Dear Family & Friends,
Our first weeks of travel were full of learning, laughter and movement. Each day that we make and break camp, we become just a little bit more efficient. With a little bit of help and a lot of willpower, we have learned all of the skills required to live outdoors during the winter months.
Our first weeks of travel were full of learning, laughter and movement. Each day that we make and break camp, we become just a little bit more efficient. With a little bit of help and a lot of willpower, we have learned all of the skills required to live outdoors during the winter months.
Our travel
days consist mainly of eating, skiing and sleeping. First comes breakfast, a
study block, and breaking camp. About three hours after we rise, we are ready
to pull on our packs and move onwards. We strap on skis and say farewell to our
temporary home. From there, it is all movement. We spend the majority of our
day talking, trekking up hills, breaking trail, falling down hills, eating, and reflecting as we constantly glide towards
our next destination. At the end of the day we choose a good place to camp, and
split up into groups: some head out again to collect boughs, others find our
firewood, and the rest are left to set up the tent. This whole process may take
us hours, but we are kept working by our excitement for dinner and the warmth
that awaits. When firewood is cut and split, boughs are laid inside the tent,
and dinner is cooking, we pull on our slippers and clamber into our candle lit
sanctuary at last.
Due to our
studies, Misha has nicknamed us all as characters from The Odyssey. We have fun trying to use Homeric language as we go
about our daily tasks, and come up with creative epithets for one another as
we ski along. In addition to English, we enjoyed a short wilderness medicine course
where we learned about the risks that come with outdoor living, and how to
prevent and deal with different situations that could arise while on trail.
As students
begin to do long shares, (fifteen minutes of time for an individual to share about themselves with the group), the community is starting
to shape itself in new and beautiful ways. With every task we
accomplish and every meal we share we become more interdependent. At the same
time we are seeing one another and ourselves more clearly with every bend in
the trail. As individuals are pushed beyond their comfort zone by the long days
and chilly nights, we are day by day discovering parts of our beings that we
never knew existed. This is the beauty of carrying all that you need upon your
back… This is the beauty of life on trail.
Creative writing from
the trail:
The Language of the Heart
Rachel
There is a language that we are developing here, within the
canvas walls of our tent and the boundless freedom of the wilderness. Is it
there in Ezra’s ever moving hands, in Hazel’s joyous laughter, in the small
sudden smile of Cat. Whenever I see Andrew, lost in thought while leaning
against a centuries old maple or Mayah curled up in a corner with pen flying
across the pages of her journal or Emma bent over her maps, it feels like the
world is all contained within that moment. The stove with sides glowing red
under Chase’s care warms our small world and allows us to venture out into the
wider and wilder one. We few who brave this winter with naught but the packs on
our backs, we are learning to speak without words; we are finding the language
of heart.
Welcome To Vermont
Sam
There is always traffic roaring
Over roads
And under bridges pouring
Dull metal in luxury
Light Filled Beings
Mayah
As ice and grit envelope our bones,
We are constantly embraced by a deep desire for light.
Our cells soak up what little they find;
Great puddles of warmth being stored
Just below our freezing skin.
We must not forget what it is we hold out for-
That on the darkest of nights we may still find home.
That we may notice it all inside of ourselves,
Tucked away in corners we have yet to explore.
This is but the beginning…
Keep searching.
Cold Hands
Sammy
My hands are coldest
Returning from morning poops
After using snow
I asked a few people
to describe first leg in one word… Here’s what they said.
Ezra: “Immersing”
Nathanael “New-but-yet-familiar”
Noa “Challenging”
Jamie “Growing”
Izzy “Hungry Mongrels!”
Emma “Mountains”
Cat “Orientation”
Some quotes from
students:
Andrew
“We are surrounded by grandparents of the forest”
Hazel
“I remember on the first day getting on skis after the road
walk and skiing down to Lake Warren… my backpack was so heavy and I was
thinking, ‘how on earth am I going to do this?’ It’s just an incredible feeling
to be at the end of leg one. I feel so accomplished.”
Chase
“I remember when I first started skiing, I fell constantly.
Now I fly down hills all the time and it feels so easy.”
Crossing the Connecticut River...frozen for the first time in Kroka semester history |
Chase carrying the titanium stove dutifully |
Crossing Saxton's River |
Students making bread-on-a-stick at the CCC cabin in Grafton |
Jamie |
You can guess what is about to happen... |
A beautiful learning moment caught on camera |
Hazel, well equipped with twigs for the fire screen. |
Winter campsite |
Mayah splitting wood for the evening's meal |
A stunning contrast of light on forest greens. |
Izzy practicing the self-arrest on a beautifully groomed snowmobile trail. |
The semester crew at Mayah's family Farmhouse. |
Skiing down Tinker Brook. The perfect opportunity to practice telemark turns. |