Trip Report: Bear Signs Snowshoe Trek at Mad River Glen

Did you know that Mad River Glen has a naturalist program with snowshoe trails that go up and into Stark Mountain, even connecting to the Long Trail?

Well, this past Saturday (February 10, 2024), Friends of the Mad River assembled a group of 9 community members to go on a snowshoe trek with the Director of the Naturalist Program at Mad River Glen, Sean Lawson. We saw many signs of bear activity visible right from the trails.

Starting on the far side of Schuss Pass, we put on our snowshoes and got to know each other a bit better with some introductions and light banter about the falling rain. We followed Sean up the ski slope and onto the Snowshoe Hare trail into an area of Stark Mountain dominated by birch, beech, and maple trees.

During our one-mile trek, we learned about the different tree species, saw a lot of pileated woodpecker activity and bear markings, and learned how to identify front and back bear claws on tree trunks. There were many bears ‘nests’ in a particular grove of beech trees - indicating a location where one or more bears had a feast this fall!

The rain finally cleared, and we had blue skies on our way down the mountain.

Special thanks to Sean Lawson for being our expert for the month, to the Mad River Rotary for sponsoring our snowshoe rentals and nature trek through their Grants Program, to Mad River Glen for making this event possible, and to all who braved the rain for spending their Saturday with us.

Feedback from an anonymous attendee:
"Thank you so much for organizing this workshop, Onome! And thanks to the Rotary Club, Friends of the Mad River and, of course, Sean. It reminded me of Biology field trips from way back in my school days a long time ago. I loved it!  I’m fairly new to VT and this was a great way to learn more about the local nature."

​See you next month!