Now that my son Arjun is a freshman at the University of Vermont, I’m lucky to have an even better reason to go play in New England. So earlier this month I took full advantage.
Adventure 1: Vermont Gravel Biking
My buddy Bob Kauffman and I flew into Burlington, where we enjoyed a few dinners with Arjun, who is otherwise pretty busy with classes, studying, and extra-curricular activities of course.
With our days free, we had great weather and used it to peddle some of the best bike routes in the area. Vermont is a gravel paradise, brimming with beautiful rolling roads and trails, the sound of leaves rustling in the afternoon breeze, and the distinct smells of damp earth, hop-harvesting, apple orchards, and fields filled with cows, horses, pumpkin, squash, and other livestock and crops.
The riding was outstanding, but the highlight was one afternoon, as we were looping back to town, we passed a farm selling what they described as an “Apple Swirly Supreme.” This turned out to be a giant bowl of freshly baked apples, topped with an apple cider doughnut and a twist of vanilla and maple soft-serve ice cream, all drizzled with caramel and covered in whipped cream. It made the day for two hungry bikers!
Big thanks to AJ for giving us a reason to visit Vermont, as well as to our gracious hosts, my friend Ben Ayers for helping us find housing and a vehicle for the week, and Felicia Fowler and Molly Tobin, program coordinators at Vermont Adaptive (link opens in a new tab), who got us a tandem mountain bike. Thanks, friends.
Adventure 2: Rocking Climbing in the Adirondack Mountains
After gravel biking in Vermont, I crossed Lake Champlain to the Adirondack Mountains to rock climb with my good old friend, Ian Osteyee.
I’ve known Ian for 20 years now, and we’ve ice climbed all over the world together: the 3,000-foot face of Losar in Nepal, the Moose’s Tooth of the Alaska Range, Point Five Gulley in Scotland (the first vertical ice climb ever done), and of course, upstate New York—always with Ian leading the charge.
This trip, however, was to climb rocks instead of ice. Ian has been telling me for years about the quality cracks and granite faces in the Adirondack, and let me tell you, they didn’t disappoint as we ascended into the cool autumn air.
It’s always a blast roping up with Ian, as well as local climbers, Mark Meschinelli and Rob Belensky. Together, we worked our way up some of the classics on the Beer Walls and Pitchoff Chimney Cliff, like PF Flyers, Frosted Mug, Group Therapy, Gamesmanship, and many more.
Really, it doesn’t get much better than hanging from hand and finger cracks while listening to the valley below: the tall cedars and oaks, blowing leaves, and sound vibrations echoing off the clean granite cliffs—all the while in t-shirts, by the way!
Not to get too far ahead of myself, but I’m already getting excited to come back and ice climb with Ian later this year. Also thanks to Shiloh, Ian’s partner who always makes me feel so welcome.
A funny little story—which was perfect for Halloween—but Ian and Shiloh like to call me the “midnight stalker.” This started after one incident a while back when I was rounding the corner in their hallway at 1:00 AM to use the bathroom and Ian was coming from the other direction; he turned on the light, and there I was, creeping along in the dark. I’m a harmless midnight stalker—but yeah, I must have given him quite the fright. The real moral here is it’s a big advantage being blind and not needing to turn the lights on to find the bathroom. Ha!
