Lake Morey report

[JoAnn Berns]

Lake Morey TL:DR:

The ice ranged from rough to okay to really good, with gray skies, flurries or snow showers, varying visibility, & negligible breeze.  When the brush machine went by it helped a lot to see tripping hazards.  From the fishing access you might want microspikes to get to the trail while the town beach access is directly onto the ice tho you may have to park some distance away on the road.

More:

I would not have called it destination skating  but boy, a lot of people destined themselves there, from just a few people when we first arrived to midday's nonstop flow onto and off the ice from the town beach. I'd guess hundreds came and went and the joy of kids, dogs, people of many ages, multiple languages, soloists, groupings of many sizes, a large gaggle of VT's 2025 state girls hockey D2 champs, an older man from NYC on nordic skate for only the second time sharing it had been a lifelong dream to skate on a lake someday, kids on sleds, dogs on sleds, skate-joring, hockey, ice fishing, the brush machine running loop after loop, all of it was a  glorious cacaphony of smiles and tumbles and the wide-eyed "wow!" when someone got the skating stride and  greetings and concentrating hard to stay upright, and gorgeous stylish skating and complete newbies and fast striders, and recognizing friends and neighbors and meeting new people.  

And somehow, spread over 4.3 miles it never seemed crowded.  Unless you needed a spot on one of the many benches to put on skates and leave footwear during the busiest time, and I dearly wanted to take photos of so many pairs of boots and shoes of many styles & sizes lined up all along & under the benches, but alas, my phone had frozen and shut off.  

And then there was beer and a delicious lunch at the Lake Morey Resort, where we discovered 100s? of fans of the Toronto-based band, "Enter the Haggis," from all over the country, had gathered  to be with the band, which was in residence for a long weekend for the fourth year in a row.

Not knowing this, as I walked up the external spiral staircase of the resort & through the door that enters directly into the packed dining room, in full skate gear w poles & helmet w goggles, I tried to convince myself that  no one  noticed me walk through.  Surely I was like the guy in the gorilla suit walking through that video where you are too busy counting ball passes to notice him.  (Two fans told me later that they saw me and both thought, how fun that another fan was all dressed up.  🤷‍♀️) 

So... it was a good time.   😄