “In its original sense, a shaggy dog story Read More…
Tag: Brooks Road trailhead
Sugar Hill Reservoir in the Spring
In this blog, I have often sung the praises of the trail runs accessible from the Brooks Road trailhead, reached after a few hundred yards on the forest service road on the right between the Rikert ski touring area and the Snow Bowl. The easiest run from here, terrain-wise is a roughly 9 mile run Read More…
Beaver Ponds in Frost Country
Several years ago, I described a run where I crossed over a lot of the terrain commonly associated with the Robert Frost environment – the Frost Cabin, the Robert Frost trail, and the Breadloaf campus in Ripton. This run begins at the Robert Frost (note the theme!) turnout and picnic area, and proceeds up the Read More…
New Year’s Resolutions
Saturday brought the long looked for break in the ski conditions thus far this year: It finally started to warm up to the mid-teens, and there was enough (I hoped!) snow to do my first backcountry skiing of the year. I knew the cover would be a little on the thin side (That always seems Read More…
End of the Summer on the Long Trail
On this, the last weekend before the start of my school year, I was looking for a good long run to complete the summer running season. August had been a disappointing month for running, due to back spasms which slowed me for most of the nicest days of the summer, but after a month of Read More…
(not so bad) Romance Mountain
In one of my winter posts a few years ago, I described a great ski route at the Blueberry Hill Ski Touring Area in Goshen, on the trail traversing the high flanks of Romance Mountain. It has been claimed that this trail is “the highest altitude groomed cross country ski trail in Vermont”, and on Read More…
Tentative Trail Traipsing after the Terrible Tempest
I, like pretty much everyone else, has been hearing of all the damage inflicted by the recent visit of Tropical Storm Irene. Eager to get back up to the mountains, but unsure of the current condition of the roads, I drove up Rt 125 on Saturday to take a look at my favorite trailheads. I Read More…
Stick Season above the Snow Line
Stick season can be a tough time of the year for outdoor enthusiasts. As the last of the foliage is blown off the trees, the days get shorter and colder without the distraction offered by the ample snows of winter. While the occasional day with bright blue sky and crisp late fall air can offer a reprieve, Read More…
Circumnavigating Robert Frost Country
One of the most famous characters to grace the hills of Addison County was America’s poet laureate, Robert Frost. In a earlier post, I joked about the ubiquity of signs alluding to Frost’s presence in the woods of Ripton, so I thought it would be fun to describe a run built on the Robert Frost Read More…
The Grand Moosalamoo Traverse
The Moosalamoo National Recreation Area, the region which encompasses many of the runs on this blog, is one of the wonderfully underutilized outdoor resources in the northeast. This region, roughly delineated by Rt. 125 (the Middlebury Gap road) to the north, the main ridge of the Green Mountains to the east, Goshen and Brandon to Read More…