New England Adventures

Wow, what a crazy past few weeks!

Biking ridgelines, single track, and finishing up the two weeks of white water canoeing on class II, III, and IV rapids! We have gotten so close as a group, sharing these once in a lifetime experiences together. Leaving for our expedition seemed like an eternity to go, packing our bikes by the lights on our headlamps- rushing around until late at night, Emma trying to memorize the route for the first few days, Aidan packing up all the gear. Everyone was trying to finish up their tasks for their big jobs. Finally we packed our panniers on the sides of our bikes and strapped on our sleeping bags to our handlebars and off to sleep we went- much later than our typical 8:30 PM.

Everyone is excited for our first expedition!

Our expedition itinerary

Waking up the next morning, while the rest of the world was asleep was magical. We all hummed with excitement, of what was to come and of leaving everything we knew behind. Our first real expedition as a team! That day, with Misha, Erica and Hannah joining us, we biked 28 kilometers, first on a busy road that we already knew so well, and then turning off the populated roads onto unknown single track, bumping along on our durable Surly Krampus bikes. We traveled over rocks and sticks and even had to pull an enormous tree off the path to get by!

All of this bumping and peddling eventually led to two people popping their tires. Resulting in an on the spot real life patching a tire scenario! Right before we were about to turn off of the single track we arrived at an amazing grassy plain on top of a huge hill- over looking our entire expedition route. Misha told us that we would be crossing the mountains that we could see in front of us over the coming days. We were all in awe. With everyone’s spirits still high, we peddled with ferocity along onto the main road, unexpectedly stopping for ice-cream that was well deserved after the rough terrain we had just put behind us.

Thomas and Naya peddling hard, no matter how difficult the terrain!

We arrived at Harlow Farm later on that evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. Harlow Farm is Vermont’s largest organic farm. It is USDA certified and Vermont organic certified. We hastily set up camp in the back cow field, exhausted as we ate dinner and prepared for bed. Some of us opted to sleep without a bug net that night, while the smarter bunch chose to find coverage before the insects swarmed upon us.

The next morning, after a mosquito filled night, we awoke at 5 AM in order to be on time for the farm workers meeting at 7 AM. At the meeting, half of us were chosen to stay on the farm, while the others went to the Putney fields to work (this is a separate piece of land but it is still a part of the same farm). The people who stayed learned the amazing work ethic needed for large-scale organic farming. We packaged lettuce and kale in uniform boxes for hours, only stopping when the last head of lettuce was harvested. After participating in some more farm work, we finally all made our way to our camp, stopping to pick raspberries from the abundant bushes lining the paths.

Harvesting kale at Harlow's

Even though we only had 3 kilometers to bike the next day, it felt endless as it was entirely up hill and we were thoroughly exhausted. Our arrival at Basin Farm was amazing. Basin Farm is a community whose goal is to live the way Jesus, who they call Yoshua, wanted people to live; simply, communally, and full of love for one another. When arriving at Basin, we were directed to a lovely campsite on a creek with fresh cold flowing water, which was perfect to take a dip in. We headed over to their home just in time for dinner and shared stories and learned about the lives of people living there.  At dinner some of us had been invited to partake in milking the goats, so the next morning, the brave few people woke up at 4:30 to milk the goats. The rest of us woke up in time to join the community for morning meeting and breakfast. The meeting consisted of singing and dancing and saying thanks for the simple life they lived. Our morning work was different at Basin than Harlow’s, as Basin is a much smaller scale farm. We divided for these projects into groups- some of us harvesting squash, while others shucked corn. We were able to talk more closely to the farmers at this point, learning about the seed harvesting they do and their crop rotation plans.  They also shared with us their belief of only selling food at farmers markets in order to make buying food a personal experience.

The crew all lined up at Basin Farm

Aidan tries out Naya's bicycle, but the handlebars seem to be a bit low for him

That evening, we biked 13 kilometers up hill to Marcea’s mothers home, instead of the 5 kilometers it should have taken because Thomas said that “5 kilometers is too easy!” After the sweaty bike ride, it was wonderful to swim in the waterfalls by Marcea’s mothers house. We had a restful night of reading, eating and sleeping and awoke the next morning with lots of energy. With that energy we took on Marcea's moms back yard, tearing down vines, trees, splitting wood and weaving a fence all before breakfast. We continued with the rigor until lunch when we packed up all of our things and took off for the hardest part of the expedition to that point- The Pinnacle. The Pinnacle is a ridge of single track, along a string of mountains in Vermont. After setting off later than we had expected, and having numerous bike problems, we realized that we would have to camp sooner rather than later. This was only greater enhanced when it became dark and started to rain. People began to break down because of the challenging nature of the situation. We all comforted and encouraged one another to continue just a little bit farther. We walked for a few miles on the narrow ridge through the rain and darkness over logs and up steep hills. When we finally had had enough, we pulled off the trail and set up the fastest camp we have yet to set up. Eating our nalgenese of rice and lentils as the rain weighed down the tarp, we felt thankful to have food and shelter. The next morning, we all woke with a new determination, and we set off before the sun was up and made it to the highest point of the ridge before 8:00 AM. From there it was all down hill, coasting and barely having to pedal. We made it to our resupply just in time.

