A Great-Grandfather's Legacy in Maidstone State Park

Jason Berard, a native Vermonter, shared some family history and photos with us in an email. Jason grew up in St. Johnsbury, then moved to the Boston area for 10 years. He came back to Vermont with his wife (from Barnet) when they were ready to start a family. They bought a 230 year old farmhouse in 1999 in North Thetford.

More recently, Jason took a job with the Upper Valley Land Trust as a Stewardship Coordinator, which allows him plenty of time outdoors hiking. Jason's great-grandfather worked outdoors for Vermont State Parks and Jason commented, "In some ways even though I only knew him well after he retired, I feel connected to him with the work I do now."

Jason's great grandfather, Paul Reed, was the first caretaker at Maidstone State Park. The photo to the left shows Paul with a local furry friend. After his time at Maidstone, he took the job as Caledonia's County Forester.

Jason was lucky to have many old photos of his relatives which show their love of animals, the latest fashions, and how happy they seem to be surrounded by nature while they work (looks like it runs in the family!) The photo to the right is Jason's great-grandmother feeding a showshoe hare. Below, his grandmother and a friend pose with a pair of tame foxes. How on earth did they catch those wiley foxes?

Jason also shared a few of his favorite hikes with us. "My first and favorite hike was Pisqah in the North East Kingdom which I did for the first time on a third grade field trip. He also hiked the Long Trail end-to-end in 1995. My latest 'first' hike was over in Waterbury late this fall where I hiked Mt. Hunger for the first time. It was incredible! Bald Mountain is another favorite. I highly recommend them all!

How to Enjoy the Parks Before they "Open"

Vermont State Parks are always open and we hope you enjoy them in each and every season. With the warm weather here already, folks have been calling to see if they can get into their favorite park.

Here is what you need to know about enjoying the parks before their official "opening" dates:

• Review our list of Off Season Parking and Gate Access.
• If the gates are locked, just park outside and walk in, without blocking the gates. If the gates are open be careful that you don't get locked in (see gate access above).
• Staff will not yet be onsite, restrooms are still closed and water is turned off.
• Please carry in/carry out.
• Let us know if there is anything amiss in the parks by emailing parks@state.vt.us
• Off season camping is available, via permit, up until May 1st. After May 1st, folks are welcome to visit for the day, but we won't allow camping so the staff can get ready for park opening.
• No fees are collected during the off season.
• When do the parks open? see our Operating Dates

Please stay off muddy trails, to protect them for all of us. For some great ideas for early spring hiking see our blog article, "A Local's Guide to Early Season Hiking"

Have a blast!



A Local's Guide to Early Season Hiking

Now that the snow has melted and the temperatures are warmer, most of us want to get outside and hike! But, mud season is not a good time for hiking in certain areas. Rain and melting snow at higher elevations are keeping many of Vermont's hiking trails wet and muddy. When hikers tramp on saturated soils, they cause soil compaction and erosion as well as damage to the trail and surrounding vegetation. Please help protect the fragile trails this time of year by staying off muddy trails.

Higher elevation soils take longer to dry out. This year mud season is early. A trail may be dry at the trailhead, but is muddy at a higher elevation this time of year. If you notice this happening, please turn around! Trails at lower elevations, dirt roads, and recreation paths provide excellent places for early spring walking.

Below is a list of great places to hike during mud season and please visit our hiking page at http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/hikingtrails.htm for more information - enjoy!

Southeast Vermont:

• Mt. Ascutney State Park Parkway (when all ice has melted)

• West River Trail

• Jamaica State Park Trails

Southwest Vermont:

• Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail

• Emerald Lake State Park roads

• Button Bay State Park roads

• Woodford State Park Trails

Northwest Vermont:

• Burlington Bike Path
• The Austin Brook Trail in Warren/Granville
• Travel Around Middlebury Trail (TAM)
• Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail

• Cotton Brook Area - Moscow/Stowe

• Alburgh Recreation Trail
• Mallets Bay Causeway

• Cambridge Greenway Recreation Path

• Mount Philo State Park

Northeast Vermont:

• The Cross VT Trail - runs west to east across VT
• Thresher Hill; Pine Brook Trails
• Liberty Hill; Contest Trails
• Lefferts Pond
• Robert Frost Interpretive Trail
• Stowe Bike Path

Along with the warmer weather, there are many aspects of nature beginning to emerge for us to enjoy. Thank you for helping to preserve our beautiful natural resources!

