Katie takes on the trail

Between the Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys of New England exists a rugged, wild mountain range that runs from Connecticut to Quebec called the Green Mountains. These peaks are often overshadowed by their higher neighbors west and east the Adirondacks and the Whites, respectively. However the Green Mountains are incredibly beautiful and challenging in their own right and are good for more than skiing.

The mountains of Vermont have long been a mysterious wilderness. During the Revolutionary War, the Green Mountains were a huge barrier for the British forces. The British Colonies of New Hampshire and New York were divided by the wild and untamed Green Mountains. While the Hudson and Connecticut River valleys were held under control by British forces, the mountains were home to rebel guerilla forces who called themselves the Green Mountain Boys.

The Green Mountain Boys famously captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 under the command of Ethan Allen and later that year invaded Ft St-Jean Canada. In 1777, Vermont declared independence from both the British Colonies and American States, and formed their own “Vermont Republic”. The republic lasted until 1791 when it was admitted to the union as the 14^th state.

Vermonters have an impressive history of rebelliousness and a “stick it to the man” mentality that still exists today. They were some of the earliest to adopt the idea of conservationism and spearheaded anti-industry movements to keep their air, water, and land clean. As a matter of fact Vermont was the last U.S. state to get a Wal-Mart. Vermonters appreciate the idea of wilderness. The Green Mountain Club, based in Vermont was also the first hiking club to build and maintain a long distance hiking trail in the United States.

The Green Mountain Club was founded in 1910 to promote recreation in the relatively unused Green Mountains. They developed the idea of building a long-distance hiking path stretching across the State’s high ridge from Massachusetts to Canada and began work in 1912. By 1930, the final stretch of the trail near the Quebec border was built in 1930 and Americas first Long Trail was complete and was aptly named “the Long Trail”.

Today the GMC still maintains the 273 mile long trail along with hundreds of miles of other trails throughout the state. They also employ hundreds of volunteers and paid backcountry rangers who live in the bush and police the wilderness, maintain camps, trails, bridges and enforce leave no trace ethics.

Just a little bit of snow…

A few months ago, I applied for a summer position as a backcountry ranger. While the job description was demanding, spending five days a week in the woods walking up and down the length of the LT seemed like a heck of a way to spend a summer. The job would be a challenge for me, I would have to overcome the physical hardships of living out of a backpack, weeks of cold rainy weather, the loneliness of living by myself in the woods, and not being able to see my friends or family for months on end, but the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. So naturally when I was told that I had qualified for an interview with the GMC I packed my bags and prepared for an 1100-mile weekend road trip to northern Vermont.

On Friday afternoon as soon as my E Mech class ended, I went back to my room, grabbed my bag, bought some bananas, peanut butter, Nutella, and fruit cocktail and tore out of State College. My girlfriend took a Greyhound out of Philly and we met at the Scranton bus station and saw with some friends at U Scranton before continuing our long journey northward. We followed the Adirondack Northway up to Lake George and took a series of windy country roads into Vermont. It was a brutally cold night and my little Hyundai was struggling. Each time we stopped to gas up, the car would barely start up after sitting for only a few minutes. We switched off driving every few hours, and we made it to our shabby motel in the town of Shelburne on the frozen shores of Lake Champlain by 1 AM. It was 8 below and we were exhausted, it didn’t matter that the motel was overrun with an odd combination of spring breakers and French Canadian families, we were just happy to have a warm room.

The next day we woke up bright and early and continues driving northward to the town of Waterbury where the GMC is headquartered. I took my interview in half an hour and then proceeded to talk with the staff for another hour about the skiing and hiking in the Green Mountains. I was warned that the higher peaks were socked in with record snowfall (over 100 inches on the exposed summits of Mansfield and Camel’s Hump) so my girlfriend and I decided to go snowshoeing on Lake Mansfield up to the summit of Mt Clark (2971’) since it was less exposed. The summit did not have any incredible views, which was a shame since it was a clear sunny day. The paths were packed down enough that they were manageable with snowshoes, but off the trail, we sunk deep into nearly five feet of powder. We got a chance to meet a lot of locals who were out backcountry skiing and boarding on the mountain. Vermonters are definitely a different breed, while many Pennsylvanians simply look to survive winter, Vermonters thrive in the winter. They live to ski and they love to be outside no matter the temperature.

After our hike, we realized that we hadn’t eaten anything but peanut butter and banana sandwiches since we left so we stopped at the Ben and Jerry’s headquarters in Waterbury and Angelino’s pizza in Montpelier, voted the best pizza in Vermont. (Another awesome thing about Vermont is that they have the best pizza of any state.) We finished out our weekend with a 5 hour drive to Poughkeepsie, where we saw a play at Marist College and stayed with a friend before driving back to State college on Sunday.

Overall, it was an incredible road trip to an amazing part of the country. Meeting the staff of the Green Mountain Club and seeing the natural beauty of the Long Trail made me excited for the prospect of spending a summer in Vermont. I eagerly await a response from the GMC about whether I will be a green mountain boy for the summer.