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| Farmer's Market in Stowe |
I had already planned to hike up to the summit of Camel's Hump, south of Waterbury on my last day in Vermont. I leave Stowe and Stowe Inn with pleasant feelings after visiting their farmer’s market where I buy trivets and coasters with herbal designs on them. On the way to Waterbury, I come across the Green Mountain visitor’s center. Without hesitation I stop by and buy a water thermos, and a book on Vermont, with its beautiful scenery documented in generous photographs.
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| Green Mountain Club Visitor's Center |
Waterbury is not that far and as I drive through town just to get a sense of it before I head south, serendipitously, I come across the Green Mountain Coffee Roasting company. Its cafe is built in the old/current railroad station, from which there is Amtrack service, who knows where, but it is helpful to keep in mind. This station means, one may come to Waterbury to enter the Green Mountain range to backpack. I buy my cup of coffee for the morning at the café and also a bag of ground coffee to take home. It is the best coffee I ever had I must say. With this delightful taste in my mouth, I leave Waterbury behind and head toward the trailhead.
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| Green Mountain Coffee Roasting Company in Waterbury |
When I am finally ready to start my hike, at the trail head of the east loop of Camel’s Hump, it is already drizzling. I resolve, worse comes to worse, I will get soaked, won't be able to make it to the summit, all is welcome, that is the beauty of being in the nature. I recall the sweet memory of this shift taking place in my mind in 1991. I was a novice on the hiking trails when I decided to take my vacation up on the mountains instead of the beach, which was our routine then. My friends from the hiking club I had just joined at age 32 was planning to go to Ilgaz Mountains with an altitude of 12,000 feet or so. We arrived at our campsite to be around 11 am, put up our tents right away since we knew it could rain any time by the Black Sea coastal mountain range. And sure enough, we barely were able to throw ourselves into the tents when the sky started pouring all its juice on us. Initially it was fun to listen to the music of the rain over our tents. But after an hour or so, I started feeling sour. I couldn’t help but think “What was I thinking, I could easily be on the beach now enjoying the Mediterranean and the sun…” My dear friend Cavidan as if she had read my mind gently gave me the best lesson about nature: “My friend, this is the beauty of nature, we can’t control anything but learn everything mother-nature throws at us with humility and make the best of it.” I will never forget how childish and embarrassed I had felt with her sentiments.
Right around that time our friends from a larger tent had invited us to their tent to play cards. We both cheered up and spent another 6-8 hours in their tent, telling stories, playing cards and other games, laughing, singing, having the best time of my vacation days until 9 pm, when the skies gave way to us and our campfire around which we had dried all of boots, and socks and coats until midnight. The next day we had got up at 5 am and climbed up to the summit and come back down before dark to another wonderful night of campfire and stories and more laughter. That is how I came to peace with what the nature throws at us. And I am so appreciative of my dear friend Cavidan for giving me that gift.
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| The fog and the forest up to Camel's Hump |
With these thoughts, I start my hike on Monroe Trail, and soon I find myself in a surreal environment, everything being surrounded with a light fog like mist, under a sweet drizzle of rain accentuated by the taps on the leaves... Nature gives me so many revelations. During this hike, I notice, the brooks down below are vigorous, loud, energetic, fun, sometimes out of control. As I climb up higher, the streams become less loud but more peaceful, confident, if you will, more under control with their seeming modesty. These are almost meditative, almost benevolently but mischievously aware of the excitement and joy they will generate down the road, downhill. I couldn't help wishing, all the rulers at the heights of the society could be as pleasant and peaceful and respectful and maturely confident as these little streams of high country in ruling our societies instead of being so loud and obnoxious and oppressive just like Turkish prime minister has been for the last ten years.
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| Summit of Camel's Hump with the only pine tree |
Camel's Hump turns out to be an extraordinary experience: It is totally bare of any trees except for a dwarf pine tree holding onto the west side. However, the crevices among the boulders are flush with lovely flowering low plants and other alpine vegetation. The unique experience comes from the surprising fog that surrounds me and everything else all around; I can see only about 50 feet or so all around me. The hopes of being able to view New York state and Lake Champlain are definitely out. But this serene solitude (I am the only one at the summit at that relatively late hour) is yet another unexpected extraordinary experience the nature rewards me with one more time. I decide to have my lunch in that solitude and sit down on a rock making sure I am not hurting any of the plants around me.
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| Plants filling the cracks between rocks at the summit |
However, after a few bites, noticing the fog getting thicker and thicker minute by minute, I decide to sacrifice my adventure and head down. I am grateful that it at least did not rain when I was up there since the vertical rocks I end up walking on until I find my way to the Long Trail South, could have been more than a threat to my well-being on the way down. Interestingly, it starts drizzling again half way down to the road. I don't even bother putting on my rain jacket. I just let the drizzle wash my arms and head anew. With such wet conditions, snails are all over. Unfortunately, in Turkish culture, the reaction to snails is invariably "Yuck!". Eating escargot to a Turkish is like eating brains to an American. With that deeply engrained feeling of "Yuck" I am trying to avoid touching snails as I try to hold onto tree trunks at times. However, I fail so many times, I eventually get desensitized and the "Yuck" feeling disappears by the end of the trip!
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| Snails on the rocks and tree trunks all over |
Once I reach my car, I am happy for two things: that this is my last day of hiking since by the end of the day, I had used up all my clean clothes, everything very well muddied up except for just one set I had saved for my flight back. and that I have a bunch of nuts and dried fruit in my bag, I can munch on as I drive since I am starving! I drive along Winookie River all the way to Richmond to avoid the highway and enjoy another aspect of the nature in Vermont just a bit more. Vermont, I definitely will come back to you, in the fall, some day, to enjoy your foliage, in my own way.
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| Sunset over Lake Champlain |
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