Capturing the Moment

  Deep in the woods without another soul in sight. I returned from Hawaii to find my little town of Stowe, Vermont, deep in a powdery blanket of snow. It was a 100 degree shift, which was tough, but the snowboarding potential kept my attitude positive. After a couple of bluebird sunny days, a thick new blanket of snow covered the town. I had to do a walk about to snag some photos and try to capture the feel of being in this quaint New England town in the middle of winter.

  The mountain has been amazing this winter. Snowy conditions have prevailed through December and the New Years. 2026 will hopefully continue to astound! This has been a winter to remember, and it has really just been the month of December so far here in Stowe, Vermont. The temps dropped early, and stayed low, and the snow kept coming. Nothing too big and crazy, like Juneau is having at the moment. But outside of two rain events, it has stayed under freezing for the entire month of December. I've been trying to get as many days in at the mountain as I can, and then get the kids up there as many times as I can. There have been some really cold days, some fluffy powder days, and some really amazing runs through the glades. There are certain moments that make me so pleased that our phones have such good cameras now. I never would have been able to take this shot before. This year I have been heading off piste for a lot of exploring through the trees. There are some spots that get pret...

  I really appreciate hiking with a small drone that can capture these stunning aerial scenes that give me a totally different perspective on where I am hiking. This is the summit of Camel's Hump. It was a stunningly beautiful late summer's day in Vermont, so I grabbed my hiking boots and my drone and drove towards a mountain that I've been wanting to summit for a long time. The summit is 4,083ft high, making it the third tallest mountain in Vermont. I have driven past this mountain many times on the way to Burlington and Lake Champlain, and have always wanted to hike it and see what it was like. Today was the day! There are several trails leading up to the summit from different sides of the mountain. The closest trailhead to me was the Monroe Trail, so I decided to start there. It was a 7.2 mile, there and back trail, with nearly 3,000ft of vertical gain. I packed pretty light, just a long sleeve fleece for the summit, a couple of granola bars, and my drone. The trail itse...