Not long ago as I was driving along Forest Road 71 telling my friend Jessie how cool the Catamount Trail is, a black bear barreled across the road in front of us. The Trail, it seemed, wanted to add an exclamation point to my statement. As my Americorps year with the CTA draws to a close, I am more excited than ever about the Catamount Trail –bears or no bears.
I’ve always loved trails, so working for a trail organization was a dream come true. Every outing onto the Catamount Trail was rewarding and interesting, whether it involved chainsawing blowdowns or planning for the future of backcountry skiing in Vermont. I sleep well at night just knowing that things like the Catamount Trail exist, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of Vermont on skis in the future.
Over the year I’ve met so many incredible people–from my colleagues in the office, to the folks who keep the trail spick and span, to the instructors who teach our programs, to the people who are out there loving the trail. So, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who was involved with the CTA this past year. For those of you I met, it was so good to meet you! For those of you I haven’t met, I hope to meet you on the trail sometime soon.