Author: Daphne Cybele Van Schaick

Writer, compulsive reader, apple pie baker, complex cable knitter. Life with family plus two dogs, a stray cat, chickens, weeds, and bees.

Mysterious “Skinner’s Cave” in Manchester, Vermont

On By Daphne Cybele Van SchaickIn Opinion & Editorial14 Comments

As a follow up to my earlier post on Mount Equinox, I have found a mysterious reference to an “ice cave” (containing snow in mid-July) on Mount Equinox in Manchester, Vermont, in an old book, pictured below.  I have no idea where this might be, but it looks like it could be tracked down from the description in this 115 year old book, Glacieres; or Freezing Caves by Edwin Swift Balch, published in 1900 by Allen Lane & Scott of Philadelphia.

Take a look (and tell me in the comments if you have seen it!!!):

Skinner's Cave on Mount Equinox in Manchester, Vermont From “Glacieres; or Freezing Caverns” author Edwin Swift Balch published by Allen Lane & Scott in 1900
Author Edwin Swift Balch published by Allen Lane & Scott in 1900.
Skinner's Cave on Mount Equinox in Manchester, Vermont From “Glacieres; or Freezing Caverns” author Edwin Swift Balch published by Allen Lane & Scott in 1900.
Author Edwin Swift Balch published by Allen Lane & Scott in 1900.

I ran across another, even older, reference “Skinner Hollow is a deep amphitheatrical gulf on the south side of Equinox Mountain which has a cave so profound that snow remains there all year.” From New England: A Handbook for Travelers published in 1879 by The Riverside Press, Cambridge.

Are you familiar with Mount Equinox and have you hiked it?  Ever seen Skinner’s Cave?  Please do tell in the comments below.  Navigation tips to the cave appreciated.  For more information on Mount Equinox please see my earlier post.

A Sunday Walk in Vermont

On By Daphne Cybele Van SchaickIn Home & Garden7 Comments
The river is high, the banks still snowy, a Sunday walk in Vermont
The river is high, the banks still snowy

This past Sunday we went for a walk, the first of the season.  There are no sidewalks in our neighborhood, so winter makes it too dangerous to walk on the road, once they have been narrowed by snowbanks.  Our road is not straight, it goes up hills and around treacherous blind curves, and down and across fairly narrow bridges.  We wait to walk until the snow has receded, and the roadsides are clear of snow, gritty in places with sand from the plow trucks, the shoulders soft mud topped with the same gritty sand.  Rivulets of snow melt off higher ground and run down the edge of the road pavement, shimmering slight currents catching the eye.

We keep an ear out for cars, and they often steer clear over into the other lane.  Many of the drivers wave, or lift two fingers off the steering wheel in greeting.  Further down at the end of the road, you can hear the river, the current strong and water high, chattering over rocks and against icy banks.  The air is cold; it’s good to feel the sun, to walk on the road after a winter inside…

Continue reading “A Sunday Walk in Vermont” →