Vermont winter has gotten off to a slow start this year. Early snows and cold temperatures got the bigger ski areas running around Thanksgiving, but there hasn’t been enough snow since to open much more. Smaller resorts like Mad River Glen, who have limited snowmaking and grooming, had to sit on the sidelines until the natural snow came to the Northeast.
There was just enough on the ground to make it a white Christmas, but the snow showers have been picking up for the last couple days. We spent a snowy day traveling to see friends in Waitsfield at the 1824 House Inn and then up to Burlington for a dinner party on Wednesday. It turned into a bit of an epic, with traffic on I89 slowing to stop and go for miles. Given the state of the roads, we spent the night in Burlington with the gracious hospitality of friends, and elected to drive home Thursday morning.
The blanket of new snow that coated the landscape was brilliantly illuminated with blue skies, bright sunshine, and crisp temperatures in the single digits. The rural Vermont towns looked resplendent on the way home, and we made a few stops in Warren and the Granville Gulf to snap some photos of the wintery landscape.
Fresh snow and ice coating Freeman Brook in Warren.
A single set of snowed-over footsteps leading up the stairs to the United Church of Warren, VT.
The Mad River flows peacefully through Warren Village, its banks scoured clean from the flooding of Hurricane Irene.
Snow showers from a couple maple trees in the Granville Gulf at Moss Glen Falls. Lulu spent a bit here Thursday morning photographing the sun streaming through the snowy trees.
It’s snowing again this morning, and the buzz is out that winter is here. Mad River opens today, and while we didn’t bring our ski gear with us this year, it feels a lot more like Christmas time in Rochester right now. Time to get outside for a breath of fresh, cold air.