Originally published in the Stowe Reporter
On Oct. 30, Stowe had the dubious honor of landing squarely in the path of a freak storm that affected people from Montreal to southern New Hampshire.
Wind speeds in excess of 115 mph were recorded at the top of Mount Mansfield and thousands of trees were brought to the ground in the blink of an eye.
We bore witness, for better or for worse, to nature’s awe-inspiring power that wrought nearly incomprehensible damage in Cady Hill Forest: Over 63 acres of land were damaged, nearly 10 of which were essentially leveled.
It’s hard to wrap one’s head around a thick and vibrant forest being knocked to the ground in a matter of minutes, but if you can imagine riding down Bear’s Trail and emerging into what amounts to a clear-cut, that should give you a sense of the scope. It’s at once terrifying and fascinating to witness that level of devastation.
It’s been a few weeks now since the storm and we’ve had some time to sort through the wreckage. In that time, we’ve formulated a plan for recovery, and I personally have salvaged a few takeaways:
• First, we’re incredibly fortunate. Fortunate? That’s right, fortunate. I’m grateful that the damage was limited primarily to power outages, fallen trees and dented cars. Granted, some people incurred pretty heavy property damage, but right now I think it’s imperative that we look at the big picture: No one was killed in this little episode.
As for the trails, we need to collectively wrap our heads around the fact that Cady Hill is going to look vastly different as we move forward. Areas historically draped in shade are now sunny and wide-open; some of our favorite trails were instantly erased and will quite literally never look the same.
This turn of events, although unexpected (understatement), will also bring with it some opportunity. In collaboration with a few highly experienced foresters and timber harvesters, we’re optimistic we can salvage a portion of the beautiful trees that came down.
In the process, and under the watchful eye of the foresters, some cool new animal habitat will emerge in Cady Hill. We’ll look at other areas prone to this type of damage and may take pre-emptive steps to mitigate the likelihood of this happening again.
While it may be frustrating or counterintuitive, these blowdowns are a natural part of forest growth and development, so we’ve got to adapt and maybe even embrace the change and challenges that they bring. Who knows; maybe, just maybe, when the smoke clears we’ll have some new trails to play on. But at the end of the day, it’s just dirt and wood. We’ll fix it and we’ll grow as a community as a result of this event. Of that I am quite sure.
• Second (broken record alert): It never ceases to amaze me the way this community can muster around a cause and rally to get some serious work done. Within 48 hours of this storm, the town of Stowe, Stowe Land Trust, Stowe Trails Partnership and various super-volunteers had mobilized to start formulating a plan for recovery.
We were inundated with calls, texts and emails expressing not only sympathy but a willingness to do anything necessary to get the trails back online. I personally received an email from a high-level employee of the town of Stowe that stated (and I quote), “We’ve got your back.” Reassuring, to say the least.
Although we’re still gathering information, here’s a brief roundup of the what we do know in the storm’s aftermath:
• The timber harvesters can’t get started in earnest until the ground is frozen. While we wait, the foresters will have chance to mark trees that will need to be removed, and for us to work with the loggers to ensure that the trails incur as little damage as possible during the actual timber harvest.
• Depending on how much the weather chooses to cooperate, this recovery process could take a few seasons. In addition to the clusters of heavy damage, there are sporadic bevies throughout Cady Hill Forest that will require professional removal.
• Miraculously, some sections of the forest opted to sit out the storm and trails in these areas emerged all but unscathed. These trails, with just a bit of elbow grease, can be back online as early as spring of 2018.
Unfortunately, said trails are surrounded by acres of debris and gaining access to them will take some time. However, our goal is get the trails open as soon as possible, with at least a portion of Cady Hill open come spring.
We’ll look back on 2017 as the year that giveth (Callagy’s Trail, Eagle Ridge Loop, Stowe Bike Night), and the year that taketh away (Trailpocalypse, daily rain bombs).
When I sat down to write out a little summary of the 2017 mountain biking season, it occurred to me that this year was essentially the inverse of last winter’s ski season.
Think about it: Winter started out pretty much perfect, things got rough midseason, and we ended with multiple feet of snow and consecutive powder days to round out the year.
The mountain bike season, on the other hand, started exceptionally late due to saturated trails from the aforementioned snow, then things dried out and got good in August and September, and now here we sit sifting through the rubble of devastated trail system. Yin and yang, strikes and gutters. But I digress.
So what can you do, you ask? Couple of things.
First, rest up and save your energy for what promises to be an epic rebuilding effort this spring.
Second, help us spread the word that Cady Hill Forest is a dangerous place to be at the moment and that it’s closed to all users this autumn and winter.
And finally, if you’re so inclined, make a donation to the recovery effort over at stowemountainbike.com.
Keep an eye on stowemountainbike.com for updates, and like Journey said, don’t stop believin’…