The view is always worth the climb, no matter how challenging!

The rest of the day was wonderful, we ditched the bikes for some flat water canoeing on the waters of the Connecticut river. We learned new strokes and also had fun flipping each other over. The previous dark and dreary night was forgotten and we were all cleaned, mentally and physically. That night we met up with our bikes again and biked to Tashi’s house. We were wonderfully spoiled with pasta, chicken, rice and cake. With full bellies and hearts, we went off to sleep. The next day turned into a rest day. We planted raspberries for a few hours with Tashi’s family, but most of it was focused on eating and swimming on the local creek in front of her home. The water was much lower than usual and we attributed it to the low rainfall.

Tanner, enjoying the sunshine on the Connecticut river

Biking to our next farm was a breeze. 3 kilometers up and down hill- we took our time but we were definitely grateful for the short ride. Wild Carrot and Fairwinds Farms were the destination. They are two separate farms, on shared land. One unique aspect of these farms is that they do not use fossil fuel powered machinery. Instead, they use draft horses. That night we accidently took an extra long time setting up camp- almost two hours. This prompted Thomas and Davicho to make us have a contest the next day to set up camp. We split up into two teams, with one pot, a match, a tarp, bug net, axe and saw. With these tools we had to set up a functioning camp as quickly as possible. With a lot of competitive spirit, off the two teams went- both finishing at exactly the same time! This exercise was very helpful for all of us to see that we could set up camp in a short period of time (if we all stayed focused). At Wild Carrot Farm we completed service by chopping and stacking an enormous amount of wood. We stayed over for two nights and set off early the next morning, planning to get some serious bike miles in that day. Not expecting that by the end of the day we would have biked 64 kilometers! We were all in good spirits for the ride, up long hills and down steep drops, mostly on dirt roads. Every few miles we would stop at fully loaded apple trees and eat as many as possible to fill our bellies. We would pack them in all our backpacks as well. Tanner and Alessio climbed up high in the trees, making it rain down apples. At the end of the day we decided to venture off in the side woods to make camp. It was a joyous night. We had gone way farther than expected into Massachusetts and everyone was ecstatic when learning the final mileage. The next day Thomas informed us that we were going to have our first group solo for the final 10 kilometers to the Deerfield River. We arrived two hours before our scheduled time, which completed the biking portion of our expedition. In celebration, we lounged on the sunny rocks, feeling very contented and enjoying the time to reflect on the past days. Once Thomas and Davicho arrived, we used a chain system to transport the bikes. Everyone was laughing and splashing in the rapids, trying not to drop any of the personal belongings into the river.

The next three days went by in a blur. Misha, Kroka’s founder joined us as a teacher. He taught us hydrology classes and we completed many hands on activities, such as early morning walks across the creek to measure the volume of water in the rapids. In those three days we went down the Deerfield River practicing different skills, ending each day at Zoar Gap- a class III-IV rapid. On the first run of it, every single person made it over without having to swim! Everyone was ecstatic and no throw ropes had to be used. Yet on the second day when we reattempted the rapids, it all went south, as water levels were twice what they had been the day before! First Misha and Morgan flipped, then Alessio and Malena flipped, then Emma and Tanner flipped, then Paul and Colton flipped, then Tashi and Olympia flipped, and then Lilah and Aidan flipped! Lastly, Rosy and Davicho took the easier route and stayed right side up to help rescue the other boats and paddlers. It was a wild and humbling end to our expedition. However all in all, the expedition helped us to become closer as a team- sharing moments and making lifelong memories.

Malena and Emma, enjoying the whitewater

Feeling strong as a community!

Upon return to campus, we prepared hastily for family day-, which was a wonderful event, filled with parent teacher conferences, activities around campus, and beautiful meals shared together. The evening concluded with a special talent show presented by the parents. They were hilarious! After parent weekend, we spent a whole week working on small group projects around campus. We worked incredibly hard all week, building a bridge to connect the big yurt and the boathouse driveway, working on the farm with Silvano and Lynne, and helping to build a timber frame gazebo for the town of Marlow. To celebrate this week of work, we traveled together to the Common Ground Fair where we spent the weekend teaching children to carve spoons and make bread on a stick, while also getting to participate in the workshops at this amazing fair. There was lots of contra dancing, time spent with Kroka alumni, and fun times had by all volunteering at the fair.

Splitting firewood in every free moment to do our part here on campus

Emma works on the timber frame

Olympia and Silvano building a box to age our farm fresh cheeses

Before we knew it, Monday had arrived, and it was time to pack for our travels down to southern lands! We worked non-stop over the next two days, packing and preparing for Ecuador. We took a short break in the packing to spend a morning working with the local elementary school students who will be our pen pals for the semester. It was so special to work together with them on projects around campus. After that we ran together to Orchard Hill with Hannah, where we worked as a group to disassemble an old green house in exchange for some tasty pizza with Noah! After these festivities, we traveled back to Kroka to finish our packing.

The next time you will hear from us, it will be from warmer lands! We cannot wait to share with you all about our adventures down in Ecuador. Until then, happy autumn!

Your scribe,
Rosy