Mar 09 2026
The Approach of Spring
A week ago, it was 6 below at daybreak here in northern Vermont, which isn’t all that unusual. We get frigid temps and big snowstorms in March. Winter here isn’t over yet, even though the sap in maple trees has started to flow as daytime highs have poked above freezing. Springtime, in any reasonable sense of the word, is still a month away.
During the past few days, afternoon temps have spiked into the 40s. That has caused a major melt-off, which excites a guy like me who likes to tramp in cold mud. The trails in the woods are still snow packed, and mountains, well, forget about the mountains. It’s still deep winter there. But here in the Champlain Valley, the rail trails are opening up. So I did a couple hikes on the local one.
Three days ago, my rail trail walk seemed premature. I slipped around in one to two inches of packed, half-melted snow, which wasn’t much fun at all. But yesterday the trail was mostly clear. A strong wind, the sun and warmer temps had worked their magic. I made tracks, pushing through patches of punky ice with little difficulty then charging ahead on bare ground at a good clip. During the winter, my snowshoes, yaktrax and microspikes give me purchase in the snow and ice, but there’s nothing like breezing along at three miles an hour or more, with little resistance underfoot. I reveled in it.
A nearby stream, the color of coffee with milk, was choked with snowmelt. The buds on the bravest trees were beginning to swell. To my great surprise, a woolly bear caterpillar wiggled across the trail –– out of hibernation way too early. But I took it as a good sign of things to come all the same.
There are still plenty of subfreezing days and snowfalls ahead. I have no illusions about that. But with the first great melt-off of the season, there’s no doubt in my mind that winter’s back is broken. Spring is approaching. I delight in it every step of the way. And I’ll be tramping in cold mud soon enough, enjoying the first signs of spring while others remain indoors daydreaming about t-shirt days. It’s all good.
