Sunny Tennessee

Greetings from Stone Fort, Tennessee. Where some of the climbs actually look like stone forts. We're climbing in t-shirts and eating all the waffle house we can get our hands on. More to come once we get home after New Years. 

Jude's First Christmas

Merry Christmas all!!

The Long Trail

Without fail, about 4 times a year I'll pack my camera in my bag without a memory card and/or battery. It had been too long since I last did that, so this weekend was a perfect opportunity. Luckily, phone cameras these days suffice in 90% of situations.

Some of the college guys got together for a nice weekend of winter camping on the Long Trail in Vermont. A 5.5 hour drive in the snow got us to the trailhead where a 2.5 hour hike through knee deep powder got us 3.3 miles to our shelter, right at sunset. 2 hours of struggling to find dry wood and blowing onto coals (until we almost passed out) got us a roaring fire. Chili, mac & cheese and hot dogs were on the dinner menu and they were all delicious (I abstained from roasting hot dogs, of course). 

 Overnight it warmed up and rained for several hours. The hike back out in the morning was through 4 inches of pure slush. I should probably add waterproof winter boots to my wish list.

Overall we had an awesome time and I hope to squeeze in at least one more camping trip before heading to Thailand.

Shenanigans

The annual Christmas party at the Duffmands was another great success. There was a Yankee Swap, plenty of good food and drinks, more flaming trebuchet action, dancing, climbing, massage trains, etc... I was very happy to be home for the festivities this year.

Shelburne Falls

Did some exploring around the Shelburne Falls area with Ian. It was nice seeing an area of Western Mass that I haven't seen before. 

Rotisserie Camp Cooking

Impromptu camping trip with Christian and Greg. We kept it super local and went to our go-to spot in some conservation land behind Christian's house. 

This was the first time bringing a battery powered rotisserie on a camping trip. It was rather successful and might need to be a standard item for future trips.

On an unrelated note, I booked a flight to Thailand for January 15th! Coincidentally, it's snowing outside right now and I'm wondering if January is too far away...