Early advent winter opened our local woodlands in snow’s usual, miraculous way. (That was, of course, before recent rains yo-yoed us back up into late fall or early spring). Suddenly, so much was possible. Many of us dug into storage; mudrooms filled with boots, poles, snowshoes, skis and layers of clothing in varying degrees of dry.
December 18th — epic storm day + 1
It’s not often that a single storm yields such thick snowbanks, but this one has. I cross the road and kick up over those banks and drop my skis, clip on my bindings and pause. It’s noon, but the track before me says I’m among the early arrivals at Kate Furbish West, the gently-canted, public preserve running down from the perimeter road by the the Landing’s golf course. A mile to my south, the trail will reach a bluff overlooking Harpswell Cove; a little later, via a twisting, new link trail cut by the Parks and Rec Department, I’ll reach the salt marsh shoreline a few hundred yards up-cove.
It becomes a ski of sightings – a hawk hunting the white plains of snow, an immature eagle spreading immense wings from a pine-top, a fellow biped ski-whacking along the cove’s bluff above a very high tide, three indents where deer bedded down last night. Some of the skiing is the floating sort that suggests I have Norse genes somewhere in the mélange of former beings who lead to me; I rename my self Sven and glide along over this gift of land.
In praise of you
Public land needs its people — you and you and…you. Unbuilt land without its advocates and guardians doesn’t remain that way for long. Especially in a densely populated area along Maine’s coast.
On storm-day + 2, we’re at Crystal Spring Farm with our snowshoes; so too are many others. Already the tracks are evident, well trod or skied. Even at the outset the two track-types are clear — one for skis, the other for foot-folk in boots or on snowshoes. A Brunswick-Topsham Land
Trust sign greets and reminds us: Side by side. Share the snow, not the track!
“What’s the difference?” a dog-walker asked of me the other day when I’d suggested politely that he and Ralph walk beside the ski track rather than on it. I unclipped a ski and showed him its underside. “Whether a ski is waxed (like mine) or waxless, the way we gain purchase and move is the same,” I said. “We press the ski down against the snow’s surface, and the snow makes and receives a light impression and bond with the ski — that creates just enough grip to propel me forward, even up a hill. When you or Ralph dent the surface, we get much less surface bond and traction, and so a gliding stride becomes only a shuffle. Or, worse, simply back-sliding.”
“O,” he said, “I get it now.” Even Ralph looked sold.
And, for the most part, my recent days on various trails tell me that many of us do “get it.” Wherever a trail had room for two tracks — one for skis, the other for feet and snowshoes, most of the two types of woodland wanderers seemed to have kept to their lane.
Further appreciation — Those who make the way
Late in the month, I called Tom Farrell, director of our Parks and Recreation Department. I wanted to learn a bit more about the groomed trails at the Furbish preserves, and I wanted to pass on thanks for them. Tom mentioned their new grooming equipment, and he also outlined his departments many storm responsibilities (including the plowing of nearly 10 miles of sidewalks near schools) that precede their being able to set ski tracks. But, as he also noted, they set those tracks as quickly as they can, usually within two days of a storm. Also, Tom added, in cooperation with the local ski-advocates, FOXCS, they’ve been able to open a skate ski track on the 8-acre open space adjacent to the Rec Center at the Landing. I checked this track and skied it for 30 minutes on 12/23; after a cold night, it was iced, but the potential was clear. (Updates on trail conditions can be found here: https://www.brunswickme.org/463/Winter-Activities; also the department asks trail-users to wear masks.)
Beauty on offer
Finally, thanks for what I call the Gussy-tree at Crystal Spring. About a half-mile in, along the Main Loop Trail, someone/s have decorated a 9’ fir to celebrate the season. Suspended on bright red yarn are art-hangings of the most delicate and sustaining kind. These maple keys, lichen bunches, leaves, birch-hearts, birch-bells, and pine cones, topped by a birch-star are a mix of surprise and beauty. Every time I pass through, I pause and wonder.
On solstice: skiing on an absolutely still, foggy day; from 30 feet above, the sea is a greeny gray, with its tidal current keeping the channel clear of ice, which has massed along the salt marsh fringes; the year holds its breath; the light stays still. My breathing settles; here, at the bottom of the year, it is only sound I hear.
May the new year hold trails and beauty for you.
Sandy Stott is a Brunswick, Maine resident, chair of the town’s Conservation Commission, and a member of Brunswick Topsham Land Trust’s Board of Directors. He may be reached at fsandystott@gmail.com
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