Woods Wanderer

I was wrong. I thought the mildness of winter this year would lead to an early spring, but that hasn’t been the case. Here it is the Spring Equinox and there’s still a blanket of snow on the ground, along with temps barely above freezing at midday.

Desperate to get out of the house, I go for a walk anyway. Judy suggests that I walk the access road to Mac’s Bend in the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. It’s not far away. It gets plowed and will probably be clear of snow. She’s right. I leave my car in the parking lot just off Route 7 and walk the gravel track, leaving boot prints in the fine crushed stone between puddles of meltwater. This will have to do.

Binoculars dangle from a strap around my neck, but no birds appear. That too is wishful thinking. Naked trees creak in the light breeze. The brown heads of ferns poke above the snow, ready to reproduce as soon as the weather breaks. A bright vernal sun plays peekaboo in a partly cloudy sky, teasing me with its warmth. I tramp down the road, happy enough to be stretching my legs and getting some fresh air. Still I long for the arrival of spring – promised but not yet delivered.

There are long open seams of water in the Missisquoi River that the road hugs, but Mac’s Bend is completely iced over for some reason. When the road ends there, I tramp a partly thawed riverside trail until it veers into the snowy woods. Then I turn around. I reach down to feel the cold mud underfoot, genuflecting to seasonal change, telling myself that it won’t be long now. But it’s not quite spring.

I know the heaviness of winter within me will eventually melt away, along with the snow, and the winged migrators will ultimately return from the south. But that isn’t happening yet. So I go back home, back indoors, back to work for a while longer. Patience, patience. The cardinals, robins and other songbirds will be calling me out soon enough.

Tags: birding, early spring, late winter, seasonal change, snowmelt, walking

Last week I went into the mountains with my snowshoes, but when I saw how little snow there was on the ground, I left them in my car. A mile and a half back, though, the snow was over half a foot deep. That made for a somewhat rigorous hike, post-holing most of the way. Hmm… with temps above freezing, I would have been lifting a lot of heavy snow had I been wearing the snowshoes. It was a tough call.

A couple days ago, after a late winter storm had dumped another half foot of the white stuff, I went out again. This time there was plenty of snow on the ground, but the trail had been packed down by weekenders, so it was pointless to put on my snowshoes. Once again, I walked instead.

Even though it has been a mild winter, spring has not yet arrived. That said, there are sure signs that it’s right around the corner. Woodpeckers are knocking on hollow trees, the days are over eleven hours long, and the sun on cloudless days is very strong. I stopped on a footbridge during my walk to relish the open leads of water in the rivulet below. A few more days with temps above freezing could melt away all the snow around me. Some years it happens fast.

I’m looking forward to tramping in cold mud again but walking through the woods on a sunny day without sinking into the snow is pleasant enough. And the forest silence always works its magic no matter what time of year it is. Breathing fresh air, stretching my legs, and running wild for a couple hours – sometimes that’s all it takes to make my day. It’s a good thing to be alive and well in Vermont woods when the sap is running, even if you don’t tap into a maple tree.

Tags: signs of spring, Vermont woods, winter hiking