Our Slice of the Kingdom
After logging some hours behind the yoke during our spring training trip in Clemson, I thought that returning to Craftsbury would force a hiatus in my piloting lessons simply due to its distance from any small airports. But as local Vermonters have proven time and time again, where there’s a will, there’s a way. A friend put me in contact with Will Ameden, a farmer and Jack-of-all-trades kind of guy who has a small private airstrip at Under Orion Farm in Cabot. He restores a vintage Cessna and mows an airstrip at the highest point in his field, sharing the space with his cows (although I never saw them anywhere near the landing strip). I couldn’t help but laugh at the simplicity of his set-up: all we really need is a plane, a windsock, and a straight, flat-ish strip of land, and we’re good to go!
Immediately upon take-off, the stunning beauty of this area took my breath away–some things just never get old. I felt like a bush plane pilot, flying with the contour of the mountains and buzzing over Craftsbury and Big Hosmer. I did a low pass over the skier’s house that may have scared the chickens a little bit; I didn’t hear of any drops in egg production, so I’ll assume that it didn’t bother them. I was able to crack the window and take some cool photos. Enjoy!
Hosmers, Big and Little. One of my favorite pictures of Craftsbury. Head of the Hosmer quiz: draw a straight line down Big Hosmer Lake without interfering with the shore. Is it possible? Nobody knows!
I miraculously caught the Center in a moment of calm. Here’s the lower part of the lake, docks near the right of the frame, COC above them.
Home!
Gerrie’s is the little white house at the bottom of the picture, Little Hosmer to the left and the aptly-named Kidney Bean pond below the house. Squint and you can see our cows!
A cool shot of Craftsbury Common on top of the hill
The village of Craftsbury, with Pete’s Greens on the left of the frame
I also took a few shots of local windmill farms, conveniently tangential to a few recent GRP blog posts by Ida and Pete.
Windmills on Lowell Mountain Range, the inspiration for Hannah’s painting and the site of recent training adventure by the GRP skier boys
Another nearby wind farm in Sheffield, VT. So much green!