On the Sugar Road at Trapp nordic center today — the first day of spring — we heard birds chirping away, saw families out enjoying mild temperatures, and watched die-hard cross-country skiers try to make the most of a melting ski surface.
With the extraordinary stretch of warm weather we have had lately in Vermont, Sugar Road — Trapp's major thoroughfare — is melting down in a big way. In many places we had to tip-toe around muddy or rocky spots. Otherwise we were scraping along frozen stretches. The word we heard is that the snow coverage is still pretty good on trails higher than Old County Road.
Using his sit-ski because of his knee injury, the Skimeister had to stick to level trails like Sugar Road and the trail right below it. There was no way he was going to push his way up Parizo! But we wanted to get out in the morning sun and warm weather, so we made the most of it.
We stopped here and there to check out the many sap buckets hanging on maple trees. We watched the streams that were flowing and the songbirds, crows and distant hawks circling high in the sky.
It's sad to see the season coming to a close at Trapps. The temperatures are going to drop now, and we'll see what falls out of the sky at what elevations.
I chatted with a Skimaven reader at Trapps who reported that Bolton Valley's cross-country trails are still in decent shape. They are at a higher elevation.
I know that my ski season is not over; I am going to do some more alpine or nordic skiing for sure.
After tooling around at Trapps we headed down to the pub at The Shed, where you can scoop your own popcorn and wash it down with a beer made on the premises. We enjoyed the amber and IPA along with our turkey club.
We then made our way farther down the Mountain Road for a leisurely perusal of art at the West Branch Gallery (next to the Rusty Nail). They have a large selection of work to check out. There's always something to do in Stowe.