Guidelines to follow when hiking this time of year
• If a trail is so muddy that you need to walk on the vegetation beside it, turn back and seek another place to hike.
• Plan spring hikes in hardwood forests at lower elevations.
• Avoid spruce-fir (conifer) forest at higher elevations and on north slopes before late May and from the end of October until frozen or snow covered.
• Camels Hump and Mt Mansfield trails are technically closed from April to Memorial day, but because of the early mud season the trails are currently closed until they dry out. Please do not hike here. Stay below 3000 ft during these times of year.

Staying away from certain places during mud season makes them ready to enjoy this summer. Have fun out there!

For more information, and other mud season hiking options, check out the Green Mountain Club Mud Season Hiking page.

Have fun out there!

And The Cabin Naming Contest Winners Are ...

Lady's Slipper

Thank you to all who participated in our Cabin Naming Contest. We had over 400 entries and so many of them were wonderful, which made deciding on two winners very difficult. The stories, poems, pictures, and reasons people submitted for their entries were touching, entertaining, and very interesting. We hope to share some of them with you over the next couple of months.

The most popular flower submitted was Red Clover or Clover, but unfortunately, even though it is our state flower, it's actually native to Europe.

Even though there were so many wonderful entries, there can only be two winners. These lucky folks will receive a weekend in their named cabin and there will be a poster placed in each cabin for the season, explaining how the cabins got their name. Congratulations, you have made park history!

The winners are...

Lady's Slipper
From Jennie Kolenda of Proctorsville, Vermont

As youngsters, we were always roaming through the woods (never called the forest). We delighted in hearing the songs of the birds and the stirrings of the leaves, surprising a rodent. When we were thirsty, we cupped our hands and drank the water from a sparkling stream. Today, that would be a no-no. In the spring, we checked out the many beautiful wild flowers, knowing them by name. In particular, we searched for the elusive, rare, "Lady's Slipper." Were we excited when we found one. To us, it was like finding Gold. We did not disturb its habitat, leaving it to reproduce the following year. When we arrived home, we had exciting news to tell our family.


Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Jack-in-the-Pulpit
From Autumn Bucchieri, Shaftsbury, VT
 I have an answer that is dear to my heart. When I was about ten, we moved along the Battenkill River in Arlington, VT. My mom was a hippie of sorts and I remember fondly her taking us kids for walks, showing us the species of plants and mushrooms that grew in the wild along the riverbanks. One of these days has stood out in my mind ever since. We were walking and exploring when I heard an exclamation and excitement come over my mom. She knelt to the ground and tenderly swept away dead foliage and showed us her "wonder". It was a Jack-in-the-Pulpit. She explained to us kids how rare and beautiful this flower was. She told us we should never pick it because it was endangered and very special. As a kid, it was the first time I had ever known that other things besides animals could be endangered. It was eye-opening and moving and I will never forget that curious odd looking Jack-in-the-Pulpit. That day created for me a lifelong appreciation of the small wonders of nature and the ability to never take these things for granted.

One of the new cabins

We also wanted to award an Honorable Mention to Kit Andrews from Burlington, VT who submitted, "Red Clover" with the following story:

(Red Clover) Because I have always been very proud of our state flower. It is a lovely wild flower and very common, which is like Vermonters. We are lovely, plain & uncomplicated, and common. Meaning, we are right here and right over there, easy to find if one looks for us, in groups or alone. Furthermore, we all know we are the same inside. We are all equal and no one of us is better than the next one. And, if every one of us, whether a "muffin" or "kitten" doesn't always come across this way, recognizes the equal worth of every human being, we are no better or no worse than "those other ones over there". We still know in our hearts that this is the Vermont way to be. Otherwise, we wouldn't still be here, or we wouldn't have returned, or we wouldn't have chosen to move here from away. One other reason for this flower is that cows love it and for well over half of the last century, there were more cows than people in Vermont!

Thank you to everyone who participated and we'll see in the parks!