Out Doors: local discoveries in the Green Mountains and beyond

Out Doors: local discoveries in the Green Mountains and beyond

As realtors say, “location, location, location.” Elmore Mountain, while technically at the northern end of the Worcester Range, is quite isolated, and no mountains block its views. The Elmore State Park website recommends taking the 4.0-mile loop trail clockwise, hiking up the shorter (1.74 mile) but steeper and rockier Fire Tower Trail and down the beautiful and more gradual 2.3-mile Ridge Trail.

Trails Talk: bike transportation

Trails Talk: bike transportation

Many articles online discuss bike transportation trails—on and off road. The advantages of biking to work, for errands, to friends’ houses or just for fun are many. Bike Commuting’s Worst Enemy Isn’t What You Think is written by Arian Horbovetz, a Strong Towns member and blogger at The Urban Phoenix. The following article is republished from his blog, with permission.

Trails talk: Part 4 – Small towns and community trails

Trails talk: Part 4 – Small towns and community trails

Some key challenges facing many rural American communities today are strengthening and diversifying the economy and attracting the next generations to live in these communities. To address these challenges, small towns across the country are creating bike/pedestrian trails to promote local, healthy, environmentally friendly community living.

The space between duck and deer season

The space between duck and deer season

The space between duck and deer season leaves me wanting to wrap myself up in a cozy blanket in front of the outdoor fire pit, sipping a glass of merlot and celebrating the north wind nipping at my nose. I can smell the lake turning over its detritus from its depths, accompanied by a bittersweet symphony of high-flying migratory Canada geese navigating by the stars.

Trails Talk: Part 3

Trails Talk: Part 3

Welcome to Trails Talk, Part 3. In this column we will finish answering the questions posed on the website, orchardroadcomputers.com. The first 10 questions were answered in the September 6 and 20, 2017, editions of The Charlotte News. Trails Talk will continue but will take a new path with other informational articles in the future.

Habitat is for more than wildlife

Habitat is for more than wildlife

In a regime of “alternative facts” are you engaging the application “fundamental truth”? In an era imagining the inhabitation of Mars are you attending to your habitat here on Earth? The Charlotte Conservation Commission is captivated by these challenges. So how are we engaging truth and sustaining our human habitat? In the last two years we have built a team that includes an artist, a teacher, an ecological economist, a farmer, a law student, a former state resource manager, a journalist, a community activist and a Charlotte resident with a legacy of four generations. This diverse team is motivated by the truth that sustaining our habitat is increasingly a matter of life and death around the planet, and the threat is growing toward Charlotte.

Out Doors: Weeds to medicine cabinet

Out Doors: Weeds to medicine cabinet

Late in the summer ragweed fills the air with pollen from oodles of tiny flowers. Many who think they harbor allergies to goldenrod are instead allergic to ragweed. Both bloom at the same time, but goldenrod is pollinated by insects and so does not disperse its pollen. A tincture of ragweed leaves is thought by some to help fight this allergic reaction.

Camouflage, and maple syrup in my coffee

Camouflage, and maple syrup in my coffee

My duck-hunting partner, John, hunkers down in the corner of the blind, savoring a cup of hot espresso from his aged thermos. I can smell the sweet smoky fragrance, and I pick up my own thermos to toast the season. Without speaking we clink cups. Mine is French roast with a spoonful of maple syrup. We grin like two 10-year-olds.

White-nose syndrome causes loss of millions

White-nose syndrome causes loss of millions

Most of us who pay attention to the current state of bats have heard about white-nose syndrome and may also know that bats are vulnerable to this through their winter dwelling habitat, caves. According to Vermont Fish and Wildlife, “White-nose Syndrome (WNS) has resulted in the loss of more than 5.7 million bats in the northeastern United States since 2006. This disease has affected all six of Vermont’s cave bat species (bats that hibernate in caves and mines in the winter months). WNS is associated with a newly identified fungus that invades the skin and damages the tissue in hibernating bats.”

Extreme weed growth along shoreline

Extreme weed growth along shoreline

Property owners on Long Point in North Ferrisburgh decided to form a “Weed Committee” to study the problem. After many months of research into causes and weed-control methods, and after speaking with their neighbors and other lake associations, the committee decided to organize an education event to inform lake users about the weed problem.