Ver-mont

Vermont: (n) a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America.

Tuesday afternoon Mustang Sally and I drove the entire width of New York State into Vermont. Besides the boredom of driving in a straight line for 5 hours alone, the drive went smoothly, that is until I left the interstate. The sun was setting when I exited onto the back country roads of up-state New York. Only a few weeks ago did hurricane Irene sweep across New England washing out entire roads and bridges, apparently that also included the one I was driving on. Suddenly my path was cut off by an array of orange cones and the words "ROAD CLOSED." While I thank the department of transportation for keeping me from driving down a potentially dangerous road, they had failed to indicate an alternative route of any sort. So the question was, right or left? Left. Perhaps I should have chosen right, not that it would not have mattered. It was a dark, windy, and confusing drive for roughly 30 minutes before I found my way back to a main highway. Hours later than hoped for, but all in one piece, I finally arrived in the one-traffic-light town of Poultney, Vermont, home of Green Mountain College where my younger brother, Jon, now attends undergrad.

A great majority of the students at Green Mountain College do not have class on Wednesdays, which makes Tuesdays their Thursdays. After settling into my brother's dorm room he suggested we check out the "bonfire", which was apparently the place to be this Tuesday. Just next to campus, the river which forms the boundary between New York and Vermont runs narrowly. On the Vermont bank, students had tied up a rope swing to an overhanging tree and arranged a circle of logs and stones around a small pit. Every stereotype and preconceived notion I had about this small environmental school in Vermont was exactly what I witnessed, right down to "the tent." I found it quite comical and could not stop the giggling the rest of the night.

Wednesday afternoon Jon and I rented a couple of sea kayaks from the Green Mountain Adventure Program, a department within the college that rents outdoor recreational gear to students for a minimal price and also leads expeditions to various adventure destinations in the northeast. Before leaving with our kayaks we noticed a rock climbing trip scheduled for that weekend. Though it was already overbooked, we signed ourselves up anyway. With two oversized kayaks on top of an undersized VW Jetta, we drove to Lake Saint Catherine to launch our boats. Unfortunately upon our arrival we found that the park entrance, our boat launch, was closed after Labor Day. Unaware of how far the walk would be from the main road, we set off carrying our kayaks on foot. A park ranger in a pick-up truck eventually rescued us from the pain of the heavy boats and the swarm of mosquitoes by offering us a lift to the water. The lake was gorgeous. We kayaked the shoreline all the way around critiquing the houses on the shore and admiring the mountainous backdrop. Near sundown we left the lake by way of a different launch and made it back to campus in time for the rock-climbing trip meeting. Just enough people missed the meeting to make it possible for Jon and I to jump up on the list and attend the trip. We scheduled to leave Saturday morning.

Thursday was a rain out. Aside from a sustainable farming class I was able to attend with Jon and his roommate, I spent the day resting. The sun shone brightly on Friday so I hit the road after my morning run for a day trip to Burlington. At times I wondered if I would ever make it there, the scenery along the drive was so distracting it was hard not to pull over and marvel. Willpower ultimately took the wheel and I arrived in Burlington early afternoon. Immediately I felt at home. Downtown reminded me very much of downtown Ann Arbor, where I lived during undergrad. The city of Burlington sits on a steep slope which dives into Lake Champlain. At the lakefront there is a boardwalk of sorts which faces west over the water with the Adirondack Mountains climbing high in the background. Up the hill from downtown is the University of Vermont, a bustling college campus overlooking both the city and the lake. I spent the entire day wandering about town and needless to say I was sold.

8:30 a.m. on Saturday came much too early, and Jon and I carried our backpacks to the GMC van loaded with climbing gear and set off to northern New York with our group of 7 other students. Most of which were college juniors who had been climbing real rocks for years, where as my climbing experience was limited to the rock wall at Camp Henry years ago. I was the oldest person on the trip, but clearly the underdog. After a couple hours of dozing off in the back seat, the van parked. Everyone loaded their packs with climbing gear before we set off to hike to our first climb, Owl's Head. Again the scenery was breathtaking and then I saw the rock. Upon first glance it seemed nearly impossible that a human, not infected by a radioactive spider bite, could actually climb this rock. Oh how little I knew. While two of the trip leaders set up the top ropes the remaining one gave us a belay orientation and before long we were on the wall. Multiple ropes had been set up for different climbs along the Owl's Head wall, each a different difficulty. My only goal was to make it to the top of at least one climb, and I did. The feeling of climbing cannot be written in words, only experienced, which I hope leaves a bit of inspiration for anyone reading this to try climbing. From the top of the mountain we could see the sun sinking low so we posed for a few pictures before hiking back down to the van. Our group camped out in a New York State Park somewhere nearby. After erecting our tents a fire was built and dinner preparations were in the works, but soon encountered a road block. It took nearly an hour, perhaps more, to repair our camping stove to a cooking quality. How many college students does it take... Eventually, and much later than expected, burritos were served. Quickly my stomach went from imploding in starvation to exploding in satisfaction and with that I was off to bed.

Overnight the temperature dropped into the 30s, the lowest temperature in Vermont this fall, which meant the first rock we climbed in the morning would be freezing. Indeed it was. Sunday morning we traveled to the Beer Walls for our second day of climbing. The wall was sheltered from the sunlight by a thick curtain of trees and the temperature still lingered in the 40s. Fingers froze after seconds of contact with the rock which made for a painful climb. My first attempt was unsuccessful due to the numbing sensation in my hands, a feeling shared by everyone. Belaying as much as possible helped restore the blood flow to my extremities and soon I was ready for a second go. Once again I fulfilled my goal for the day by reaching the top. After a lunch break we moved to another location along the Beer Walls with a vertical height of nearly 90 feet. Though I never made it to the top, I did climb much higher than I expected to on this wall and deemed it a success. Mid-afternoon marked the end of our climbing endeavor and we began the journey back to Poultney, exhausted yet satisfied.