Robert Frost Trail and Lake Paran

It was another warm (seriously, 51 degrees is warmer than you think) and sunny Sunday morning, so why not get off our arses and go do something less boring instead?

In this case, "something less boring" involved taking Cadbury and Erebus out on a walk instead of the usual "chuck them in the back yard and let them run about a bit". Alicia looked up dog-friendly hikes in the area and found the Robert Frost trail, which starts next to Lake Paran and is about five minutes from our house.

The trail is named after poet Robert Frost, who won four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and who lived in Shaftsbury in the 1920s. We actually drive past the Robert Frost Museum every time we go into Bennington, and we really should go there.

We set off from the deserted car park and followed the trail alongside the lake. The path is totally covered with dead leaves making a satisfying crunch with every footstep. Cadbury and Erebus were predictably ecstatic to be out and about again, so taking photos was interesting with 30 pounds of dog pulling my arm off while I tried to hold the camera still.

Leaf season here in Vermont lasts about two to three weeks, so most of the beautiful red, gold and green leaves are now brown, crispy and on the ground.

Cadbury looks for Alicia while I try to take a photo.

About halfway along the trail is a footbridge over Paran Creek, where Erebus rekindled her love of water:

The footbridge has a plaque engraved with Frost's wonderful poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", which he wrote in Shaftsbury in 1923:

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

After taking the inevitable selfie we kept walking, or in my case being dragged along by Cads. 

After crunching through more leaves we headed back to the car and home, where I shocked everyone by failing to fall asleep in the armchair. It was a great walk and some much-needed exercise and fresh air. Alicia's found some more dog-friendly walking/hiking paths in the area, so we'll be trying those out soon.