Okemo: Reunited at last!

Kelly and I hadn’t seen one another in months, many months. So, when she was headed back to the Northeast for a few weeks between her seasonal jobs, well, obviously, I had to see her. The fun thing about coming home after being away for a while is that everyone wants to see you. Kelly was cruising around the northeast and I was trying desperately to coordinate a time on a weekend when we both we’re free to meet up. And voilà! Sunday, it was!

We met at the Healdville trailhead for Okemo Mountain in Vermont. When her car pulled into the parking lot, we both squealed with excitement and jumped out of our respective vehicles. Yay! Happy! Happy! Happy! The hike was enjoyable 6 mile round-trip excursion, which started off quite gradually through a hardwood forest. Snow carpeted the ground, and clung to the pine boughs at the higher elevations. We talked and hiked, as we had much to catch up on. Kelly told me all about her past couple of months as a naturalist in California, and, in turn, I regaled her with tales of my 9 to 5 office job and my weekend warrior adventures (somehow my life didn’t sound quite as exciting as hers).

We reached the summit, put on our down jackets, and headed up the 70-foot tall fire tower. It windy once we got above the trees, and the metal railings were freezing cold. We popped up into the small room at the top. The window frames lacked glass, so we ducked down to stay out of the wind. Crouched on the floor, we ate handfuls of white chocolate covered coffee beans Kelly had brought back from Costa Rica for me. A delicious combination of sugar and caffeine that we quickly devoured. We popped back up to snap a few photos of the surround area at the risk of getting frostbite on our fingers. Needless to say, the California girl was not used to the bitter, biting cold typical of winter in New England.

Back down at the bottom of the fire tower, we broke out some hard boiled eggs, cracking them on the supports of the fire tower and scattering their broken shells on the snow. The hike down was enjoyable, as the trail was never very steep. We hooped and hollered, most definitely disturbing the peace and quiet of the woods that the people we passed came in search of.  Whoops. We made plans to meet up this winter in Tahoe, where Kelly would be taking her next job and where I would be escaping to for a few days. See you then, Kelly!