Our mountain folk show for the week starting December 16th will feature holiday music and interview segments from our 2007 north country adventure.

Phase One: Summit Climb on Mount Mansfield

Above: As usual our base of operations for this year's Mountain Folk North Country Tour was the very pleasant Smugglers' Notch village.  There was plenty of early season snow for this year's tour which tool place in late November, the week after Thanksgiving.  Here you can see Madonna Mountain in the middle, flanked to the left by Morse Mountain with Sterling Mountain to the right.

Above: Our first objective for the tour was a summit climb up Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield.  Here we see the mountain from about 40 miles away as we drove towards Smugglers' Notch Ski Resort.  Mt. Mansfield stands above the famous Smugglers' Notch which lies between Smugg's on the north side of the pass and Stowe Ski Resort to the south. You can read the actual entry from my personal mountain journal for this climb by clicking here.

Above and below: We arrived Saturday and started climbing on Sunday.  When we first got underway, all of the higher portions of the mountain were cloaked in thick cloud cover making navigation very difficult.  We climbed as a trio and here we see husband and wife Butch and Dom Ulrich about three-quarters of the way up the mountain.

Above: Around noon the sun broke through the clouds and everything became somewhat easier.  This is one of several peaks that were climbed and descended over on the way across the top of the ridgeline to the summit.

Above: Around two in the afternoon we were getting closer to the summit which you can see behind me...still about a mile away.

Above: By three PM we were on the summit and it was really cold! Here Butch and Dom pause for the celebratory summit pose; exhausted but happy...cold, but warmed by the inner glow of achievement.

Above: Yours truly, "East Side Dave" Kline, at the top of Vermont on the summit of Mount Mansfield, 11/23/07.  Thank goodness for terrific climbing partners like Butch and Dom who simply do not know how to quit.

Above: Butch and Dom on the descent.  I rushed ahead to take this "surprise" photo in a spot on the mountain where we had just come down through a fairytale maze of snow-coated scrub pines.  Aren't they a cute couple?!?  This should be their 2007 Christmas card!

Above: This was one last shot I took coming down near the summit.  If you look closely you'll see the footprints we left on the way up the mountain.  There were no other footprints and we had the whole mountain to ourselves.  It was getting late and we needed to get down off of the peak, but the beauty created by the sun setting in the west was truly awesome!

After the climb Butch and Dom returned back to Pennsylvania.  Next day I skied at Smugglers' Notch.  Then it was on to Jay Peak to check out early season skiing up there.

Phase Two: North to Jay Peak and Canada

Above: It was all worth it when I got there and discovered I had the entire mountain almost all to myself.  It is very rare indeed at a ski resort, but I got to carve fresh single-track onto my very own slope!  Happiness is putting single-track " freshies in the pow-pow!"  (Yes...in case you're wondering, I do use that long thumb nail on my right hand for guitar playing. OK?)

Above: Stephanie works as a ski school instructor at Jay Peak.  I met her at the top of the Jet Chair and Jet trail.  We talked a bit and she was kind enough to give me a few words for The Mountain Folk Radio & Web Show.  She was the very best ambassador any mountain could ever have!  With a smile and words of enthusiasm, she single-handedly made me feel very good about Jay Peak and fellow "mountain folks" like her that live and work there.

Above: This is the start of the exciting JET trail at Jay.  Please bear in mind that this photo was taken on 11/27/07.  They sure do get lots of snow at Jay!

Above: Here's more scenic beauty at Jay Peak looking from the Jet trail over to the trails that come down from the resort's famous tram lift.  After the ski day was over I drove to Canada just to cross the border and then turn around and headed back to base camp at Smugglers' Notch Resort, about a 50 minute drive south from Jay Peak resort. Later that night I went to a nearby Vermont restaurant to meet and hear the bluegrass band know as The Mud City Ramblers; (See the photo below.)  I really enjoyed their style of music!

Phase Three: Cross country ski jaunt from the Smuggs' base village, up through Smuggler's Notch, over the notch summit and down into Stowe Ski Resort's base village.

Above: It takes around 3.5 hours of climbing and downhill skiing on your cross country ski boards to accomplish the two village visit through the notch, but it is a close to a fantastic Euro-style ski trek as you'll get anywhere in the Eastern USA.  Carry everything you need with you and you and you'll be set for a truly memorable and unique experience!  At Smuggs' and Stowe, there's so much more to do than the typical alpine (downhill) skiing and while that is great too, there is peace and freedom in them there hills!  I made my roundtrip crossing on Thursday and met several really nice "mountain folk" people who were out there experiencing the same sort of adventure.

Above: This is the "summit" of the notch trail.  From here you can descend by sled or skis on either side to Stowe Resort towards the south or Smugglers' Notch Resort to the north.  On this day I went over and back from Smuggs' to Stowe and back.

Above: This is Sam.  As I was hiking toward the summit, I saw him trying real hard to push his skis up the hill from the other direction.  I asked him if his skis were sticking and sure enough they were so we ducked behind a large boulder for wind protection and I gave him a bar of handy-dandy Hertel Super White Sauce "wax" ... a quick rub on the base of any skis will have you off and gliding again!  Sam is one of the really nice "mountain folks" I met in the notch on this day.

Above: For me happiness is easily obtained by breaking trail and setting track for myself and others.  This picture was taken on the Stowe side after I skied down from the notch summit.  I set the track in order to make it easier for me to backtrack on the return climb.  If you love to carve up your own fresh tracks in new snow, there is no doubt...you are a certified "Mountain Folker!"

Above: The only thing better than breaking new track in fresh snow is meeting friendly "mountain folks" along the way.  This is Heather and her loyal companion Hunter.  They were out walking on the trail enjoying the beauty of winter in the notch.

Phase Four: The final day - cross country skiing on Vermont's highest trout pond, Sterling Pond at the top of the notch, then descending on snowshoes to the Smugglers' Notch Village and the drive back to the Mountain Folk homeplace through an amazing snowstorm in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State!

Above: Those are my ski tracks pointing across the notch toward the summit of Mount Mansfield.  This place is a winter wonderland!

Above: I did not see another soul while I was up on Sterling Pond and that allowed me to just look for good photo opportunities while experiencing the incredible beauty of the place.

Above & Below: This is the way from the Smugg's side of the mountain to Stowe village by way of the backcountry route over Sterling's pond and mountain.

Below: After all of that snow at Stowe, Smugglers' Notch, Jay Peak, the notch and the pond, I was very "fortunate" to catch up with this amazing snowstorm in the Adirondack Mountains while driving home.

Email: mtnfolk@aol.com

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