Middlebury Land Trust properties offer winter fun

#MIDDLEBURY

Kate Krecker and her dog, Boon, enjoy a snowy walk around Lake Elise. Each winter finds cross country skiers and snow shoers on Middlebury Land Trust properties. Some properties also welcome ice skaters. (Curtiss Clark photo)

 
By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY

Many favorite activities on Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) properties aren’t really well suited (or even possible) in mid-winter, but other opportunities open up. Through the mid-1900s, ice skating was an integral part of winter on most of the ponds in town.

Skating then often was a group or family activity, with the skaters trying out their figure skating moves or playing hockey. Around the ponds, people built small fires for warmth and served hot chocolate on station wagon tailgates. On Fenn Pond in its heyday, hockey games had hundreds of people watching.

These days, Fenn Pond is rarely crowded, which is good as there are sections where the ice now remains quite thin throughout the winter. After an extended period of cold you might still find hardy souls out there clearing the pond of snow and skating. While not nearly as well known, Turtle Pond also is a spot favored by some for ice skating when the weather is just right and the leaves stay out of the way.

Skating at any of these locations is always at your own risk, and you should always make certain the ice is thick and strong enough to bear your weight and that of anyone with you. In case of a fall (ice is slippery!) or mishap, you should always have someone with you in case you need help.

When snow has deeply blanketed the trails on MLT properties, it’s time to break out the cross-country skis and snowshoes. The rustic ungroomed trails are not heavily used and thus are quiet and peaceful. While many might think only of cross-country skis for some of the lovely trails, snowshoes are a wonderful way to enjoy the winter landscape as well. They can be tricky to get the hang of at first, (I can testify to that), but they require less financial investment to get started, and can be used in even deep snow virtually anywhere walking is possible.

If you get out while the snow is freshly fallen, it is fun to look for tracks and see which of the area’s small animals have been out and about in winter. The library has quite a few books on animal tracks if you want to learn to tell the difference between a squirrel and a rabbit bounding along. You might even find weasel tracks or those of a fox or coyote.

For both cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing, the easily navigated trails in the Juniper Hill Reserve (Sperry Pond) would be good. The trails around Lake Elise are easy to follow, and have fans among the town’s snowshoeing aficionados. The lake under a blanket of snow is beautiful. The trails in the Flanders Whittemore Sanctuary are more extensive, but a good source advises me they also are easy to get lost in when the trails and everything else is snow-covered.

To find the locations of these properties, visit the MLT website, middleburylandtrust.org and look under “Holdings.”